Memorable Quotes from Philippe Noiret
11 quotesThe Ownership of Poetry and Love
Mario Ruoppolo
My dear poet and comrade, you got me into this mess, you've got to get me out of it. You gave me books to read, you taught me to use my tongue for more than licking stamps. It's your fault if I'm in love.
Pablo Neruda
No, this has nothing to do with me. I gave you my books but I didn't authorize you to steal my poems. If you think you gave Beatrice the poem I wrote for Matilde--
Mario Ruoppolo
Poetry doesn't belong to those who write it, but those who need it.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Burden of Film Projection
Alfredo
Now listen. I got into this business at age ten. Back then, we didn't have fancy machines. Movies were silent. You turned the projector by hand with a crank. All the livelong day! And that damn crank was so hard. If you got tired and slowed down a bit, like a shot - voom - everything went up in flames.
Salvatore
So why not teach me? Now that there's no crank and it's easier.
Alfredo
Because I don't want to. This is no job for you. You're like a slave - and always by yourself. You see a film 100 times. You've nothing else to do. You talk to Greta Garbo and Tyrone Power like an idiot. You work like a dog. Even holidays - Easter, Christmas. You only get Good Friday off. And if they hadn't stuck Christ on a cross we'd even work then.
Salvatore
So why don't you change jobs?
Alfredo
Because I'm a nitwit. Who else around here could run a projector? Nobody. It takes an imbecile like me. I never had any luck
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The Essence of Poetry and Experience
Pablo Neruda
When you explain poetry, it becomes banal. Better than any explanation is the experience of feelings that poetry can reveal to a nature open enough to understand it.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Poetry and Emotion
Pablo Neruda
What do you think?
[after reading a poem]
Mario Ruoppolo
It's weird.
Pablo Neruda
What do you mean, weird? You're a severe critic.
Mario Ruoppolo
No, not your poem. Weird... Weird... how I felt while you were saying it.
Pablo Neruda
How was that?
Mario Ruoppolo
I don't know. The words went back and forth.
Pablo Neruda
Like the sea then?
Mario Ruoppolo
Exactly. Like the sea.
Pablo Neruda
There, that's the rhythm.
Mario Ruoppolo
I felt seasick, in fact.
Pablo Neruda
Because...
Mario Ruoppolo
I can't explain it. I felt like...like a boat tossing around on those words.
Pablo Neruda
Like a boat tossing around on my words? Do you know what you've done, Mario?
Mario Ruoppolo
No, what?
Pablo Neruda
You've invented a metaphor. Yes, you have!
Mario Ruoppolo
Really? But it doesn't count because I didn't mean to.
Pablo Neruda
Meaning to is not important. Images arise spontaneously.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Nature of Human Engagement with Complexity
Pablo Neruda
Man has no business with the simplicity or complexity of things.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Paradox of Morality in Warfare
Lt. Colonel Grau
One of them is a... a murderer.
Inspector Morand
Only one? But murder is the occupation of generals.
Lt. Colonel Grau
Then let's say that what is admirable on the large scale is monstrous on the small. Since we must give medals to mass murderers, let us try to give justice to the small... entrepreneurs.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Farewell to the Past
Alfredo
Get out of here! Go back to Rome. You're young and the world is yours. I'm old. I don't want to hear you talk anymore. I want to hear others talking about you. Don't come back. Don't think about us. Don't look back. Don't write. Don't give in to nostalgia. Forget us all. If you do and you come back, don't come see me. I won't let you in my house. Understand?
Salvatore
Thank you. For everything you've done for me.
Alfredo
Whatever you end up doing, love it. The way you loved the projection booth when you were a little squirt
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Dangers of Overexposure to Ideas
Pablo Neruda
Even the most sublime ideas sound ridiculous if heard too often.
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The Timeliness of Progress
Alfredo
Progress always comes too late.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Life's Reality Beyond Movie Illusions
Alfredo
Living here day by day, you think it's the center of the world. You believe nothing will ever change. Then you leave: a year, two years. When you come back, everything's changed. The thread's broken. What you came to find isn't there. What was yours is gone. You have to go away for a long time... many years... before you can come back and find your people. The land where you were born. But now, no. It's not possible. Right now you're blinder than I am.
Salvatore
Who said that? Gary Cooper? James Stewart? Henry Fonda? Eh?
Alfredo
No, Toto. Nobody said it. This time it's all me. Life isn't like in the movies. Life... is much harder.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Colonel's Unexpected Entrance
Inspector Morand
Welcome, Colonel Grau, to the spider's web.
Major Grau
How did you know it was me?
Inspector Morand
What other German Colonel would enter unannounced?
Major Grau
Any SS Colonel would.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.