I liked to work in a shop down in the basement and invent things and build gadgets.

I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians.

When I was about 9, I had polio, and people were very frightened for their children, so you tended to be isolated. I was paralyzed for a while, so I watched television.

An essential element of any art is risk. If you don't take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn't been seen before?

I used to love going into local hardware stores, to look at little things they made locally. Nowadays it's harder, though you can still do it in Vietnam.

I had an older brother who was very interested in literature, so I had an early exposure to literature, and and theater. My father sometimes would work in musical comedies.

There's nothing creative about living within your means.

Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.

We were raised in an Italian-American household, although we didn't speak Italian in the house. We were very proud of being Italian, and had Italian music, ate Italian food.

You don't have to specialize - do everything that you love and then, at some time, the future will come together for you in some form.

If the movie works, nobody notices the mistakes... If the movie doesn't work, the only thing people notice are mistakes.

...always-the sharp, plaintive edgeon the rimof the spoonof my giving.(lines 8-13 of the poem 'Confessions')

What if the very reason you were created was to be creative?

Stop putting off today madam

You would be much amused with the animals round the ranch.

Writing 'February' made me realize that breaking form is a way of letting the song be human.

I am very sorry, but I cannot learn languages. I have tried hard, only to find that men of ordinary capacity can learn Sanskrit in less time that it takes me to buy a German Dictionary

Death in itself is nothing; but we fear to be we know not what, we know not where.

The world ends when I die. And as far as I'm concerned, the rest of the universe might as well call it a day too.

I can't stand a ballplayer who plays in fear.

I want to go working with good people on something that's good, because otherwise it's a big waste of time. I don't have that much time.