"A bad play folds and is forgotten, but in pictures we don't bury our dead. When you think it's out of your system, your daughter sees it on television and says, My father is an idiot."

Billy Wilder Entertainment See all quotes by Billy Wilder →

React to this quote

More by Billy Wilder

“Eighty percent of a picture is writing, the other twenty percent is the execution, such as having the camera on the right spot and being able to afford to have good actors in all parts.”

“I just made pictures I would've liked to see.”

“I have ten commandments. The first nine are, thou shalt not bore. The tenth is, thou shalt have right of final cut.”

“An actor entering through the door, you've got nothing. But if he enters through the window, you've got a situation.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Let us be honest. Suppose a man came into this city and should meet a funeral procession, and say, “Who is dead?” and they should reply, “The son of a widow; her only support.” Suppose he should say t…"

— Robert G. Ingersoll

Law1833–1899

#family

"But democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens. It doesn't – it doesn't work if we think the people who disagree with us are all motivated by malice, it doesn't work if we think …"

— Barack Obama

Politics1961

#politics

"Despair is like forward children, who, when you take away one of their playthings, throw the rest into the fire for madness. It grows angry with itself, turns its own executioner, and revenges its mis…"

— Pierre Charron

Science1541–1603

#family

"The foundation of Scotland's success - our great intellectual, social and economic flourishing - was our commitment to education. To free education for all. ... We seek to build an education system th…"

— Alex Salmond

Politics1954–2024

#knowledge