The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good.

You either care or you don’t.

You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film—and such speculation is one indication that it has succeeded in gripping the audience at a deep level—but I don't want to spell out a verbal road map for 2001 that every viewer will feel obligated to pursue or else fear he's missed the point.

Either you care, or you don't. There's no in-between. And if you care, then go all of the way.

However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.

Any time you take a chance you better be sure the rewards are worth the risk because they can put you away just as fast for a ten dollar heist as they can for a million dollar job.

[Making movies] you're not trying to capture reality, you're trying to capture a photograph of reality.