Joss Whedon Quotes

I`m a very hard-line, angry atheist. Yet I am fascinated by the concept of devotion.

Regarding why his Wonder Woman script wasn`t accepted: It was in an outline, and not in a draft, and they didn`t like it. So I never got to write a draft where I got to work out exactly what I wanted to do. In terms of the meaning, the feeling, the look, the emotion, the character, the relationship with Steve Trevor, all of that stuff, I never wavered for a second... The lack of enthusiasm was overwhelming. It was almost staggering, and that was kind of from the beginning. I just don`t think my take on Wonder Woman was ever to their liking.

Remember to always be yourself. Unless you suck.

Joss likes those old movie serials. -- Marti Noxon, about Whedon`s cliffhanger endings to episodes (January 26, 2003)

Remember to always be yourself. Unless you suck.

(about his "Buffy" and "Angel" TV shows) "Redemption is something you have to fight for in a very personal, down-dirty way. Some of our characters lose that, some stray from that, and some regain it." (May 13, 2004)

(after The WB channel canceled the series, causing hurt feelings among the cast and crew -- hurt which was dramatized in the finale) "We put a lot of that heartbreak into the script, into the show, so it would hurt as much to watch as it did to have it taken away from us. I would not have been as brutal about the ending -- had we had another season." (May 10, 2004)

I`d rather make a show 100 people need to see, than a show that 1000 people want to see.

But nowadays I`m really cranky about comics. Because most of them are just really, really poorly written soft-core. And I miss good old storytelling. And you know what else I miss? Super powers. Why is it now that everybody`s like I can reverse the polarity of your ions!" Like in one big flash everybody`s Doctor Strange. I like the guys that can stick to walls and change into sand and stuff. I don`t understand anything anymore. And all the girls are wearing nothing, and they all look like they have implants. Well, I sound like a very old man, and a cranky one, but it`s true."

I don`t want the giant ego. I don`t want to become Kevin Costner, singing on the soundtrack to The Postman.

I love to write. I love it. I mean there`s nothin in the world I like better, and that includes sex, probably because I`m so very bad at it.

(about tearful emotions while filming the last episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" :) "The last scene that I filmed (involved) a one-day player with no lines, which is great. I actually said, `I want the last scene to be a one-day player with no lines, so I don`t lose it.`" (The New York Post, May 20, 2003)

As far as I am concerned, the first episode of Buffy was the beginning of my career. It was the first time I told a story from start to finish the way I wanted.

Loneliness is about the scariest thing out there.

It`s fascinating to me, the shows that I`ve always loved the best, Hill Street Blues" (1981), "Wiseguy," "Twin Peaks" (1990) have always been shows that did have accumulative knowledge. One of the reasons why "The X Files" (1993) started to leave me cold was that after five years, I just started yelling at Scully, `You`re an idiot. It`s a monster,` and I couldn`t take it anymore. I need people to grow, I need them to change, I need them to learn and explore, you know, and die and do all of the things that people do in real life. And so (on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)) we`re very, very strict about making sure that things track, that they`re presented in the right way. Because, ultimately -- and this is one of the things that I did find out after we had aired, the soap opera, the characters, the interaction between them is really what people respond to more than anything else. And although we came out of it as a sort of monster-of-the-week format, it was clear that the interaction was the thing that people were latching onto. So we were happy to sort of go with that and really play it up and really see where these characters were going to go." (NPR Fresh Air, 8 November 2002)

(Talking about Serenity and making a movie) When you`re making a movie, you gotta Amp it up, you gotta go to a greater scale and everything is gonna be a little grander, you hero is gonna be more `heroicaler`.... yes that`s a word..... now....

Always be yourself... unless you suck.

The times are chaotic. For me, I would hope that people look at (_Angel" (1999/I)_) and gain strength by it. With everything that I do, I hope that they see people struggling to live decent, moral lives in a completely chaotic world. They see how hard it is, how often they fail, and how they get up and keep trying. That, to me, is the most important message I`m ever going to tell." (The Vancouver Sun, February 3, 2004)

(when asked how he designed each unstoppable season villain to be unique and threatening:) "We got into a problem with that. We kept saying, "This monster can`t be killed." It`s like, "Well, have you used violence?" It was never about the unstoppableness. It was never about the monster. It was about the emotion. The monster came from that. We didn`t always make them unique. We tried as much as possible, but what was important was how they related to the characters and that`s what made them unique." (April 2003)

When I say, "I love you," it`s not because I want you or because I can`t have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I`ve seen your kindness and your strength. I`ve seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You`re a hell of a woman.

Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we`d know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we`d be truly dead.