Charlie Kaufman Quotes

I don't think I've had a lonely moment in my life.

You're dealing with the body, and you're dealing with bodily functions. We romanticize everything about people in movies.

I don't write genre stuff in any form. I'm not interested in it. I always try to do the opposite of that.

There's theater in life, obviously, and there's life in theater.

I think everything I do is based on my experience in the world in one way or another.

I have a lot of health anxiety.

I just try to be honest, because I think that's part of my job description as a writer.

Seriously, I don't consider myself a writer. I don't think I have writing talent. But I will continue to do it.

I like actors - I used to be one.

I'm not working on anything. I was trying to write something new . . . I guess the goal for me now, at least at this point, is to try to direct again.

I'm interested in art, and I think about the process of making art. It's part of my personality, my experience of the world, so it ends up in the movies. It's where my head is.

I have a background in theater, so I have experience with actors. I like actors - I used to be one.

I love working with actors. I love visual things. I always intended to be a writer who directs and a director who writes.

I want to do my own thing, and I'm trying to get closer to realizing that as a filmmaker.

I've kind of come to the conclusion that what passes for realism in movies has nothing to do with reality and that my stuff is more realistic than that.

I do have, at different times, a certain kind of self-consciousness in the world, an insecurity.

I want to create situations that give people something to think about.

I like for people to figure things out for themselves. It's not like I have the right answer, but if I have a visceral reaction to something, I'm sure that other people will, too.

I try to present something that is true so I don't further destroy the world with my contribution to it.

Directing is a more pragmatic experience, where you have to deal with the restrictions of time and money that force you to make certain decisions you don't have to make when you're writing.

I think that people create the world that they live in. Your existence is very subjective, and you tell stories and organize the world outside of you into these stories to help you understand it.

There are things that aren't represented in movies that are a big part of everyone's life. This is a movie about health and about the body.

The sad thing about working on a movie is that you can never see the movie.

I can never watch anything I've been involved in, because I know it, and I know what the making of it was like, and I know what's been cut out and changed. I just know it.

I don't subscribe to anything. I sit there and I try to think about what seems honest to me.

I don't have a style. I wouldn't say I have a style as a writer, either. I know people have said "This is what he does," but when I'm writing, I don't think about that. I don't think about a style.

I do have some theatrical background. I've written plays and seen plays and read plays. But I also read novels. One thing I don't read is screenplays.

I graduated from college in 1980.

I have ideas written down some places, but usually I can't find them. I'm not very organized.

I think I've had pretty good experiences for the most part with the people who have directed my screenplays.

I think if something resonates, even if it's surreal, it's because it is relatable and I think that that's a core issue for me.

I studied acting at Boston University. I was in the theater department there. Somewhere in there I decided that wasn't what I was going to do and I went to the B.F.A. film program at N.Y.U.

Sometimes I don't like the books that I'm reading.

As a kid, I had a background in theater.

CLEMENTINE: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon.JOEL: I know.CLEMENTINE: What do we do?JOEL: Enjoy it.

You and I share the same DNA.Is there anything more lonely than that?