I probably would have made [films] anywhere. Every city has something they're ashamed of. I would have made films about it and turned it into something positive.

It wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else.

Don’t sleep with people who don’t read.

My idea of an interesting person is someone who is quite proud of their seemingly abnormal life and turns their disadvantage into a career.

True success is figuring out your life and career so you never have to be around jerks.

Without obsession, life is nothing.

[My catholic education] sticked with me. It caused the rage I had to make 'Pink Flamingos.'

Being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it's the freedom to buy any book you want without looking at the price and wondering if you can afford it.

Do we secretly idolize our imagined opposites, yearning to become the role models for others we know we could never be for ourselves?

I like hard movies; I like ones that are basically the opposite of a date movie.

The "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" hitchhiker really made people never want to hitchhike again - the hitcher, the show. Hitchhiking is always vaguely sexual.

Stars grounded her. Their distance offered perspective when she couldn't see beyond her own pain

I invent a reason for the Hertz attendant to start the rental car.I am seventy-five years old: this is not the reason I give.

Do not love leisure. Waste not a minute. Be bold. Realize the Truth, here and now!

Maintain a sense of humor. People who take themselves too seriously are power-crazy. If they win it will be haircuts for all. Beware of power freaks.

I’ve been enjoying a couple of post-Oscar burgers. So I didn’t fit into a lot of the vintage stuff. I wanted to wear something that was a little bit more forgiving.

Even when there are adverse circumstances, I try to do my job. And I usually do.

Mothers hold close, fathers let go. Maybe that’s the way of the world.

Hillary Clinton's been around for 30 years. Why do these stories need to be told? It isn't all of this widely known?

If you don't like your definition of 'good enough', then feel free to change that, but the goal before shipping is merely that. Not perfect.

[Proverbs] are short sayings made out of long experience.