I was raised as a Calvinist, which is doctrine-driven. And though there are many things wrong with Calvinism, you are at least encouraged to argue about things.

I'm a dramatist. Dramatists have a right to look at history and interpret it the way they see it.

The worst nightmare I ever had about Vietnam was that I had to go back. I woke up in a sweat, in total terror.

Hell is the impossibility of reason.

I think our life is a series of adventures.

Every day that you get up, it's some kind of victory if you're making a good product, or working on a project that can only help mankind.

When you look at a movie, you look at a director's thought process.

Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy. Never underestimate that.

People are still living in the moment, and they feel the passion of now.

One of the joys of going to the movies was that it was trashy, and we should never lose that.

Now I see it clearly. My whole life has pointed in one direction. I see that now. There never has been any choice for me.

I was looking for people who didn't have any preconceptions about films, what I call the "post-rules" generation.

I teach a course in screenwriting at Columbia, but I've never taken a course and I've never read a book about it!

All the animals come out at night.

'Taxi Driver' wasn't autobiographical in terms of the actual events, but I did draw on my own mental state.

Nobody has shot a strip club in black and white in a long time.

You can't take contradiction away. Part of the fun of it is that the contradiction never really quite goes away.

That's just my disposition - to create a situation where you have to come up with something.

You think it's a blessing to know what God wants? I'll tell you what he wants. He wants to push me over! Can't he see what's inside of me? All my sins.