Agnès Varda

Film director, photographer and installation artist

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
I have never made any money from my films but I have won prizes and recognition. I have been on the margins forever. They all came to see me receive the award - there was Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Richard Gere and so on. I was imagining what they would all be worth in money terms. You see I was never bankable, I could not bring any money ever to the table. I like the friendships and, yes, the admiration but I don’t want to make a big fuss about it. I will go on working as long as I am able!

Richard Mowe, Eye For Film feature interview, 12 February 2018 source ↗

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Sir Roger Bannister Middle-distance runner and neurologist; first man to run a mile in under four minutes
I had set my mind on winning the 1500-meter gold medal in Helsinki in 1952. ... And, it all came disastrously wrong when I came fourth instead of winning. ... Instead of retiring in order to devote myself to medicine, I decided to go on for another two years while I was still a student, working clinically in London, and I did that.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 7 June 2002 source ↗
Francis Ford Coppola Film director, producer and screenwriter; director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now
The Godfather was a very unappreciated movie when we were making it. They were very unhappy with it. They didn't like the cast. They didn't like the way I was shooting it. I was always on the verge of getting fired. So it was an extremely nightmarish experience. I had two little kids, and the third one was born during that. We lived in a little apartment, and I was basically frightened that they didn't like it. They had as much as said that, so when it was all over I wasn't at all confident that it was going to be successful, and that I'd ever get another job.
Recorded Academy of Achievement, Academy of Achievement interview, 1 June 1999 source ↗
Larry Ellison American businessman
Oh, absolutely. I think most overachievers are driven, not so much by the pursuit of success, but by the fear of failure. Unless failure gets very close and very nearby that fear doesn’t reach profound levels, but it drives us. It drives me to work very hard.
Recorded Academy of Achievement, Academy of Achievement interview, San Francisco, California, 1 May 1997 source ↗
Derek Sivers Founder of CD Baby; author of Anything You Want
In the end, I had to pay $3.3 million dollars to buy back that 90%.
Recorded Essay on sive.rs, Derek Sivers, 27 May 2009 source ↗

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Question What is an unusual habit or small pleasure you are oddly fond of? Daily life
I come from the generation who were taught never to throw things out. I like the idea of hanging on to things and repairing items rather than discarding them. It’s not a question of money, more to do with guarding resources and not being wasteful. My children laugh at me when I sit darning a pair of socks.
Recorded Richard Mowe, Eye For Film feature interview, 12 February 2018 source ↗

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