When I was doing half-hour shows, I loved it and was preparing myself for the hour shows. Then when I did the hour shows, I was preparing myself for the specials and features.

It was 1978 when Superman came out, and I kept thinking, Why don't they do something about it? They've done all these crappy attempts at comic book film adaptations. What can we do different? Why don't we just re-release this thing?

Soon it's all going to be digital anyway. It's all going to be saved on a little coin somewhere.

It was the beginning of film for television. So we had all of these great opportunities. Northwestern was probably the only major film school of its kind at the time that was graduating anybody important.

People say, You paid your dues, but I never paid any dues. It's always been a great trip.

With The Omen, I really felt I wasn't in control. It was panic.

I was painting sets, working in editorial as an assistant, driving their trucks, lying that I knew how to drive a truck, and doing commercials and documentaries.

It was just the thrill of a lifetime. Brando and Hackman were two of my heroes.

When you make a film, you like to run it with an audience. They tell you you're narrow-minded or subjective, or that seems too long, or that doesn't work.

It's developing a relationship with actors that makes it work.

Some actors just won't bend, and then it's a bitch. You either fight or find ways of putting your words in their mouth and letting them say it back at you.

I was very lucky. I started my own commercial company.

I realized what you could do in motion pictures by surrounding yourself with geniuses.

I was really disappointed that Warner Bros. didn't think highly enough of my film or my filmmaking to ask me to make the new Superman.

When I was doing half-hour shows, I loved it and was preparing myself for the hour shows. Then when I did the hour shows, I was preparing myself for the specials and features.

In motion pictures, the actor rules. The camera served the actor.

I've always wanted to do a Crichton book. I really love his writing.

It's only been a couple of times in my life that I've really locked horns with actors. It did not hurt the films, it just hurt the moment of the filmmaking.

I was tweaked by the idea of Superman immediately.

Working with Christopher, he convinced me he could fly, and he's convinced me he's going to walk again.

That's how you get a performance - they put trust in you.

Superman was never previewed because the producers didn't trust Warners with the film.

If you had the opportunity and some talent, there was no way you couldn't progress, because it was an open market. There was the advertising world, and there was the documentary world.

I'm open to comments. I'm open to objective points of view, because I've been very narrow and very subjective.

How was I going to make a man fly? How was I going to convince the public that an actor could fly?

I was an actor... or, at least, I was trying to be an actor.

When when my first feature opportunity came along, I wasn't prepared, but we did it in about 17 days.

First cuts are a bitch for a director, because it's been so many months and you put your trust in your editor and you're going to see your film assembled for the first time. You look at it and go, This is terrible. I hate it.

I had life threats, because people accused me of approaching Brando as God and his son was Jesus. I literally had people saying my blood would run in the streets for doing that.

I think what some people are doing with effects is starting to get silly. It's overused.

As for us, during twenty years' reign, we have known much bitterness.

Most folks are like a barb wire fence. They have their good points.

The kind of energy I attract is very calm.

If you asked a team of expert psychologists and sociological researchers to come up with a design that was sure to infuriate and offend liberals in America, they'd probably come up with what we call the Great Seal.

Everybody believes in innovation until they see it. Then they think, 'Oh, no; that'll never work. It's too different.'

Circumstances define us; they force us onto one road or another, and then they punish us for it.

When I was a kid, I would do Andrew Dice Clay jokes for my siblings. Like, we'd be on vacation, and I'd just recite Andrew Dice Clay jokes. They seemed to think that was pretty funny. Then it evolved into 'Wayne's World.'

It’s never too late to realize what you want in your life and it’s never wrong to fight for it.

I was the only westerner to succeed in a place that's like a toilet, and you always come out of a toilet with a smell.

I think that when you make yourself vulnerable, the thing that you do next is better. It's not like you have to inflict pain on yourself in order to make yourself better, but I think it helps. The thing that bonds you to a new friend isn't that you went to a really fun party; it's 'cause you had a really weird, sad conversation.

The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery, and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self.

Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.

Many developing countries are enjoying demographic changes. They have a younger demographic composition so they're not burdened by legacy policy. Now, if you combine this with a good macro policy and ambitious structural policy, those countries are able to move more flexibly and be more agile.

If you've gone into a marriage and you haven't been clear about how you're going to handle money, how you want to raise kids, who is going to work or stay home or what have you, then you've set yourself up for failure.

I believe that the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin are two of the greatest rock bands ever!

When something is heartwarming and triumphant and not corny or preachy its such a powerful thing.

I've polished up stories for their reprinted appearances. I guess there's always something to be changed or improved, but one could get carried away and work on one story indefinitely. I'm too restless for that, too eager to begin the next one.

We're always trying to outdo ourselves, trying to do better, trying to write better songs. I think we want to inspire other people as well, so that's what we'll try to do through future songs.

The biggest regret I have about 'Rubicon' is that we didn't end it. Sometimes you do these shows and you don't have the opportunity to get closure. Stories are supposed to have a beginning, middle and an end.