When you are editing, the final master is Aristotle and his poetics. You might have a terrific episode, but if people are falling out because there are just too many elements in it, you have to begin to get rid…

Quote by Ken Burns

Topics: Ken Burns Quotes

I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what...

I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what...

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...

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...

You don't work on something for six years and be blind to the myriad of...

You don't work on something for six years and be blind to the myriad of...

To say that an artist sells out means that an artist is making a conscious...

To say that an artist sells out means that an artist is making a conscious...

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.

Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of...

Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of...

I am passionately interested in understanding how my country works. And if you want to...

I am passionately interested in understanding how my country works. And if you want to...

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

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

I began to feel that the drama of the truth that is in the moment...

I began to feel that the drama of the truth that is in the moment...

We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?

We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?

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...

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...

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 don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the...

I don't use composers. I research music the way I research the photographs or the...

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...

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...

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,...

I record all of my music with authentic instruments in a studio before we start...

I record all of my music with authentic instruments in a studio before we start...

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...