You know, I'm really not interested in someone telling me that something's good or bad.

Failure's a natural part of life.

I've permitted myself to learn and to fail with some regularity. And that is probably the one thing I was given, and that I'm still grateful for.

And may the best of you - for it will only be the best of you, and even then only in the rarest and briefest moments - succeed in framing that most basic of questions, 'how do we live?'

Nothing you do particularly matters. But I'm not sure that's a great excuse for doing it poorly.

I don't have a saviour or a royal family.

Art is not disposable. If you want it, you have to hold it and smell it and touch it and read the credits and enjoy it and put it on your wall.

Imagine how asleep or utterly unperceptive and clueless you would have to be not to see yourself as absurd for the most part.

I'd hate to see any film I'm involved in fail, especially artistically but also business-wise.

I think 1973 was the nadir of fashion. When you watch the coverage from that era, you're struck by the astonishing ugliness of the clothes.

It's not a gift of mine, but one given to me, to be able to criticise myself and not be crushed, by myself or by others.

Whew! You two are blowing hotter air than a tornado circlin’ a volcano in Hades.

Ethics is a dream.

The universe is full of doors.

[On retirement savings:] Gone today, here tomorrow.

I have an inviolable rule against employing nepots and spouses, because they breed politics. Whenever two people get married, one of them must depart - preferably the female, to look after the baby.

Courage, energy and patience are the virtues which appeal to my heart.

I'm not a speed reader. I'm a speed understander.

You don't need a reason to be nice to someone.

Dreams nourish the soul just as food nourishes the body. The pleasure of the search and of adventure feeds our dreams.

Only two things happen to writers when they die: Either their work survives, or it becomes forgotten.