Mike Leigh > Quotes

“Resolve was never stronger than in the morning, after the night, when it was never weaker”
― Mike Leigh, Naked and Other Screenplays

“Do you think that the amoeba ever dreamed that it would evolve into the frog? Of course it didn't. And when that first frog shimmied out of the water and employed its vocal chords in order to attract a mate or to retard a predator, do you think that that frog ever imagined that that incipient croak would evolve into all the languages of the world, into all the literature of the world? Of course it fucking didn't. And just as that froggy could never possibly have conceived of Shakespeare, so we can never possibly imagine our destiny”
― Mike Leigh, Naked

“Was I bored? No, I wasn't fuckin' bored. I'm never bored. That's the trouble with everybody – you're all so bored. You've 'ad nature explained to you, and you're bored with it. You've 'ad the living body explained to you, and you're bored with it. You've 'ad the universe explained to you, and you're bored with it. So now you just want cheap thrills and like plenty of 'em, and it dun matter 'ow tawdry or vacuous they are as long as it's new, as long as it's new, as long as it flashes and fucking bleeps in forty different colours.”
― Mike Leigh, Naked

“Louise: "How did you get here?"
Johnny: "Well, basically, there was this little dot, right? And the dot went bang and the bang expanded. Energy formed into matter, matter cooled, matter lived, the amoeba to fish, to fish to fowl, to fowl to frog, to frog to mammal, the mammal to monkey, to monkey to man, amo amas amat, quid pro quo, memento mori, ad infinitum, sprinkle on a little bit of grated cheese and leave under the grill till Doomsday.”
― Mike Leigh, Naked

“I'm never bored. That's the trouble with everybody -- you're all so bored. You've 'ad nature explained to you and you're bored with it. You've 'ad the living body explained to you and you're bored with it. You've 'ad the universe explained to you and you're bored with it. So now you just want cheap thrills and like plenty of 'em, and it dun't matter 'ow tawdry or vacuous they are as long as it's new, as long as it's new, as long as it flashes and fuckin' bleeps in forty fuckin' different colours. Well, whatever else you can say about me, I'm not fuckin' bored!”
― Mike Leigh, Naked and Other Screenplays

“no matter how many books you read, there is something in this world that you never ever ever ever ever fucking understand.”
― Mike Leigh, Naked

“one day you'll realize that you've had not
just one or two past or future existences... but that you were, and are, everybody and everything that has ever been... or will ever be.”
― Mike Leigh, Naked

“Louise: "How did you get here?"
Johnny: "Well, basically, there was this little dot, right? And the dot went bang and the bang expanded. Energy formed into matter, matter cooled, matter lived, the amoeba to fish, to fish to fowl, to fowl to frog, to frog to mammal, the mammal to monkey, to monkey to man, amo amas amat, quid pro quo, memento mori, ad infinitum, sprinkle on a little bit of grated cheese and leave under the grill till Doomsday."
~From the movie Naked, written by”
― Mike Leigh, Naked

“one day you'll realize that you've had not just one or two past or future existences... but that you were, and are, everybody and everything that has ever been... or will ever be.”
― Mike Leigh, Naked

“There's something inherently disappointing about success,’ from Topsy-Turvy, a Mike Leigh film about Gilbert and Sullivan.”
― Mike Leigh