I do read a lot. I read more than I watch movies.

There are contemporary artists that I hate with all my heart. These are provocateurs that are without feeling. Where is the real emotion?

Thank you to Italy. That is a crazy country but beautiful.

I think cinema has this beautiful component. It's a universal language.

There's one thing that I like about Rome that was stated by Napoleon: that from sublime to pathetic is only one step away. And in Rome there's a constant shifting between sublime and pathetic.

The way I work with my cinematographer is not based on general principles, but the ideas are triggered by the locations where we shoot.

Wasting time is something that people do or feel all over the world, not just in Italy.

The fear of old age is something that one feels when they're younger. Once you get to being old, you're already there, so you don't even think about it anymore.

I don't use Twitter. I'm a serious person.

I usually don't say anything to the actors. It works better for me because when they come to the set, they are at the same time scared and excited because they are not well aware of what will happen.

I hibernate. I hibernate until the next project takes shape in my mind.

Love and respect should be reciprocal

...the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.

I came out of the Soviet Union no longer a communist, because I believed in personal freedom.

When you shoot on high-definition, everything is very sharp and clear, sometimes at the cost of losing dimension and depth of field.

There is no virtue in denying the law of gravity, and there should be no virtue in denying the limitations of government. ... The more we glorify government, the more liberties we will lose.

God is unknown; anything we said about God has no validity, because our knowledge about Him is zero, absolutely nothing!

One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.

If we are kind and considerate, people will want to be around us, and we benefit from enduring circles of attention and care.

The happiest life is to be without thought

Come, Lady, die to live.