“Working is part of life, I don’t know how to distinguish between the two. Work is an expression of life.”

I want to give the audience a hint of a scene. No more than that. Give them too much and they won’t contribute anything themselves. Give them just a suggestion and you get them working with you. That’s what gives the theater meaning: when it becomes a social act.

The ideal American type is perfectly expressed by the Protestant, individualist, anti-conformist, and this is the type that is in the process of disappearing. In reality there are few left.

Criminals are never very amusing. It’s because they’re failures. Those who make real money aren’t counted as criminals. This is a class distinction, not an ethical problem.

A good artist should be isolated. If he isn’t isolated, something is wrong.

The cinema has no boundary; it is a ribbon of dream.

The trouble with a movie is that it’s old before it’s released. It’s no accident that it comes in a can.

I hate Woody Allen physically, I dislike that kind of man.

Human nature is eternal; therefore one who follows his nature keeps his original nature, in the end.

There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.

Ignorance sheer ignorance. There is no confidence to equal it. It’s only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.

I’m never certain of a performance – my own or the other actors’ – or the script or anything. But to me it seems there’s only one place in the world the camera can be, and the decision usually comes immediately.

Future shock is a sickness which comes from too much change in too short a time. It’s the feeling that nothing is permanent anymore.

I’ve spent most of my mature life trying to prove that I’m not irresponsible.

The Godfather’ was the glorification of a bunch of bums who never existed.

If I ever own a restaurant, I will never allow the waiters to ask if the diners like their dishes. Particularly when they’re talking.

It’s ecstasy when you’re laying down next to me.

Migration is an expression of the human aspiration for dignity, safety and a better future. It is part of the social fabric, part of our very make-up as a human family

Should anyone attempt to deceive you by false expressions, and not be a true friend at heart, act in the same manner, and thus art will defeat art. [If you would catch a man let him think he is catching you.]

Violence is a personal necessity for the oppressed…It is not a strategy consciously devised. It is the deep, instinctive expression of a human being denied individuality.

How will you use the years God gives you? Will you be remembered for being a fault-finder? Or will you be known for your quick smile, the laugh lines around your eyes, and the twinkle deep within? After all, God gives you your face, but you provide the expression!

I was country when country wasn’t cool.

Jazz vision is a wordless conversation between musical notes and visual expressions.

This is getting funny, but there ain’t nobody laughing.