- [engraved on his tombstone] First comes the word.
- [on agreeing to direct Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) ] I became intrigued by the possibility of saying something about the lack of commitment young people seem to have today. Their infatuation with the merely sensational. Their desire for instant relief and gratification. Their lack of sexual joy. And their disillusionment because everything didn't turn out the way TV commercials say it should.
- [how he'd like to be remembered] Told a good story. And that I was honest--and I mean in my work. That means a great deal to me.
- [about his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame] A little dog squatted and peed on my name. Well, I've learned to like that dog and all the other dogs that have pissed on me because it reminds me that first of all, I'm a writer.
- Directing is only writing with a camera. Editing is writing. Scoring is writing. It all has to do with a story, how to tell a story.
- If you're going to make a book just as a book, then there's no need to make it as a film at all.
- The privilege of failure has been taken away in America. All they want is success, success, success, one after the other. And what is continued success? Mediocrity!
- [to cast and crew on the first day of shooting Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)] I'm sure that all of you have your own ideas about what kind of contribution you can make to this film, what you can do to improve it or make it better. Keep it to yourself. It's my fucking movie and I'm going to make it my way!
- [on working in radio with Orson Welles] With Welles, everything began with the writing. And he was very good at it. He was a terrific guy. After I had done a few days' work, we'd go over the scenes. He had such a remarkable memory that if we'd get into a dispute about the way the story should or should not go, he'd say, "Well, let's see, now, in 'Lear' . . . ", and then he would review the whole of the second act of "King Lear", doing all the parts! Or he could quote from the Old or New Testament by the yard. His wealth of information and background about story lines was inexhaustible. He was inventive. Fearless.
- I don't play the social game very well, but I'm trying to learn. There are people who dislike you for the women you've married . . . or loved, or left . . . or have left you. I try not to get in the social life out there because I don't have time. It's very demanding, but you have to get dressed, you have put on a necktie and all, too.
- [on his films] Like most fathers, I'm sometimes partial to the weak ones rather than the strong ones. Those that don't succeed I feel a little more partial to, and it isn't necessarily because think they're better movies, but because they've tripped somewhere or fallen somehow.
- [on quitting Ben-Hur (1959)] I just couldn't stand the character of Ben-Hur. His mother and sister have been thrown in prison, and he becomes the ward of a Roman senator. He leads the high life, sleeps with a lot of beautiful women and mainly concerns himself with winning the chariot race. After winning the race, he finally wonders whatever happened to Mom and Sis. Meanwhile, they've gotten leprosy.
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