Cosima Spender quotes

I would like people to feel that they've understood something more about Siena than the usual Palio as seen by tourists. It is full of beauty, romance and tradition, but also power, schemes and bribery. It's Italy in a nutshell, with all its incredible mixture of beauty and betrayal.
-- Cosima Spender

#Betrayal #People #Romance

I studied anthropology and art history, as I have always been captivated by living traditions.
-- Cosima Spender

#Art #Tradition #Anthropology

I grew up in Siena and was surrounded by the Palio, and all my friends at school were obsessed with it. But since my parents are English, I was never quite part of it.
-- Cosima Spender

#School #Parent #Never Quit

The Palio is shrouded in mystery and secrecy, and the players can't discuss their devious schemes.
-- Cosima Spender

#Player #Mystery #Secrecy

Paradoxically, in the field being a woman actually helps you: people often feel more comfortable talking to women, which is key in documentaries.
-- Cosima Spender

#Keys #Talking #People

If something I make succeeds, people say it was luck. But I don't just throw myself into the unknown. I research my subjects and listen constantly to what the characters have to say. Luck comes into it, but the story is made by them.
-- Cosima Spender

#Character #People #Luck

Documentaries are unpredictable. You never know what will turn up, and the drama occurs in real time. But if you listen to people, a narrative always emerges.
-- Cosima Spender

#Real #Drama #People

We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot.

no matter how we defend ourselves against the outside we're always licked by something from the inside. There‟s no defense against betrayal, and we all betray ourselves.

To reduce the imagination to a state of slavery --even though it would mean the elimination of what is commonly called happiness --is to betray all sense of absolute justice within oneself. Imagination alone offers me some intimation of what can be.

When on life's journey it becomes our lot to travel with criticism of skeptics, the hate of some, the rejection of others, the impatience of many, or a friend's betrayal, we must be able to pray in such a manner that an abiding faith and a strong testimony that the Lord will be with us to the end, will compel us to say, "Nevertheless, Father, Thy will be done, and with Thy help, in patience I will follow firmly on the path that takes me back to Thee."

Fog and hypocrisy - that is to say, shadow, convention, decency - these were the very things that lent to London its poetry and romance.

People can get obsessed with romance, they can get obsessed with political paranoia, they can get obsessed with horror. It's isn't the fault of the subject matter that creates the obsession, I don't think.

I am just like any other girl, a sucker for romance.

I'm running for governor; I'm not running for a legislative office.

You walk into my bedroom at night, it looks like a nightclub. There's all kinds of lighting effects, there's all kinds of music. I want them to feel like they're in for a show. I believe in romance.

Painting is like romance, since it is all about seeing, feeling, and interpreting.