A good film is also a documentary

I do not say with words. I do not say it with images either.… I do not say, I show. I show people who move and speak. That is all I know how to do, but that is my true subject.

But if I didn't read, I'd think, and thinking, when you come down to it, is the most painful thing of all, and the most monopolizing

I don't think that my films are 'literary'; they are based on the most ordinary things of life.

You have to know how to go against the trend of the times.

I don't owe my success to state subsidies but to a faithful public which has sustained me.

You can't think of nothing.

I think that high art reposes on popular art, without one there cannot be another.

Western civilization shapes the content of my films, provides me with subjects that haven't been used before.

The French don't seek out alliances except when there are difficulties.

The French are very individualistic.

Think not of the fragility of life, but of the power of books, when mere words can change our lives simply by being next to each other.

I hope that five years and ten years from now, I'll be a better man, a more mature man, a wiser man, a more humble man and a more spirited man to serve the good of my people and the good of humanity.

Successful people take their current limitation and put it on their agenda as a job to do, as a thing to figure out and make happen.

Run while you still have the chance.

The road to success is long and up hill all the way

Walking around a slum in a third world country quickly puts into perspective what really matters in life. It grounds you in a way that you can't experience without getting out of your bubble at home.

I don't talk about political matters. That's not my department.

Some people may learn something from the way I play tennis. But there are also players who are better than me in certain techniques.

A person can do other things against his will, but belief is possible only in one who is willing.

When I was younger, I thought about retiring.