Casting is 65 percent of directing.

There are two things I will never do in my life. I will never climb Mount Everest, and I will never work with Val Kilmer again. There isn't enough money in the world.

The accolades usually come when you're dead or too old to get a job

I have gotten to a point in my life where I don't want to have dinner with someone I don't like.

And in Hollywood, you know, everyone is an expert. Most of them are expert editors. They can't direct, they can't write, they can't act, but, by God, they all think they can edit.

I've found that the more experts you have on a movie, the less control the director has.

The importance of the assistant director cannot be overemphasized.

I look at actors very closely. It's not an accident when the actors excel.

First, speaking for myself, I don't want to ever be in a position where I'm telling other directors how to make movies, because I don't think it's any of my business.

The first assistant director is just so important that the choice of that person is critical to the movie.

I feel that my job is to create an atmosphere where creative people can do their best work.

Your problems can never complicate your life without you complicating them with your interpretations.

Our values define who we're. Never met great persons who kept compromising their values. Let's go beyond lip service to defend our values...

No one is exempt from the rule that learning occurs through recognition of error.

Business must be the solution, not the problem.

On a quick side note, I would argue that--much like Samuel L. Jackson--I am not arrogant at all; I'm just actually really, really great.

Some are less giving, others are more reticent and you actually have to create for them. Others have within them the next step.

On the road of experience, join in the living day; if there's an answer, it's just that it is that way.

A lighthouse doesn't save the ships; it doesn't go out and rescue them, it's just this pillar that helps to guide people home.

Why spend 18 hours watching someone else's war, when you know how it comes out? We win, and then have to buy all their cars.

Women are the real superheroes because they're not just working. They have a life and everything.