I don't need a fantasy life as once I did. That is the life of the imagination that I had a great need for. Films were the perfect means for satisfying that need.

One must take what comes, with laughter.

I wanted to be what my high-school civics and history teacher thought of as a good American. That automatically involved taking an interest in government.

I'm all for typewriters, with instant carbon copies, and seeing films in cinemas.

all the French speak French - even the children. Many Americans and Britishers who visit the country never quite adjust to this, and the idea persists that the natives speak the language just to show off or be difficult.

The one thing that you simply have to remember all the time that you are there is that Hollywood is an Oriental city. As long as you do that, you might survive. If you try to equate it with anything else, you'll perish.

I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some time leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise longue, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a flute of champagne beside me and having just discovered the answer to the last problem in a British cryptic crossword.