I had one life. And what did I do? Wasted it in some palooka preliminaries in Spain, just before Hitler and Chamberlain warm up for the main event.

Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's.

I hate that word. It's return--a return to the millions of people who've never forgiven me for deserting the screen.

A director must be a policeman, a midwife, a psychoanalyst, a sycophant and a bastard.

Happiness is working with Jack Lemmon.

[about the Hotel Marmont on Sunset Blvd., a piece of Hollywood history] I would rather sleep in a bathroom than in another hotel.

The only pictures worth making are the ones that are playing with fire.