Now, it's almost impossible to go out and do a film about a new form of music.

The first Decline I did was out of sheer love and appreciation for the music. In 1977, it was more about bands, because punk was a new form of music. It was groundbreaking and political.

I actually picked up copies of Decline I and II at a flea market once. I walked out without paying.

For the most part, studio movies have huge budgets. They don't do anything under 30 to 40 million. When you have that much money at stake, you have so many people breathing down your neck.

I got IRS records to finance what I wanted to do.

I like to think about society as being a flock of birds: There seems to be a common consciousness in different time periods, and the new common consciousness reacts to the old standards.

I was always into music. I think everyone is when they're a teenager, as a way to drown out the world.

I really feel kind of guilty spending 80 million dollars. People are starving in the world.

Nobody wanted to touch Decline III when they found out what it was about.

Arnold and Jamie Lee must have worked over the years with directors that did 50 takes, because I'd get like three takes or so and say, Ok, that's it, we're done.

Decline III, I funded myself, from the studio money. That, and I sold a lot of drugs. Kidding. Don't print that.

Nature offers splendor and artistry for us to appreciate. Opening our senses reveals we are surrounded by magnificence.

An inconsistent political philosophy is that which feeds our battle yet starves our victory.

Yet the deepest truths are best read between the lines, and, for the most part, refuse to be written.

Everyone starts out being an atheist. No one is born with belief in anything. Infants are atheists until they are indoctrinated.

For, once begun, Your task is easy; half the work is done.

One just principle from the depths of a cave is more powerful than an army.

The more debt we owe, the wealthier we are.

There's a better chance of a brokered convention than any time in our lifetime.

Only if you're kind to yourself, can you be kind to others.

He (Alexander Woollcott) always praises the first production of each season, being reluctant to stone the first cast.