I spoke without fear of contradiction. I simply did not suffer self-doubt.
Elia Kazan

I think there should be collaboration, but under my thumb.
Elia Kazan

I truly believe that all power corrupts. Such is probably the thinking behind every political film ever made in Hollywood.
Elia Kazan

I used to spend most of my time straining to be a nice guy so people would like me.
Elia Kazan

I value peace when it is not bought at the price of fundamental decencies.
Elia Kazan

I want to thank the Academy for its courage and generosity.
Elia Kazan

I was always a self-conscious person.
Elia Kazan

I was an outsider... but I was also sympathetic with people that were struggling to get up, because I struggled to get up.
Elia Kazan

I was both very successful and very left; the living demonstration of how you could be on the left and still be in the gossip columns and be envied for the money you made.
Elia Kazan

I was even superior to the Communists and when they didn't go along with me, I quit them.
Elia Kazan

I was not a collective person or a bohemian; I was an elitist.
Elia Kazan

I was not what you'd call a first-class actor, but I did all right.
Elia Kazan

I was taken in by what might be called the Hard Times version of the Communists' advertising or recruiting technique.
Elia Kazan

I was the hero of the young insurgent working class art movement.
Elia Kazan

I was the true future. I understood Communism better than they did.
Elia Kazan

I was very intense. I think it's a privilege to be an actor.
Elia Kazan

I will say nothing to an actor that cannot be translated into action.
Elia Kazan

I would rather do what I did than crawl in front of a ritualistic Left and lie the way those other comrades did betray my own soul.
Elia Kazan

I wouldn't go up on a stage now if you paid a thousand dollars for one minute of acting. It's a nasty experience. You're up there all by yourself. You're so damn exposed.
Elia Kazan

I'm going to make a film where not one word is really important. I'm going to make it all action.
Elia Kazan