My dad was this sort of avant-garde guy who did all kinds of weird things. He was a true original and anybody who met him never forgot him.

The only honest and generous thing for me to do is to give people myself. That's all I've got as an artist, so I want to do that in an unflinching way.

Writing is a journey into the unknown.

The only way to do something interesting is not care if you fail.

You are what you love. Not what loves you.

I didn't have any desire I might have had 10 years ago to shoot every single word that I wrote.

Clinton used to like to get out of the White House a lot. He would take night trips to McDonald's, and stuff like that. I think he wanted to get out of the house.

I'm not really a Sundance baby, but they helped me so much I feel I have to acknowledge it.

Of course, I'm no dummy.

I had the standard movie geek childhood, because for as long as I can remember, all I wanted to do was make movies.

I don't want to be the angry guy.

You know, I'm really not that competent at describing things musically.

Crazy is so hard to play, there's nothing you can really tell an actor.

So with 'There Will Be Blood,' I didn't even really feel like I was adapting a book. I was just desperate to find stuff to write.

As I have got older and become a father, there's less and less time for films.

I don't think the competition's so rough, within the majority of movies made in Hollywood.

I don't think it's a director's job to peek behind the curtain too much.

I write from my stomach.

Acting is the hardest job in the entire world. By far. Harder than ditch digging.