I Like Audiences To Crane Their Necks.

People Have Asked Me Throughout The Years Which Directors Have Influenced Me. I Don't Know Their Names, Because I Was Mostly Influenced When I'd See A Film And Think, "man, I Want To Be Sure To Never Do Anything Like That." So I Never Learned Their Names. It Wasn't A Matter Of Copying Or Emulating Somebody I Admired. It Was Getting Rid Of A Lot Of Stuff.

I'll Give You The Same Advice I Give My Children: Never Take Advice From Anybody.

If Something Works For You, You Continue To Do It. I Did A Bunch Of Pictures For 20th Century Fox When Alan Ladd Was Over There, But I Set The Budgets So Low That They'd Approve And I'd Deliver The Film. They Would Have No Say In It, Which Is The Kind Of Arrangement I Liked.

I Don't Think Screenplay Writing Is The Same As Writing - I Mean, I Think It's Blueprinting.

Your Own Ego Is The Only Trap That I Think You Can Fall Into.