I think watching a movie that simply confirms my feelings is a waste of time. That applies not only to movies, but also to books and every form of art.

Classicism becomes avant-garde when everyone else is doing their utmost to develop new stylistic forms. I think it's healthy to return to classical forms.

I give the spectator the possibility of participating. The audience completes the film by thinking about it; those who watch must not be just consumers ingesting spoon-fed images.

Film is simply the most complex way you can express yourself

I'm not really a happy person. It's a question of temperament. I have a tendency toward melancholy. You can feel quite happily melancholic.

An artist is someone who should raise questions rather than give answers. I have no message.

If I tell the audience what they should think, then I am robbing them of their own imagination and their own capacity of deciding what's important to them.

I don't need a psychiatrist. I can sort out my fears with my work. That's the privilege of all artists, to be able to sort out their unhappiness and their neuroses in order to create something.

I try to get closer to reality, to get close to the contradictions. The cinema world can be a real world rather than a dream world.

Drama lives on conflict. If you're trying to deal with social issues seriously, there's no way of avoiding violence, which is so present in society.

Film is 24 lies per second at the service of truth, or at the service of the attempt to find the truth.

Do not put everybody’s foot into your old shoe

Just be yourself. Let people see the real, imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful, magical person that your are.

There should be choice in healthcare.

The secret of a happy life is respect. Respect for yourself and respect for others.

I have a big collection of quotation programs...In particular, I like MCR Software's Wisdom of the Ages, which has the best selection of relevant quotes I know.

Do not place hope in finding a secret technique. Polish the mind through ceaseless training; that is the key to effective techniques.

If you [Americans] behave with disrespect - even just a little bit - [the Iranian people] will punch you in the mouth so hard that all your devouring teeth will fall off.

Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped.

It sounds corny to say, but the theater is sacred; something transcendent can occur, and when it does, everyone grows. It's a true communion.

My characters are quite as real to me as so-called real people; which is one reason why I'm not subject to what is known as loneliness. I have plenty of company.