Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.
It is the objective of the protagonist that keeps us in our seats.
We all die in the end, but there's no reason to die in the middle.
Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.
I don't think there's any information to be gotten from television.
There's no such thing as talent; you just have to work hard enough.
A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue.
Invent nothing, deny nothing, speak up, stand up, stay out of school.
I tend to write a lot, which I think is the secret to being prolific.
My greatest fear is that the audience will beat me to the punch line.
I hate the computer. I hate their spell-check. I won't ever do e-mail.
Many players will not improve because they cannot bear self-knowledge.
The images in a dream are vastly varied and magnificently interesting.
In a world we find terrifying, we ratify that which doesn't threaten us.
If You can't tell it to me in one sentence, they can't put it in TV Guide.
The audience perceives only what the actor wants to do to the other actor.
There is a profound and ineradicable taint of antisemitism in the British.
I go out there. I'm out there every day. [Pause] There is nothing out there.
Being among my people is a delight. We Jews live among ourselves. I love it.
Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit.
When we fear things I think that we wish for them ... every fear hides a wish
As long as the protagonist wants something, the audience will want something.
Fun is what you do for yourself. If somebody else does it, it's entertainment.
We respond to a drama to that extent to which it corresponds to our dreamlife.
It is not the constitutional prerogative of the Government to determine needs.
We respond to a drama to that extent to which it corresponds to our dream life.
I took the liberal view for many decades, but I believe I have changed my mind.
President Obama seems to understand the Constitution as a 'set of suggestions.'
Any time two characters are talking about a third, the scene is a crock of s***.
I'm entitled to my political opinions, and I get to vote because I'm an American.
I love Superman. I'm a big fan of anyone who can make his living in his underwear.
The work of the director is the work of constructing the shot list from the script.
Here is a sovereign talisman against regret: never do that which might engender it.
The dream and the film are the juxtaposition of images in order to answer a question.
Roll back the clock, and every possession of every great country started with a crime.
All fears are one fear. Just the fear of death. And we accept it, then we are at peace.
Before you can steal fire from the Gods you gotta be able to get coffee for the director.
Storytelling is like sex. We all do it naturally. Some of us are better at it than others.
The avant-garde is to the left what jingoism is to the right. Both are a refuge in nonsense.
Let the cut tell the story. Otherwise you have not got dramatic action, you've got narration.
Everybody makes their own fun. If you don't make it yourself, it isn't fun. It's entertainment.
My idea of perfect happiness is a healthy family, peace between nations, and all the critics die.
Make the audience wonder what's going on by putting them in the same position as the protagonist.
To find beauty in the sad, hope in the midst of loss, and dignity in failure is great poetic art.
The great movie can be as free of being a record of the progress of the protagonist as is a dream.
What we're trying to do is find two or more shots the juxtaposition of which will give us the idea.
IF YOU PRETEND THE CHARACTERS CANT SPEAK, AND WRITE A SILENT MOVIE, YOU WILL BE WRITING GREAT DRAMA.
We're all put to the test... but it never comes in the form or at the point we would prefer, does it?
The Israelis would like to live in peace within their borders; the Arabs would like to kill them all.
I love working on a typewriter - the rhythm, the sound; it's like playing the piano, which I do, too.