Listen, be respectful of others' opinions, be willing to change your mind - and then ultimately you have to make the decision. Decisiveness is very important.

The movie business was changing, I didn't want to turn 60 in the job. I picked 60 as an age where you are young enough to have a new life but not so young you can wait. And I had this incredible need: I had been so blessed in life and I wanted to give back. So I left Paramount with great joy, I have to say, and with great fondness for the memories I have in the movie business.

I felt, if I never did anything in my life but read scripts and synopsize them, I would be happy.

We do share with my mother what I would refer to as an anxiety gene. And I think it is genetic, that I worry about everything. Not every day, I don't want to say it like that, but I do worry a lot about - what was the line I heard the other day, when I was saying to a girlfriend of mine that I worry? She says, "Yes, I spent my whole life worrying - and some of the things actually came true."

The major difference I've found between the highly successful and the least successful is that the highly successful stick to it. They have staying power. Everybody fails. Everybody takes his knocks, but the highly successful keep coming back.

I think, when I started to become successful in the movie business, my mother was very, very worried. She thought no one would want to marry me and she thought that was the most important thing. And she thought that it would affect my personal relations. And she said how worried she was that people would take advantage of me or I would meet the wrong people. When I was made head of the studio, one of her first things was, "Well, now no one will marry you. I hope you'll be happy, whatever."

My advice to everybody - never give up and have great resiliency. Don't take the rejection personally, but listen if it’s intelligent and make changes if they’re needed and then move forward.