[on Rouge] This is a film about communication that disappears. We have better and better tools and less and less communication with each other. We only exchange information.

You have to want to make a film for other reasons - to say something, to tell a story, to show somebody's fate - but you can't want to make a film simply for the sake of it.

Of course, you could, no doubt, call my going to film school the biggest mistake I ever made.

We all steal, but if we're smart we steal from great directors. Then, we can call it influence.

But I reckon that this realm of higher needs, of something more than just forgetting about everyday life, of mere recreation, this realm of needs has been clearly neglected by us.

To do no evil is good, to intend none better.

Punctuality has been called a “homely, but solid virtue.” Although it is not fancy, it is a strong reflection of a person’s character.

On the contrary, I'm a universal patriot, if you could understand me rightly: my country is the world.

Beautiful art sells. If it sells itself, it is an idolatrous commodity; if it sells anything else, it is a seductive advertisement.

Where we find young democracies, we need to help them. Where we find the enemy, we need to fight them. And that's exactly the Bush policy.

As strong as the United States is, we can't deal with terrorism alone.

But violence is news, to a certain extent, and people don't want complicated news. Because as soon as you realize things are complicated, your life becomes more complicated.

I have gone into the waste lonely places

I used to have some fish, some nice little carp, but they got too big for the tank. I don't have any pets now.

I do not know myself how I paint it. I sit down with a white board before the spot that strikes me. I look at what is before my eyes, and say to myself, that white board must become something.