Film Director Quotes

“Participating in a gun buy-back program because you think that criminals have too many guns is like having yourself castrated because you think your neighbors have too many kids.”

“I guess it's like trying to put through the flat tax, which is probably my favorite one of all.... if we did pass it, all of a sudden, what do you have? You have the whole tax system run by a little old lady on a home computer, doing the work of all these thousands of bureaucrats and accountants. Passing that would be amazing, wouldn't it?”

“I'm not one of these guys who sits around saying, 'Gee, I mean, the person had a strange childhood and that's why he's doing this horrible thing. Poor Jeffrey Dahmer. He's just had a bad childhood and that's why he's eating people.' Wait a second! This person should be removed from the planet.”

“Let's put it this way: there wouldn't be much point in me attending a high-school reunion now because there wouldn't be anybody there. We'd struggle to raise a quorum.”

“Great stories teach you something. That's one reason I haven't slipped into some sort of retirement: I always feel like I'm learning something new.”

“What Trump is onto is, he's just saying what's on his mind. And sometimes it's not so good. And sometimes it's... I mean, I can understand where he's coming from, but I don't always agree with it.”

“The more time you have to think things through, the more you have to screw it up.”

“I like to direct the same way that I like to be directed.”

“I guess a great movie would be one that has the most great moments in it.”

“I've never been on a movie where they play five-dollar Friday. I must not be very observant.”

“The main thing is, you just want to have your place in history. You hope that people will look back on it in 15, 20, 30 and beyond years, and say, "That was an exciting film."”

“I always like to try different things, different genres; stories that have a dramatic element and can generate conflict which I find appealing; where the characters have to overcome obstacles. That kind of thing is challenging.”

“Everybody puts importance in money on a film set.”

“Don Siegel last advice to me was 'Don't short yourself.' He said the tendency is when an actor's directing is to kind of you want to work on everybody else but you're going to short yourself. He said, take the time to do a good job with yourself so that you're satisfied with it.”

“Listen, punk. To me you're nothin' but dogshit, you understand? And a lot of things can happen to dogshit. It can be scraped up with a shovel off the ground. It can dry up and blow away in the wind. Or it can be stepped on and squashed. So take my advice and be careful where the dog shits ya!”

“Let's not go and ruin it by thinking too much.”

“You, me...we own this country. Politicians are employees of ours....And when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go.”

“When you work with kids, especially, you want to be ready to turn the camera on at a moment's notice.”

“I never sympathise with the accused unless there's a chance the accused is not guilty, but I certainly don't ever sympathise with the criminal.”

“I'm not a chick-flick enthusiast.”

“I'm not really conservative. I'm conservative on certain things. I believe in less government. I believe in fiscal responsibility and all those things that maybe Republicans used to believe in but don't any more.”

“I've never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves - it's just a question of finding the subject.”

“If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.”

“It's a very confusing era that we're in.”

“I think as you get older, you find you can play more things because you're moving to a different category. You play a certain thing as a younger man, playing action roles like I did. Then I moved out, and I kept trying to do different things all the time.”