I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're lead to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it's worse than fear - it's active disengagement.

Quote by Ken Burns

Topics: Choices Quotes

In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of...

In a sense I've made the same film over and over again. In all of...

Like a layer on a pearl, you can't specifically identify the irritant, the moment of...

Like a layer on a pearl, you can't specifically identify the irritant, the moment of...

Wynton told us that Miles sold out, just wanted to make more money, just wanted...

Wynton told us that Miles sold out, just wanted to make more money, just wanted...

I grew up certain for a while that I was going to be an anthropologist,...

I grew up certain for a while that I was going to be an anthropologist,...

One of the things I really like about Ford's films is how there is always...

One of the things I really like about Ford's films is how there is always...

When you are editing, the final master is Aristotle and his poetics. You might have...

When you are editing, the final master is Aristotle and his poetics. You might have...

I never, ever want to apologize for a film. If it's bad I'll say it's...

I never, ever want to apologize for a film. If it's bad I'll say it's...

I think my expectations for myself are much more severe and much more direct. You...

I think my expectations for myself are much more severe and much more direct. You...

The stories from 1975 on are not finished and there is no resolve. I could...

The stories from 1975 on are not finished and there is no resolve. I could...

You know, you meet some people, and do a lot of interviews, and you come...

You know, you meet some people, and do a lot of interviews, and you come...

Louis Armstrong is quite simply the most important person in American music. He is to...

Louis Armstrong is quite simply the most important person in American music. He is to...

You need, as a historian, essential triangulation from your subject and the only way you...

You need, as a historian, essential triangulation from your subject and the only way you...

I subscribe to William Faulkner's' view that history is not just about what we were...

I subscribe to William Faulkner's' view that history is not just about what we were...

I read cover to cover every jazz publication that I could and in the New...

I read cover to cover every jazz publication that I could and in the New...

History's just been made for sale to an inside deal.

History's just been made for sale to an inside deal.

The way I work, the interview never becomes larger than the person being interviewed.

The way I work, the interview never becomes larger than the person being interviewed.

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution...

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution...

I treat the photograph as a work of great complexity in which you can find...

I treat the photograph as a work of great complexity in which you can find...

I have made all my films for my children with the exception of my first...

I have made all my films for my children with the exception of my first...

I think the problem with a lot of the fusion music is that it's extremely...

I think the problem with a lot of the fusion music is that it's extremely...