Posts tagged quote

You’d be amazed at how many people want to work with you if you just ask, if you just make a call,” he continued. “You see a movie you like, hey, just call the guy up. Why not? I wasn’t always the call guy just ’cause I felt inferior. Paul Thomas Anderson’s not going to pick up my call. That’s what I’m thinking. Alexander Payne doesn’t want to speak to me. Noah Baumbach’s from Brooklyn, I’m from Brooklyn. Maybe there’s something there.” But picking up the phone didn’t come naturally. “It takes a minute to get over,” he said. “It’s not ego, it’s the opposite.

It seems that people who make things are often remembered for the best things that they made. So, if I like Monty Python, what I know the most are my favorite sketches, and if I like the Beatles, it’s probably because of my favorite songs of theirs. In a weird way, it seems like time is really kind to the person who makes a lot of things, because as time goes on, the best things seem to float to the top and those are the ones that people notice. What I extract from that is, to just make as much stuff as possible and don’t be self conscious about the quality of it. As long as you’re learning along the way, and you don’t stop making stuff, it seems like you have more chances of making the good stuff that kind of floats to the top … It seems like volume is the answer. … It’s not the deepest thing, but I have found that if I just really make a lot of stuff, then I regret less.

There are those who maintain that you can’t demand anything of the reader. They say the reader knows nothing about art, and that if you are going to reach him, you have to be humble enough to descend to his level. This supposes either that the aim of art is to teach, which it is not, or that to create anything which is simply a good-in-itself is a waste of time. Art never responds to the wish to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those who are willing to undergo the effort needed to understand it. We hear a great deal about humility being required to lower oneself, but it requires an equal humility and a real love of the truth to raise oneself and by hard labor to acquire higher standards.

I’m not thinking about how I’m going to change myself to fit a certain demographic. I just have to block that nonsense out…you have to stake out what you think is right, you have to put out that signal, make sure it’s pure and then do it and do it and do it and know that they will come. And if they don’t, you have to pack up your bags and say: ‘I enjoyed my time here. Sorry it didn’t work out.’ But the biggest mistake would be to alter my signal to make sure that I reach all these different people. Because then you’re lost.

It is impossible for capitalism to survive, primarily because the system of capitalism needs some blood to suck. Capitalism used to be like an eagle, but now it’s more like a vulture. It used to be strong enough to go and suck anybody’s blood whether they were strong or not. But now it has become more cowardly, like the vulture, and it can only suck the blood of the helpless. As the nations of the world free themselves, capitalism has less victims, less to suck, and it becomes weaker and weaker. It’s only a matter of time in my opinion before it will collapse completely….

…when I say “young,” I’m not just referring to the date on your birth certificate. I’m talking about an approach to life - a quality of mind and heart. A willingness to follow your passions, regardless of whether they lead to fortune and fame. A willingness to question conventional wisdom and rethink the old dogmas. A lack of regard for all the traditional markers of status and prestige - and a commitment instead to doing what is meaningful to you, what helps others, what makes a difference in this world.