Errol Morris > Quotes

“If you asked me what makes the world go round, I would say self-deception. Self-deception allows us to create a consistent narrative for ourselves that we actually believe. I’m not saying that the truth doesn’t matter. It does. But self-deception is how we survive.”
― Errol Morris, Eating the Dinosaur

“I've been horribly depressed (lately), which, as you know, can be terribly time-consuming. I mean, if you're going to do it right, that is.”
― Errol Morris

“Set up an arbitrary set of rules and then follow them slavishly.”
― Errol Morris

“War is such a peculiar thing—inaugurated by the whims of few, affecting the fate of many. It is a difficult, if not impossible, thing to understand, yet we feel compelled to describe it as though it has meaning—even virtue. It starts for reasons often hopelessly obscure, meanders on, then stops”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

“A trial is not a science fair, but rather a magic show. A show based on appearances and logical fallacies and sleight of hand. It isn’t about proof. It is about convincing the jury.”
― Errol Morris, A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald

“If you want to trick someone with a photograph, there are lots of easy ways to do it. You don’t need Photoshop. You don’t need sophisticated digital photo-manipulation. You don’t need a computer. All you need to do is change the caption.”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

“The Anosognosic’s Dilemma: Something’s Wrong but You’ll Never Know What It Is”
― Errol Morris

“THE COURT: [Interposing.] Than silly-silly.”
― Errol Morris, A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald

“Photographs attract false beliefs the way flypaper attracts flies.”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

“They say seeing is believing, but the opposite is true. Believing is seeing.”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

“With a still photograph you have the illusion of a literal description of what was before the camera, but any narrative accompanying the photograph is a reader’s interpretation.”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

“The fact that photographs are silent is only one reason why we mistakenly assume they aren’t saying anything.”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

“Quite often photographs gain power from what is omitted from the frame rather than from what is included.”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

“One of the incredibly deep ironies is that the [Abu Ghraib] photographs could serve as both an exposé and as a cover-up. That they would encourage people not to look any further and make them think they had seen everything.”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

“Photographs can reveal something to us, and they can also conceal things.”
― Errol Morris, Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography