I think a lot of creative people have no sense of numbers and economics.

It's always helpful to learn from your mistakes because then your mistakes seem worthwhile.

Learn to work with people you wouldn't go to lunch with.

If you’ve got the comedy eye, you can look at any situation and see the humor in it while others don’t.

I am a total believer of making the process a good time - make it memorable, have some fun, try to shoot high in your quality and then dont get crazy, see what happens.

Never underestimate the power of your sister.

There's no better satisfaction than writing. I feel that writing is the best and everything else comes with it

You go to a theater now and you literally see parents watching the movie and they suddenly cover their kid's ears. I figured I'd make one movie where they didn't have to do this.

Editing is the only process. The shooting is the pleasant work. The editing makes the movie, so I spend all my life in editing

I'm too old to be forced.

I made nepotism an art form, so I get to work with a lot of relatives and they're part of it.

(...) a director should tell a story that is close to his own existential experience.

I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men... in receiving from the people the sacred trust confided to my illustrious predecessor.

The possession of wealth is not a mark of Heavenly favor and their absence is not evidence of Heavenly disfavor.

I ran into an extraordinary doctor. He got up inside my head and figured out how my brain processed things, what my core values were, what my inner dialogue was.

Sing, seraph with the glory! heaven is high. Sing, poet with the sorrow! earth is low. The universe's inward voices cry "Amen" to either song of joy and woe. Sing, seraph, poet! sing on equally!

When I came here, I put my hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. I didn't put my hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.

What a moth might see from birth to death if black were white and white were black.

I didn't aspire to write and never considered it as a career option.

Doing little things well is a step toward doing big things better.

You have to be completely open to what people would tell you. You do not shape them; you do not force the materials into your ideas. You have to have all windows and doors open.