I've always had an easy time directing actors because I always hire ones that are great before I get my hands on them.

Well, if I don't get at least 16 hours, I'm a basket case.

You look up after many years and you find that a film has become a classic because it's meaningful to people and alive, decade after decade.

I think you should defend to the death their right to march, and then go down and meet them with baseball bats. (On the KKK)

I think Frank Capra was a much craftier filmmaker, a wonderful filmmaker. He had enormous technique, and he knew how to manipulate the public quite brilliantly.

Better not think too much. Relying more on the body: it is more trustworthy.

If you can delude yourself by believing that there is some kind of Santa Claus out there who is going to bail you out in the end, then it will help you get through. Even if you are proven wrong in the end, you would have had a better life than a non-believer.