I was looking for people who didn't have any preconceptions about films, what I call the "post-rules" generation.

Ultimately, it's an illusion that you can understand yourself.

'Taxi Driver' wasn't autobiographical in terms of the actual events, but I did draw on my own mental state.

Screenplays are not works of art. They are invitations to others to collaborate on a work of art.

There's something wrong - the performance, the weather, the set design, the lighting. Something is not working. And so you say, "Give me 10 minutes." When you're first directing, you're terrified. But when you've been in that situation enough times, you know that under pressure, it will come to you.

Don't ever let the viewer settle in and get ahead of you.

When you have people who are embarrassing themselves for a living, who are making themselves look foolish and vulnerable and emotional for a living, your day-to-day reality is going to be a high-wire act. People are going to get in fights. People are going to get upset. People are going to walk off set. People are going to call each other names. It happens on every film that has any emotional people.