Quotes from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“That particular take was the one that ended up in the film. So when you see Westley fall to the ground and pass out, that’s not acting. That’s an overzealous actor actually losing consciousness.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautiful ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Pain. Death. Brave men. Cowardly men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“Is it fair to call The Princess Bride a classic? The storybook story about pirates and princesses, giants and wizards, Cliffs of Insanity and Rodents of Unusual Size? It's certainly one of the most often quoted films in cinema history, with lines like:
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
"Inconceivable?"
"Anybody want a peanut?"
"Have fun storming the castle."
"Never get involved in a land war in Asia."
"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."
"Rest well, and dream of large women."
"I hate for people to die embarrassed."
"Please consider me as an alternative to suicide."
"This is true love. You think this happens every day?"
"Get used to disappointment."
"I'm not a witch. I'm your wife."
"Mawidege. That bwessed awangement."
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."... You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."
"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."
"Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"
"There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours."
And of course...
"As you wish.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“It should be noted that all hugs from Rob are bear hugs.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“like a good wine without iocane powder, it seems to get better with time.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“Mandy swears that barely a day goes by that he isn’t asked by someone, somewhere, to recite Inigo Montoya’s most famous words, in which he vows vengeance on behalf of his father. “And I never let them down,” he says.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“It's true in life, as in the movies, that the greatest highs are often followed by the lowest lows.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“For safety purposes, both to protect him and any passersby, they decided to place a small velvet rope barrier around André, who was by now snoring loudly enough to shake the lobby walls.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“So when you see Westley fall to the ground and pass out, that’s not acting. That’s an overzealous actor actually losing consciousness.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“This is true love. You think this happens every day?”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“André drank from a beer pitcher, which looked a lot like a regular glass in his hands anyway.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“We got to the moment when I wake up from being "mostly dead" and say: "I'll beat you both apart! I'll take you both together!", Fezzik cups my mouth with his hand, and answers his own question to Inigo as to how long it might be before Miracle Max's pill begins to take effect by stating: "I guess not very long."
As soon as he delivered that line, there issued forth from Andre' one of the most monumental farts any of us had ever heard. Now I suppose you wouldn't expect a man of Andre's proportions to pass gas quietly or unobtrusively, but this particular one was truly epic, a veritable symphony of gastric distress that roared for more than several seconds and shook the very foundations of the wood and plaster set were now grabbing on to out of sheer fear. It was long enough and loud enough that every member of the crew had time to stop what they were doing and take notice. All I can say is that it was a wind that could have held up in comparison to the one Slim Pickens emitted int eh campfire scene in Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles, widely acknowledged as the champion of all cinematic farts.
Except of course, this one wasn't in the script.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“At the moment of impact, I couldn’t help but look up at André, at first wondering, like a good many others, if we were experiencing an earthquake and then, having discovered we were not, out of sheer concern for his well-being. The sonic resonance was so intense I even observed our soundman remove his headphones to protect his ears.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“He was the real hero in my world and I treasured him. And he loved me. Loved spending time with me.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“Never take your eyes off your opponent.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk,”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“The Crimson Pirate, The Mark of Zorro, Captain Blood, The Black Pirate, Adventures of Don Juan, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Sea Hawk, The Prisoner of Zenda, Scaramouche,”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“The Academy of the Sword (1630) by the Flemish master Gerard Thibault d”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“Great Representation of the Art and Use of Fencing, written by the Italian maestro Ridolfo Capo Ferro”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“The Princess Bride nights at the Alamo Drafthouse cinemas, a national restaurant/movie house, have become so popular that they now produce their own licensed Princess Bride wine.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“Treatise on the Science of Arms with Philosophical Dialogue”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“a veritable symphony of gastric distress that roared for more than several seconds and shook the very foundations of the wood and plaster set we were now grabbing on to out of sheer fear.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“Think of it like you’re holding a bird in your hand,” Peter said. “If you hold it too tightly, you’ll strangle it. Too loosely, and it’ll fly away.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“We had a really fun time working together on the film. With myself as a pirate. And she as a fair maiden. Running off together in the spirit of love and adventure.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“This was the point in the Fire Swamp sequence where Buttercup’s dress briefly catches on fire before the flame is extinguished by Westley. It’s merely a line in the stage directions and consumes only a few seconds of film, but before we could shoot the scene, several steps had to be taken. First, a fire marshal had to be brought to the set. He would then meet with the stunt coordinator, Peter Diamond, Nick Allder, our FX supervisor, and his special effects crew. This was followed by what is known as a general “safety meeting” with the rest of the crew. Anytime there are firearms, fire, or even a dangerous or semidangerous stunt involved, there is always a safety meeting of this kind. The whole crew gathers around, and usually the first AD explains what the meeting is about. He then introduces everyone to the person in charge of special effects/stunts/firearms, etc., and that person walks everyone through the sequence, detailing both process and all potential safety concerns.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

“I’ve done enough movies in the last twenty-five years to know that this is always a difficult moment for an actor. Actors nearly always want to appear courageous and committed, willing to do anything for the team. So while it is perfectly acceptable to opt out of a stunt and let the professionals handle it, there is some pressure, mostly internal, to push yourself beyond your normal comfort zone. Typically, the director will follow up after the consultation with the stunt coordinator and special effects experts and the actors, just to make sure everyone is at ease with their respective roles when it comes to the stunt. Certainly that was the case on this occasion, as Rob consulted with both Robin and me about our willingness to do the stunt. But more so with her, seeing as she was the one who was actually going to be set on fire.”
― Cary Elwes, quote from As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

About the author

Popular quotes

“There is not a greater discovery of pride in the world than in the contests of our wills with the will of God.”
― John Flavel, quote from The Mystery of Providence

“I called up to Mama, "Is this a miracle?" She raised and lowered her shoulders. Her voice drifted down, "Maybe. Or maybe this is just what's supposed to be.”
― Edward Kelsey Moore, quote from The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat

“My form master in 4B1, Snappy Priestman, was a gentle man, cultivated, kind and civilized except when he (very occasionally) lost his temper. Even then, there was something oddly gentlemanly about the way he did it. In one of his lessons he caught a boy misbehaving. After a lull when nothing happened, he began to give us verbal warning of his escalating internal fury, speaking quite calmly as an objective observer of his own internal state. Oh dear. I can't hold it. I'm going to lose my temper. Get down below your desks. I'm warning you. It's coming. Get down below your desks. As his voice rose in a steady crescendo he was becoming increasingly red in the face, and he finally picked up everything within reach - chalk, inkpots, books, wood-backed blackboard erasers - and hurled them, with the utmost ferocity, towards the miscreant. Next day he was charm itself, apologizing briefly but graciously to the same boy. He was a kind gentleman provoked beyond endurance - as who would not be in his profession? Who would not be in mine, for that matter?”
― Richard Dawkins, quote from An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist

“Let the doctors of all the schools condemn me," White Logic whispers as I ride along. "What of it? I am truth. You know it. You cannot combat me. They say I make for death. What of it? It is truth. Life lies in order to live. Life is a perpetual lie-telling process. Life is a mad dance in the domain of flux, wherein appearances in mighty tides ebb and flow, chained to the wheels of moons beyond our ken. Appearances are ghosts. Life is ghost land, where appearances change, transfuse, permeate each the other and all the others, that are, that are not, that always flicker, fade, and pass, only to come again as new appearances, as other appearances. You are such an appearance, composed of countless appearances out of the past. All an appearance can know is mirage. You know mirages of desire. These very mirages are the unthinkable and incalculable congeries of appearances that crowd in upon you and form you out of the past, and that sweep you on into dissemination into other unthinkable and incalculable congeries of appearances to people the ghost land of the future. Life is apparitional, and passes. You are an apparition. Through all the apparitions that preceded you and that compose the parts of you, you rose gibbering from the evolutionary mire, and gibbering you will pass on, interfusing, permeating the procession of apparitions that will succeed you." And of course it is all unanswerable, and as I ride along through the evening shadows I sneer at that Great Fetish which Comte called the world. And I remember what another pessimist of sentiency has uttered: "Transient are all. They, being born, must die, and, being dead, are glad to be at rest.”
― Jack London, quote from John Barleycorn: Alcoholic Memoirs

“I am going to die, her brain recited calmly. I am going to be stabbed until I am died. How infuriating. I have so much left to do.”
― Claire Legrand, quote from The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.