Well they are very frightening for me because their stupidity is so flat. You look into the eyes of a chicken and you lose yourself in a completely f… - Werner Herzog

For a moment the feeling crept over me that my work, my vision, is going to destroy me, and for a fleeting moment I let myself take a long, hard look at myself, something I would not otherwise do — out of instinct, on principle, out of self-preservation — look at myself with objective curiosity to see whether my vision has not destroyed me already. I found it comforting to note that I was still breathing.

A fairly young, intelligent-looking man with long hair asked me whether filming or being filmed could do harm, whether it could destroy a person. In my heart the answer was yes, but I said no.

The opinion of the public is sacred. The director is a cook who merely offers different dishes to them and has no right to insist they react in a particular way. A film is just a projection of light, completed only when it crosses the gaze of the audience[...]