I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.

It was a pleasure to have somebody else be the boss. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun any other way. He's been around and made a lot of movies and he's a great straightforward person to work for. And it was a pleasure to see other people to pick up characters that you've sketched out loosely on paper and make them into something fascinating.

I am a cheerful man, even in the dark, and it's all thanks to a good Lutheran mother. . . . Mother was well composed, a true Lutheran, and taught me to Cheer up, Make yourself useful, Mind your manners, and above all, Don't feel sorry for yourself.

I don't want them to be told to remember me.

They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days.

Never insult a writer. You may find yourself immortalized in ways you may not appreciate.

I think the most un-American thing you can say is, 'You can't say that.'