Look for the contradictions in every character, especially in your heroes and villains. No one should be what they first seem to be. Surprise the audience.

I was not a collective person or a bohemian; I was an elitist.

The world was like a huge red carpet out ahead of me to be walked on. And it stretched on and on, no end.

What's called a difficult decision is a difficult decision because either way you go there are penalties.

The real challenge is not simply to survive. Hell, anyone can do that. It’s to survive as yourself, undiminished.

Take it from a director: if you get an actor that Sandy Meisner has trained, you've been blessed.

Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it.

I knew the exuberance of playing before an admiring audience and hearing my secret voice.

You've got to keep fighting; you've got to risk your life every six months to stay alive.

Wonder is our need today, not information.

The essence of the stage is concentration and penetration. Of the screen action, movement, sweep.

Change what you can, darlin'. That's my best advice.

Quoting Shakespeare doesn't make you an intellectual. It just makes you a fan of Shakespeare.

I think that every record has its own life and a different sound.

Whatever fosters militarism makes for barbarism; whatever fosters peace makes for civilization.

it's a kiss full of promise, of trust and of all that is magic.

I directed before I was even in television; I directed in the theatre for seven years, so that was my trade anyway. But in the UK, I've given up any hope of being considered a director.

To a father who loves his children victor has no charms. When the heart speaks, glory itself is an illusion.

Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward.

Honors achieved far exceed those that are created.

If you've seen one city slum, you've seen them all.