Look at the real prodigies, and I look like nothing compared to them.

I am essentially a hack, a commercial person. If I had a hobby, I would immediately make money on it or abandon it.

My mother and father were both much more remarkable than any story of mine can make them. They seem to me just mythically wonderful.

The ideal American type is perfectly expressed by the Protestant, individualist, anti-conformist, and this is the type that is in the process of disappearing. In reality there are few left.

A good artist should be isolated. If he isn't isolated, something is wrong.

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch.

In my opinion, there are two things that can absolutely not be carried to the screen: the realistic presentation of the sexual act and praying to God.