My greatest fear is that the audience will beat me to the punch line.

Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement - they offer not drama but thrills.

The Oscars demonstrate the will of the people to control and judge those they have elected to stand above them (much, perhaps, as in bygone days, an election celebrated the same).

Every scene should be able to answer three questions: "Who wants what from whom? What happens if they don't get it? Why now?"

When the three branches of government have failed to represent the citizenry and the mass of the media has failed to represent the citizenry, then the citizenry better represent the citizenry.

Forget narrative, backstory, characterisation, exposition, all of that. Just make the audience want to know what happens next.

It is the writer’s job to make the play interesting. It is the actor’s job to make the performance truthful.

Opportunity may knock, but it seldom nags.

We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.

People may or may not say what they mean... but they always say something designed to get what they want.

Being a writer in Hollywood is like going to Hitler's Eagle Nest with a great idea for a bar mitzvah.

Praise children when they do good, And if they should stumble or fall, Show them how to be humble, Show them how to stand tall

If you need true friend 'a cup of tea can be' it gives you company, listen without complain and makes you fresh anytime, anywhere

My dad used to say that living with regrets was like driving a car that only moved in reverse.

The actual work of recording a record or making a film just requires that you consciously block the time out to do that and nothing else. That's what I do.

Understanding a person does not mean condoning; it only means that one does not accuse him as if one were God or a judge placed above him.

I always say you've only got one life to live, and you're not promised a tomorrow. So, you might as well just have a good time with it.

I am a very bad scientist. I will do anything to make a human being feel better, even if it's unscientific. No scientist worthy of the name could say such a thing.

I can't say L'Etranger influenced me to write, but for the first time I considered the possibility of telling a story that resembled my own experiences in my own voice.

All you need in life is truth and beauty and you can find both at the Public Library.

Don't make a hasty movement. Be like a mountain. Move silently and cautiously.