In New York City there are interesting characters and there are interesting stories. There's a story on every street corner. I love it. I think that's what really attracts me to making films.

My mother lived her life through movies and books - she read everything there was to read. And she read to me every night. I never went to sleep without her reading to me. And she fantasized about the book and she would talk about it, the place, and you would think that after she read the book and after she told you stories about it, that she had actually been there. I learned about story from her, and I learned the value of a great story, and the value of great characters.

Every minute doing one thing is a minute not doing something else. Every choice is another choice not made another path grown over lost.

Pauline Kael had seen Nashville, and she loved Nashville. When I called her, she immediately responded to me because we had become friends, and I told her how great this film was, and she told me, "Well, I'll have to see it for myself." So I showed it to her, and she flipped.

If asked my philosophy, it would be simply this: Savor life, don't press too hard, don't worry too much.

I can do anything - but that doesn't mean I should do that. I need to enjoy what I do. I enjoy making movies.

It’s been the structure of my life: you scheme and plan and try and fail and try again and accumulate and lose and win back, and then you tell.