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Quotes from Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste — John Waters

born 1946 United States

← All quotes by John Waters

14 quotes

I would never want to film hard-core pornography, because it always looks like open-heart surgery to me.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

Life is nothing without a good sense of humor.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

Cheer up. You never know — maybe something awful will happen tomorrow.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

To understand bad taste one must have very good taste.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

Going to a sensational murder trial is the only way I can relax.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

I'd never trust anyone who hadn't spent at least one night of his youth in the local jail. The more hell you raise as a teen-ager, the sweeter your memories will be.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

I'll never be able to do a sequel to Pink Flamingos because it would have to end with Divine taking a shit and the dog eating it.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

"How could you think of such awful things?" liberal critics always ask. "How else could I possibly amuse myself?" I always wonder.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

All people look better under arrest.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

I would never want to live anywhere but Baltimore... It's as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay. No one moves here.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits while watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation. But one must remember that there is such a thing as good bad taste and bad bad taste.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

I stopped taking drugs when I realized that pot smelled bad and LSD trips were becoming like TV reruns. I had had enough inner journeys — I felt I knew myself well enough, thank you.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

Parents should worry if their children haven't been arrested by the time they turn sixteen. Being a juvenile delinquent is a birthright and as much a part of healthy adolescence as smoking cigarettes or getting pimples.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

[I] pride myself on the fact that my work has no socially redeeming value.

Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste (1981)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: John Waters (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.