'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' which my father had tried to get made for six, seven years, and I for four, was turned down by every studio. Every studio in the world had passed on it.
No matter what - rehearsed, under-rehearsed, over-rehearsed, doubts about rehearsing - the first gig is always the first gig, and you put on your little praying hat, batten down the hatch, and do what you do.
An aggressive drug-testing program would cut down on certain abuses, but its never going to catch everyone - or even close to everyone.
When in some communities selling drugs is so lucrative that that's a pretty big enticement that we have to break down. Part of that is by making opportunities and paying decent wages.
You know who helped me a lot? Jane Fonda. She said, Look at how many times I've been up and I've been down. So don't worry about anything.
So I'm trying to spread myself to the point to where I can do the night shows and not have to worry about the matinees, and do one or two matinees down through the year.
For me, when I go in to write a profile, and no ground rules are laid down, and I'm there to write an on-the-record profile and cover readings while in the room, then that means it's on the record.
Wearing a turtleneck is like being strangled by a really weak guy, all day. Wearing a backpack and a turtleneck is like a weak midget trying to bring you down.
On the road to success, even little stones may cause you fall down! If you are not serious and careful, forget about reaching your target!
When you see someone on top, look away and don't try to bring him down, because he may someday help you reach the top.
Many writers make the mistake of making their readers appear like Lazarus, without any iota of care, throwing down books to readers to crunch as if they are dogs.
No matter how valuable you are and your ideas, fools will certainly play both of you down, so exclude yourselves from the inflammatory environs of fools.
I've always been a guy that's liked a crowd and having people around cheering for me. I'm not a guy that will keep his head down or respond negatively to boos or whatever.
My first day in grade school, I was plain scared. I left the comfort of my run-down house, which I loved, and went to school where it was cold, it smelled, the lighting was bad.
Stop beating yourself up over all the days you didn’t work on your story. Focus on what you can do today. Sit down, and write.
The repression of virtuous instinct in the modern world is an incremental tragedy. Repress one instinct, and you repress many; other parts of consciousness go down, also.
If I go back home to Wittenberg, I'll lie down in a coffin and give the maggots a fat doctor to eat.
Every president becomes a caricature. The press, partisans, late-night shows, and other arbiters of our culture these days boil down complicated and multi-faceted personalities into one-dimensional punchlines.
When I sit down I write very fast... if I haven't finished a book in two or three months then I think it's not going well.
There's only one person who needs a glass of water oftener than a small child tucked in for the night, and that's a writer sitting down to write.
There were times I was told, 'You are too gay.' I turned down a lot of things because producers said they wanted me to be different. I said, 'It's not going to happen.'
