Joss Whedon Quotes

Joss Whedon offers witty, sharp takes on life and creativity that feel like a backstage chat.

49 quotes

1. The first thing I ever thought of when I thought of 'Buffy: The Movie' was the little...blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed, in every horror movie. The idea of 'Buffy' was to subvert that idea, that image, and create someone who was a hero where she had always been a victim. That element of surprise...[and] genre-busting is very much at the heart of both the movie and the series.

2. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn.

3. I believe we are the only sentient beings in the universe, and I believe that 500 years from now, we will still be the only sentient beings around.

4. I'm working on 'Buffy: Deep Space Nine. It will be dark and badly received.

5. You can either watch TV or you can make TV.

6. The network called up and said 'We piggybacked you on the deal for another show,' I'm like 'Okay, so what you're saying to my writers is that they weren't picked up when they thought they were and now that they are it was because of something that has nothing to do with them. Okay. Great. Stop calling'.

7. My visions of the future are always pretty much standard issue. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and there are flying cars.

8. Let freedom ring, unless it's on vibrate.

9. Veronica solves little puzzles because she, like all of us, cannot unravel the bigger ones.

10. Stay crunchy, even in milk.

11. Very occasionally, if you really pay attention, life doesn't suck.

12. If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.

13. I know there's been some debate about the DVD art. Just remember it's what's INside that counts, as I used to remind girls in high school constantly. CONSTANTLY - until I realized that I was empty inside. Empty and homely. Man, that's a rough combo.

14. The actors can make up their dialogue. I'm bushed, and they're all funny, and the hell with it. Maybe I'll give them a premise to work off of, like 'You're all in trouble' or 'Wash has a thing'. They could maybe light it too.

15. People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy.

16. People with real power never fear of losing it. People with control think of little else.

17. Actually, I really did copy the entire script of Outlaw Star. I really didn't do any of that, I'm sorry I deluded so many people into thinking I'm not a sham.

18. I'd rather have a show that a hundred people need to see than a thousand people like to see.

19. Quiet on the set... unless yer poultry.

20. You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are. If there's any kind of fiction better than that, I don't know what it is.

21. Plans for the series, lessee. New member? Hell yes. The team? Roadtrip to end all roadtrips. The core concept? Ain't even gonna go there.

22. Always be yourself, unless you suck.

23. Every day is a negotiation, and sometimes its done with guns.

24. Hello, I'm the writer and director. Now take your clothes off and get on top of Morena.

25. Astonishing X-Men

26. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

27. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992 film)

28. Theres a fine line between support and stalking and lets all stay on the right side of that.

29. There’s a fine line between support and stalking and let’s all stay on the right side of that.

30. I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've had to jump. I want you to know I did save you. Not when it counted, of course. But after that. Every night after that. I'd see it all again, do something different. Faster or more clever, you know? Dozens of times, lots of different ways ...Every night I save you.

31. Every vampire fiction reinvents vampires to its own needs. You take what you want.

32. When you're making a film, you have an obligation to fill the frame with life.

33. Everything we do really is just a little marker on the long road to death. And sometimes that’s overwhelmingly depressing to me, and sometimes it makes me feel kinship and forgiveness. We’ve all got the same ending to the story. The way we make that story more elaborate, I got to respect.

34. At the end of the day I have many answers for it. It has to do with my mom, who was an extraordinary woman, and a great feminist. It has to do with the people in my life. It has to do with a lot of different things, but -- I don't know! Because I'm not just writing from the female characters for other people. I have a desire to see them in our culture -- that was not met for most of my childhood. Except occasionally by James Cameron. [From the 2011 San Diego Comic Con, in response to being asked why he writes strong female characters.]

35. People feel removed from sexism. 'I'm not a sexist, but I'm not a feminist.' They think there's this fuzzy middle ground. There's no fuzzy middle ground. You either believe that women are people or you don't. It's that simple.

36. Even in the darkness, every color can be found. And every day of rain brings water flowing to things growing in the ground.

37. I never tire of the heroes that I knew growing up. The fun is not that much different from doing a television show: You're stuck with a certain set of rules, and then, rather than trying to break them, it's just trying to peel away and see what's underneath them. That to me is really fun.

38. Don't just be yourself. Be all of your selves.

39. I always watch what I say. I am what I say.

40. Remember to always be yourself. Unless you suck.

41. I've become less cynical, which is appalling but kind of cool.

42. There's a lot of anger in the Twitter-verse, as I've discovered. But there's a lot of love.

43. I have abused language. I love it, and I abuse it... I don't write just to be clever. But sometimes I do. And if you don't have an understanding of the language, then the way in which it's bent doesn't actually register.

44. I am a fan of sequels even though they are inevitably awful.

45. I like to think that I'm a populist entertainer, but I'm a little bit idiosyncratic, and sometimes the networks wouldn't really roll with that.

46. Are you all right?" "Oh my god! I phased!" "Are you all right?" "Are you?" "It was strange." "I can't believe I phased just then! That's never...it was totally your fault." "I like to think so, yes." "Tee hee.

47. Science fiction is like a blender - you can put in any historical experience and take influences from everything you see, read or experience.

48. Writing is the greatest thing that can happen to a human being. It's the best.

49. Hey, this is weird. I ordered one frozen yogurt and they gave me two. You don’t happen to like frozen yogurt do you? I love it! You’re kidding! What a crazy, random happenstance!