The whole reason one wants to do lower budget films is because the lower the budget, the bigger the ideas, the bigger the themes, the more interesting the art.

Most directors have one masterpiece by which they are known. Kurosawa has at least eight or nine.

Always make your work be personal. And, you never have to lie... There is something we know that's connected with beauty and truth. There is something ancient. We know that art is about beauty, and therefore it has to be about truth.

If I have to be remembered for something, I want it remembered that I really liked children and was a good camp counselor.

If the movie works, nobody notices the mistakes... If the movie doesn't work, the only thing people notice are mistakes.

Stay innocent. I'm 69 years old, and I'm still innocent.

It's ironic that at age 32, at probably the greatest moment of my career, with The Godfather having such an enormous success, I wasn't even aware of it, because I was somewhere else under the deadline again.