Trying quotes
18.3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside trying — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"In March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three. This made Professor Sprout very happy. “The moment they start trying to move into each other’s pots, we’ll know they’re fully mature,” she told Harry."
"He spent six hours examining things, trying to find a difference from their appearance on the previous day in the hope of discovering in them some change that would reveal the passage of time."
"From the moment I wrote 'Leaf Storm' I realized I wanted to be a writer and that nobody could stop me and that the only thing left for me to do was to try to be the best writer in the world."
"We're not going to stop trying to live big. It's about transforming your stress so that it doesn't take over. The first step is to realize that it is there and that you are trying to outrun your fear."
"We all must try to be good."
"I carry the place around the world in my heart but sometimes I try to shake it off in my dreams"
"I'm merely trying to give you the sort of argument that would appeal to your intelligence."
"I knew that the right person for Crossroads would come along if we were just patient and made sure that we didn't try to force anything."
"The last page of [Lincoln in the Bardo] - without giving too much away - involves somebody entering somebody else. Not in a sexual way. But it says one of the simplest things you could ever say, which is that we must try and be inside each other. We must have some kind of feeling for each other and enter into each other's experience."
"Fashion is very much emotional. When you see it, or when you wear the right clothing, or you wear whatever, it's supposed to make you feel something. You're supposed to feel some type of emotion, and I feel like I try to do that when I'm on a red carpet."
"The beauty of history is that historians have the ability to find patterns, the big picture. When you make a movie, you try to find that. I'm doing in the cinema what historians try to do in their own media."
"I'm trying to understand my life. The one that I've experienced."
"You always try to find the right style for the movie. That's the key."
"I want my children to have access to something that looks beyond what I call the tyranny of now. You read the paper, everyone talks about that thing [in the news] that day, and all the subconscious really important stuff that's going on is being neglected. The beauty of history is that historians have the ability to find patterns, the big picture. When you make a movie, you try to find that. I'm doing in the cinema what historians try to do in their own media."
"The U.S. ultimately decides what the national security threat is. They put Russia one, Iran two, China three - the terrorists are down the list. But it's amazing to me that we can still consider Russia a threat. On the contrary, they've been very helpful in the Middle East, trying to calm the situation and respect the rights of sovereign countries to exist. It's the U.S. that hasn't - whether in Serbia, the old Yugoslavia, in Africa, and now, Iraq."
"What I've experienced, I'm trying to put in a narrative form, I suppose, to say that it does make sense in this way."
"I think you should do rehearsal and work at it, but when the camera rolls, you should be ready. Try to make it good the first time."
"The phrase you usually hear after a cut is "That was great. Perhaps we could have another go. Maybe try it this way." Even that much direction is prefaced with a lot of praise and encouragement. It's quite like how you deal with toddlers: positive reinforcement, and then a little suggestion that you might want to try something different. Roman Polanski will stop the take and shout, "No, no, no!" Which is somewhat alarming the first time it happens."
"Roman Polanski actually said as much to me once. He had his head in his hands, and I said, "Roman, I've got to tell you, as an actor, seeing the director with his head in his hands... Look, I really want to do what you want me to do." And he went away and he came back, having obviously thought about what I said. And he said, "When my head is in my hands, I'm closing my eyes and trying to remember what I saw in my head, before any of the stuff.""
"My analysis of the situation was that Roman Polanski wasn't trying to break us down or get a performance out of us by destroying us. He was absolutely, very simply, trying to recreate this clear picture in his head. And the pictures he creates are absolutely perfect, and they are exactly what he saw in his head."
