Michael Arndt Quotes

The fluidity of thought is based on the flexibility of beliefs and the emotional boundaries surrounding them.

Failure can only exist from stagnant perceptions. Everything is a process of learning and if you learn something useful, you have success.

In terms of writing characters or stories, at least initially, there's no difference between live-action and animation. A good story is a good story, whatever the medium.

Working at Pixar has been like my graduate school for screenwriting.

Every problem offers an opportunity for a solution. if you are in the right frame of mind to find it.

Good writing is deceptive in that it hides its own artifice - it makes it seem easy.

I like to begin every screenplay with a burst of delusional self-confidence. It tends to fade pretty quickly, but for me, at least, there doesn't seem to be any other way to start writing a script.

Who you think you are is only a thought.

The way you think either stands in your way or assists you in achieving your goals.

Changing how you think costs you no money and it takes no special talent. It does take a commitment on your part to be different.

If you only know something one way, then you don't really know it.

You never want your second act or the whole movie to just be this relentless march towards its goal. You want things to take the audience by surprise.

If you write a bunch of different characters with a bunch of different opinions, you end up with these long scenes of everyone standing around talking.

All thought is created, therefore we are all creators of whatever world we live in.

Writing a great script - not just a good one, but a great one - is almost an impossible task.

Line up your thoughts up for potential, take action and success will follow.

A good story is a good story, whatever the medium.

One of my favorite films is LATE SPRING by Yasujiro Ozu. To me, it represents film as art.

My God, there are so many mediocre screenplays out there.

I had read enough mediocre scripts and was determined not to inflict another one on the world.

My thing is that most scripts arent bad scripts, theyre just not finished yet.

The best writing really does come from the deepest, most private part of you.

It drives me crazy when people say, "All we're trying to do is create entertainment." I feel like people go to movies for more than that.