True power is invisible and impeccable, like good taste. It is never clumsy or artless. Powerful people whisper, suggest, seduce, in order to coerce. They only use volume for effect. This is how you can tell a blowhard from a mogul. ... Most powerful people don't need to coerce; their mere presence is coercive.

Ego problems are endemic in every walk of life, but in the movie business egomaniacs are megalomaniacs.

What turns a work crisis into a life crisis is the infusion of dread.

My goal has been to learn how to get movies made without losing sight of the reasons I began. I have had to learn to recognize the insidious nature of the beast without becoming one.

Breakthroughs, in art, in culture, in personality, come when tackling the unexpected.

Love and friendship, two of life's abiding rewards, are endangered species in Hollywood. People crave both, mistaking alliance for friendship, lust for love, and ambition for both.

It is just as important to move on in the wake of stunning success as in the wake of disaster.