After so many drive-in waitresses becoming movie stars, there has been this real drought, when along come class; somebody who actually went to school, can spell, maybe even plays the piano. She may be a wispy, thin little thing, but when you see that girl, you know you're really in the presence of something. In that league there's only ever been Garbo, and the other Hepburn, and maybe Bergman. It's a rare quality, but boy, do you know when you've found it.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

Hollywood didn't kill Marilyn Monroe, it's the Marilyn Monroes who are killing Hollywood.

The ultimate trick is to convince, persuade. Every single person out there is an idiot, but collectively they're a genius.

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

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

If you don't like what you're doing, it's unlikely anyone else will either, so be sure you are happy with your own work first.