I've solved the mystery: You have to submit silently. Open up, let go. Let anything penetrate you, even the most painful things. Endure. Bear up. That's the magic key! The text comes by itself, and its meaning shakes the soul. You mustn't let scar tissue form on your wounds; you have to keep ripping them open in order to turn your insides into a marvelous instrument that is capable of anything. All this has its price.

I don't need anybody to tell me how to be alive.

Why do I continue making movies? Making movies is better than cleaning toilets.

But words - words are not enough!

The flamenco of the Gypsy has nothing to do with the flamenco for tourists. Real flamenco is like sex.

I am not the Jesus of the official church tolerated by those in power. I am not your superstar.

On working with director Werner Herzog: I have to shoot without any breaks. I yell at Herzog and hit him. I have to fight for every sequence. I wish Herzog would catch the plague.