Werner Herzog

I'm a very professional man. I'm not out for the experience of adventure.

Ambition is to be the fastest runner on this planet, to be the first on the South Pole, which is a grotesque perversion of ambition. It's an ego trip, and I'm not on an ego trip. I don't have ambitions - I have a vision.

The universe is monstrously indifferent to the presence of man.

The universe is not harmonious: you know that by looking outside.

Perhaps I seek certain utopian things, space for human honour and respect, landscapes not yet offended, planets that do not exist yet, dreamed landscapes.

I'm politically interested, but I have no particular talent as a political beast, stepping out and running for office.

I could not become an American citizen. I would not like to become a citizen of a country that has capital punishment.

I travel without barely any luggage. Just a second set of underwear and binoculars and a map and a toothbrush.

I'm simply not afraid. It's not in my dictionary of behaviour.

I'm not a journalist; I'm a poet.

I think psychology and self-reflection is one of the major catastrophes of the twentieth century.

I like and I love everything that has to do with cinema: writing, directing, editing, creating music, and even acting.