"Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's"
About this Quote
Wilder’s line is a pep talk with teeth: self-reliance, yes, but also a warning about how easily creative people become ventriloquists for other people’s fear. “Trust your own instinct” sounds motivational until the second sentence flips it into something colder and more pragmatic. If you’re going to fail, at least fail on terms you chose. There’s dignity in authorship, even when the outcome is messy.
The subtext is professional, almost contractual. In film - the most collaborative art form that still expects a single signature - you’re constantly pressured to launder decisions through producers, stars, test audiences, trend reports. Wilder is saying that borrowed certainty is the most expensive kind. When you follow someone else’s note and the project collapses, you don’t even get the consolation prize of learning. You just inherit a mistake that doesn’t fit your mind, your taste, your logic.
It’s also an ethics statement disguised as advice. “Your own” repeats like a drumbeat: own your choices, own your blame, own your growth. Wilder, a director who made some of Hollywood’s sharpest comedies and darkest dramas, understood that the safest decision is often the most fatal. His best films thrive on discomfort, on characters making wrong choices with conviction. He’s essentially advocating for an artist’s spine - not as romantic rebellion, but as survival strategy in an industry that loves to spread responsibility so thin no one can be held accountable.
The subtext is professional, almost contractual. In film - the most collaborative art form that still expects a single signature - you’re constantly pressured to launder decisions through producers, stars, test audiences, trend reports. Wilder is saying that borrowed certainty is the most expensive kind. When you follow someone else’s note and the project collapses, you don’t even get the consolation prize of learning. You just inherit a mistake that doesn’t fit your mind, your taste, your logic.
It’s also an ethics statement disguised as advice. “Your own” repeats like a drumbeat: own your choices, own your blame, own your growth. Wilder, a director who made some of Hollywood’s sharpest comedies and darkest dramas, understood that the safest decision is often the most fatal. His best films thrive on discomfort, on characters making wrong choices with conviction. He’s essentially advocating for an artist’s spine - not as romantic rebellion, but as survival strategy in an industry that loves to spread responsibility so thin no one can be held accountable.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning from Mistakes |
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