You can learn as much about the history from reading about the present as you can vice versa, that is learning about the present through history, which is what I do for a living.

Quote by Ken Burns

Topics: Ken Burns Quotes

A jazz beat is a dynamic changing rhythm.

A jazz beat is a dynamic changing rhythm.

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...

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.

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 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...

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 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...

By its very nature, no one person can ever be the center of jazz.

By its very nature, no one person can ever be the center of jazz.

In most films music is brought in at the end, after the picture is more...

In most films music is brought in at the end, after the picture is more...

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...

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

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

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...

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,...

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?

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 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 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...

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 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...