Top 15 Roger Ebert Quotes

It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.

I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try.

I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.

An honest bookstore would post the following sign above its 'self-help' section: 'For true self-help, please visit our philosophy, literature, history and science sections, find yourself a good book, read it, and think about it.

Sometimes two people will regard each other over a gulf too wide to ever be bridged, and know immediately what could have happened, and that it never will.

Life always has an unhappy ending, but you can have a lot of fun along the way, and everything doesn't have to be dripping in deep significance.

Doing research on the Web is like using a library assembled piecemeal by pack rats and vandalized nightly.

What I believe is that all clear-minded people should remain two things throughout their lifetimes: Curious and teachable.

The Muse visits during the act of creation, not before. Don't wait for her. Start alone.

We are put on this planet only once, and to limit ourselves to the familiar is a crime against our minds.

If you have to ask what it symbolizes, it didn't.

"Socrates told us, "the unexamined life is not worth living." I think he's calling for curiosity, more than knowledge. In every human society at all times and at all levels, the curious are at the leading edge."

The Muse visits during the process of creation, not before.

I was born inside the movie of my life. The visuals were before me, the audio surrounded me, the plot unfolded inevitably but not necessarily. I don't remember how I got into the movie, but it continues to entertain me.

"Every great film should seem new every time you see it."
Roger Ebert