In our film profession you may have Gable's looks, Tracy's art, Marlene's legs or Liz's violet eyes, but they don't mean a thing without that swinging thing called courage.

There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness.

No saint, no pope, no general, no sultan, has ever had the power that a filmmaker has; the power to talk to hundreds of millions of people for two hours in the dark.

There are no rules in filmmaking

My films must let every man, woman, and child know that God loves them, that I love them, and that peace and salvation will become a reality only when they all learn to love each other.

Friend, you are a divine mingle-mangle of guts and stardust. So hang in there! If doors opened for me, they can open for anyone.

I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.

A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.

I always felt the world cannot fall apart as long as free men see the rainbow, feel the rain and hear the laugh of a child.

Most ideologies of the world are not for the individual. They're against the individual. Communism, fascism. Any kind of an ism - almost - they're against the individual.

My Advice to Young Filmmakers is This: Don't Follow Trends. Start Them!

Everyone likes to be loved

All writers have their own pet commandments.

My dad is so unique in what he does. It's not like I'm taking a torch from him and doing his thing. I hope I've carried from him a little bit of a sense of irony, a little bit of a wink.

The very act of understanding is a celebration of joining, merging, even if on a very modest scale, with the magnificence of the Cosmos.

We had a much deeper sense of community in '67 than we do in '97. This is important to say that not in a nostalgic way because it's not as if '67 was a time when things were so good.

wealth means power: the power to subdue, to crush, to exploit, the power to enslave, to outrage, to degrade.

If you want to become enlightened, you've got to get all the bullshit out of your life. You have to clear up your mind completely.

Teach the writer, not the writing.

If the company depends entirely on you - your creativity, ingenuity, inspiration, salesmanship or charisma - nobody will want to buy it. The risk and the dependency are too great.

We will always want films ... that basically are centred on young people, because young people is the way we live on, we older people, insofar as we live on.