Failure is inevitable. Success is elusive.

I think every film I make that puts characters in jeopardy is me purging my own fears, sadly only to re-engage with them shortly after the release of the picture. I'll never make enough films to purge them all.

With Star Wars, George put the butter back into the popcorn.

Once a month the sky falls on my head, I come to, and I see another movie I want to make.

I'd rather direct than produce. Any day. And twice on Sunday.

I always like to think of the audience when I am directing. Because I am the audience.

I dream for a living. July 15, 1985

The most expensive habit in the world is celluloid, not heroin, and I need a fix every few years. 1979

I don't work weekends. Weekends are for my kids. And I have dinner at home every night when I'm not physically directing a movie - I get home by six. I put the kids to bed and tell them stories and take them to school the next morning. I work basically from 9.30 to 5.30 and I'm strict about that.

Why pay a dollar for a bookmark? Why not use the dollar for a bookmark?

The older I get, the more I look at movies as a moving miracle.

I don't drink coffee. I've never had a cup of coffee in my entire life; that's something you probably don't know about me. I've hated the taste since I was a kid.

Godzilla was the most masterful of all dinosaur movies because it made you believe it was really happening.

Before I go off and direct a movie I always look at 4 films. They tend to be: Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, It's a Wonderful Life, and The Searchers.

Am I allowed to say I really wanted this? On winning the Best Director Oscar for Saving Private Ryan