The stuff that I got in trouble for, the casting for The Godfather or the flag scene in Patton, was the stuff that was remembered, and was considered the good work.

I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians.

When I was about 9, I had polio, and people were very frightened for their children, so you tended to be isolated. I was paralyzed for a while, so I watched television.

An essential element of any art is risk. If you don't take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn't been seen before?

I used to love going into local hardware stores, to look at little things they made locally. Nowadays it's harder, though you can still do it in Vietnam.

I had an older brother who was very interested in literature, so I had an early exposure to literature, and and theater. My father sometimes would work in musical comedies.

There's nothing creative about living within your means.

Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.

We were raised in an Italian-American household, although we didn't speak Italian in the house. We were very proud of being Italian, and had Italian music, ate Italian food.

You don't have to specialize - do everything that you love and then, at some time, the future will come together for you in some form.

If the movie works, nobody notices the mistakes... If the movie doesn't work, the only thing people notice are mistakes.

Vice is nice, but a little virtue won't hurt you.

It is easy

The mania of thinking renders one unfit for every activity.

The whole red state/blue state thing is very interesting. Watching that shift over the years.

In my teens, I worked as an aide in my community supervising and mentoring youth in various programs and delivering lunches to needy students.

I held apostolic succession fully, and the channels of grace to be there only.

Americans are an odd bunch, but they grow on you.

It's all in your headJ you have the power to make things seem hard or easy or even amusing. The choice is yours.

Economic policies need to be analyzed in terms of the incentives they create, rather than the hopes that inspired them.

When you are in doubt abstain.