Jonas Mekas Quotes

6 Sourced Quotes

When I look at the world—I have to admit that the majority still want Good, even if timidly.

Jonas Mekas

In the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their politicians and not to their poets.

Jonas Mekas

There is no other way to break the frozen cinematic conventions than through a complete derangement of the official cinematic senses.

Jonas Mekas

And then, sometimes, in the middle of writing—suddenly everything collapses: what for, for whom, for whom am I writing? Why write if nobody's going to read this.

Jonas Mekas

You are welcome to read all this as fragments, from someone's life. Or as a letter from a homesick stranger. Or as a novel, pure fiction. Yes, you are welcome to read this as fiction. The subject, the plot that ties up these bits is my life, my growing up. The villain? The villain is the twentieth century.

Jonas Mekas

Sometimes it's good to fall into emptiness. Be it another person, or oneself, or a junkyard.

Jonas Mekas

Jonas Mekas

Jonas Mekas

Creative Commons

Born: December 24, 1922

Died: January 23, 2019 (aged 96)

Bio: Jonas Mekas was a Lithuanian American filmmaker, poet and artist who has often been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema." His work has been exhibited in museums and festivals worldwide.

Known for:

Walden (1969)
Lost, Lost, Lost (1976)
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972)
Sleepless Nights Stories (2011)

Jonas Mekas on Wikipedia

Suggest an edit or a new quote

Lithuanian Poet Quotes

20th-century Poet Quotes