My tendency as an actor was to correct people, was to say, 'What if we tried it this way, what about if we tried that way?' That's terrible habit for an actor, but that's a good habit for director. So I became a director.

Any claim to actual identification as a drama must rest upon the construction of a plot independent of the assignment of affliction to the protagonist.

A good writer gets better only by learning to cut, to remove the ornamental, the descriptive, the narrative, and especially the deeply felt and meaningful. What remains? The story remains.

It's only words... unless they're true.

I took the liberal view for many decades, but I believe I have changed my mind.

What I value most in my friends is loyalty.

I'm entitled to my political opinions, and I get to vote because I'm an American.