I grew up in a tough neighborhood and we used to say you can get further with a kind word and a gun than just a kind word.

We Americans have always considered Hollywood, at best, a sinkhole of depraved venality. And, of course, it is. It is not a protective monastery of aesthetic truth. It is a place where everything is incredibly expensive.

Do not internalize the industrial model. You are not one of the myriad interchangeable pieces, but a unique human being, and if you've got something to say, say it, and think well of yourself while you're learning to say it better.

The dream and the film are the juxtaposition of images in order to answer a question.

Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement - they offer not drama but thrills.

The secret knowledge is there's nobody home but us chickens. The Constitution was written by a bunch of regular guys who tried to get together and thrash out a contract under which they could get together that would keep people together.

Train yourself for a profession that does not exist.