He Who Hesitates Is Poor.

Feeling Different, Feeling Alienated, Feeling Persecuted, Feeling That The Only Way To Deal With The World Is To Laugh - Because If You Don't Laugh You're Going To Cry And Never Stop Crying - That's Probably What's Responsible For The Jews Having Developed Such A Great Sense Of Humor. The People Who Had The Greatest Reason To Weep, Learned More Than Anyone Else How To Laugh.

We Want To Get People Laughing; We Don't Want To Offend Anybody.

I Also Try To Surround Myself With People I Love - Make A Family Out Of The Company. So I Tend To Use The Same People Over And Over. There's A Sort Of Mel Brooks Repertory Company.

Woody Allen Is A Genius. His Films Are Wonderful. He's Poetic, But He's Also A Critic. He Artfully Steps Back From A Social Setting And Criticizes It Without - I Suspect - Without Letting Himself Be Vulnerable To It.

Basically, I'm A Writer. I'm The Proprietor Of The Vision. I Alone Know What I Eventually Want To Happen On The Screen. So If You Have A Valuable Idea, The Only Way To Protect It Is To Direct It.