John Carpenter Quotes

I've had close chances of success, and sometimes politics and people don't work out.

It still amazes me when I look at some of the films I've been a part of, and some of the people I've gotten to meet and work with. I also look back sometimes and realize that I was lucky to have lived through them and even to have survived them, at times.

In the long run, it's impossible to make progress without sometimes having setbacks, although people who get lucky on their first attempt sometimes forget this.

Oh, I've been ridiculously lucky to work for, I'd say, five of the greatest directors of all time... and a lot of other great people, too.

Somebody with no connection to the film industry may succeed, and somebody with all connections to the industry may not.

People talk about overnight successes, and ultimately, there's a certain amount of, you want to call it luck or fortune or good fortune, or whatever, but when your moment arrives, you have to have been at a point where you paid your dues, or done your 10,000 hours or have the requisite talent or whatever.

Most people with a big idea, great talent and/or something to say don't get lucky at first. Or second. Or even third. It's so easy to conclude that if you're not lucky, you're not good. So persistence becomes an essential element of good, because without persistence, you never get a chance to get lucky.

I've had a lot of failures as well and rejection. As actor, it's actually mostly rejection but people think it's mostly success because they only see your successes - the films that get made.

You see people who get so many big opportunities, and they take them, and they're not ready.

My recipe for success is chance, basically. Just luck. It's a miracle that people still hire me after some of the stuff I've gotten away with. Honestly!

The great ones realize that what you did yesterday guarantees you nothing today. The challenge is too many people are busy celebrating yesterday's success.

Some people have an unrealistic expectation when it comes to getting published; the fact is most publishers will turn down your work which is why you need to be persistent.

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them

I think in life the key thing is just to fight really hard to make sure something survives. If it looks like you've done everything you can to avoid failure, just move forward, move on and learn from it.

You have to make those mistakes. You have to do the work. You have to fail. I also realized that I should practice what I preach, which is that if you only do get one kick at the can . . . When you go to places like Africa or Asia or the Indian sub-continent, you realize that a lot of the people there don't ever get a kick at the can. There are no "kicks" at the can - you just don't have that shot.

Obstacles don't have to stop you.

Erase the word "failure" from your vocabulary. No case is ever truly closed, and no challenge is ever over.

Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one 'dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.

I worked hard, but I was lucky the right people happened to see my work.

A friend told me 'I guess you gotta go through a lot of nightmares, before you finally, you know, accomplish your dreams.

It doesn't matter how many times you fail. It doesn't matter how many times you almost get it right. No-one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you. All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.

Even the losers get lucky sometimes. Even the losers keep a little bit of pride. They get lucky sometimes.

It doesn't matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.

People do not mind people who try things and fail. If you're a good entrepreneur, you're not going to succeed in every single thing you try. You've got to try to succeed at more things than fail.

When I look at the kids training today... I can tell which ones are going to do well. It's not necessarily the ones who have the most natural talent or who fall the least. Sometimes it's the kids who fall the most, and keep pulling themselves up and trying again.