"The minute you become a leader of a country, you go into a very small club. You join that sort of pantheon of other world leaders."
About Peter Morgan
Peter Morgan — Life and Legacy
Peter Morgan is a prominent British screenwriter celebrated for his incisive storytelling that delves into the intricacies of power and truth. His notable works, including 'The Queen' and 'Frost/Nixon', reveal a profound understanding of the human condition, particularly in the realm of political drama. Morgan's quotes often reflect his belief that truth is not merely a straightforward concept; he famously stated, 'The truth is rarely pure and never simple', emphasizing the complexities inherent in human interactions and historical narratives. Through his writing, Morgan challenges conventional perceptions of leadership and authority. In 'The Queen', he portrays Queen Elizabeth II's struggles with her role during a national crisis, illustrating how personal and public lives intertwine under the weight of responsibility. His exploration of power dynamics reveals the often unseen emotional toll on those in leadership positions, making his insights resonate deeply with audiences. Today, Morgan's work remains relevant as it prompts discussions about accountability and the moral dilemmas faced by leaders. His ability to capture the tension between personal conviction and public duty continues to inspire reflection on the nature of truth in our own lives.
Quote collection
Peter Morgan quotes (page 1 of 2)
34 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"I don't want to direct. I have no directing ambition whatsoever. And as long as I meet filmmakers like Tom Hooper, Stephen Frears, and others who allow that collaboration, I can't see why I would ever want to direct."
"To what degree are historians chroniclers of the truth and to what degree are they just novelists, frankly?"
"If you have distance from the events, then your story can work as an analogy or parable, rather than its literal narrative."
"Sometimes you are lucky enough to get offered things and there is no rhyme or reason."
"I'm always pre-occupied with what it is that I'm doing at the moment."
"The thing that I'm most in love with is the thing that I'm writing at the moment."
"I never go back over something I've done and I never watch them again."
"The stuff that I have perhaps become known for that's based on fact, and English statesmen shouting at each other all the time, doesn't entirely represent who I am. I am not a politics wonk."
"You're working with other people and sometimes it doesn't work out the way you want, and sometimes you didn't realise what a mistake you've made until you see it projected."
"You can only do the best you can in the minute that you're doing it."
"I give everything my best shot and sometimes it doesn't work out and other times it works out much better than you thought."
"There are so many other people involved in the making of a play or a television series or whatever... even if you're a novelist there's so much in just the marketing of a book, or even the time... the zeitgeist, the moment at which it comes out. There's a lot you can't control."
"It might be more difficult because you haven't got a book or a prop, but for the most part I like to write unpaid... initially and my own stories."
"It's really a lovely feeling to write knowing that failure is taken off the table because if it's bad you just never show it to anyone."
"I can't relax when I'm watching a biographical drama, because it's so close to what it is that I do that I just long for more fiction - so that I can switch off."
"People test movies within an inch of their life, so that the entire audience experience is a uniform one."
"There's no way of telling why you want to do things beforehand. Something just grabs you. It might not grab you six months later, and it might not have grabbed you six months before, but at that particular moment it grabs you, so you jump on it."
"As we go through life our relationship with our own mortality and our inevitable demise increases."
"A 20-year-old is never going to give death a second thought, whereas someone in their late 50s is going to think about it... I don't know, 20 times a day."