David Lynch is one of those directors whom I turn to when I'm stuck in a story. I find his work so personal and also so universal that it helps me get out of my shell and figure out what I have to say.
But I don't always go to Lynch's movies and TV shows for help; in fact, sometimes I just read a bunch of his quotes and let them shake me out of a mood or a funk.
Today, I wanted to gather some of David Lynch's best quotes of all time and share them with you.
Hopefully, they help you out, too.
Let's dive in
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Top David Lynch Quotes
I tried to separate the quotes by theme to help you even further. And maybe to get you through your tough creative hurdles.
On the Hunt for Ideas
When it comes to looking for ideas, Lynch waits until he has something singular and of himself.
For Lynch, ideas aren't something you manufacture; they are things you discover. His "big fish" metaphor has become the gold standard for understanding the subconscious.
- "Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They’re huge and abstract. And they’re very beautiful."
- "If you get an idea that’s thrilling to you, put your attention on it, and these other fish will swim into it. It’s like a bait. They’ll hook onto it, and you’ll get more ideas. And you just pull them in."
- "The idea tells you everything. Lots of times, I get ideas, I fall in love with them. Those ones you fall in love with are really special ideas."
On Mystery and Logic
If you’ve ever sat through the end of Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive and asked, "What does it mean?", Lynch has a very simple answer for you: Why does it have to mean anything?
Sometimes, it is just a movie that unlocks truth for each person, and it may not be universal.
- "I don’t know why people expect art to make sense when they accept the fact that life doesn’t make sense."
- "The big mystery is life as a human being… Life is filled with mysteries, just filled. Human beings, we’re like detectives. We like to think about these things, or I sure do, and we want answers. The secret is: the answers are there, and they also lie within."
- "I don’t think that people accept the fact that life doesn’t make sense. I think it makes people terribly uncomfortable."
- "I like to remember things my own way. How I remembered them, not necessarily the way they happened."
'Blue Velvet' Credit: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
On the Language of Cinema
Lynch started as a painter, and he views the frame as a canvas. To him, trying to explain a movie with words is a fool's errand.
- "A film or a painting – each thing is its own sort of language, and it’s not right to try to say the same thing in words. The words are not there. The language of film, cinema, is the language it was put into."
- "It’s a feeling, more of an intuition. It’s the idea that you’ve fallen in love with, and you try to stay true to that. You see the way that cinema can say that idea, and it’s thrilling to you."
- "Black has depth... You can go into it... And you start seeing what you're afraid of. You start seeing what you love, and it becomes like a dream."
On Failure and Success
In an industry obsessed with the bottom line, Lynch’s take on "bombing" at the box office is surprisingly refreshing.
- "In a way, failure is a beautiful thing, because when the dust settles, there’s nowhere to go but up, and it’s a freedom. You can’t lose more, but you can gain."
- "Success can screw you because you start worrying about falling, and you can’t ever stay in the same place. That’s just the way it is. You should be thankful for successes... but it’s all about the work."
On the "Artist's Life"
Lynch is famously disciplined. He eats at the same diners, meditates twice a day, and avoids the Hollywood party circuit to keep his "setup" ready for when the ideas strike.
- "An artist’s life is very selfish. But it’s thrilling to create something, and you need a certain set-up for the process to take place. You can’t have a lot of obligations."
- "I like to make movies. I like to work. I don’t really like to go out."
- "It’s crucial to have a setup, so that, at any given moment, when you get an idea, you have the place and the tools to make it happen... If you don't have a setup... the idea just sits there and festers. Over time, it will go away."
On the Absurdity of the Human Condition
Finally, Lynch finds beauty where others find discomfort. Whether it's a "pretty" cow or a man running into a wall, his perspective is uniquely his own.
- "Absurdity is what I like most in life, and there’s humor in struggling in ignorance. If you saw a man repeatedly running into a wall until he was a bloody pulp, after a while, it would make you laugh because it becomes absurd."
- "My cow is not pretty, but it is pretty to me."
- "I hate slick and pretty things. I prefer mistakes and accidents. Which is why I like things like cuts and bruises - they're like little flowers."
- "Keep your eye on the doughnut, not on the hole."
Summing It All Up
David Lynch reminds us all that the goal isn't to be understood, it's to be honest to the idea. And be honest with yourself as you work the idea out.
Whether you're catching big fish or just trying to enjoy a bad cup of coffee, there's a certain "heroic" quality in forging on despite the confusion.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
