“One criticizes in others what one recognizes + despises in oneself. For example, an artist who is revolted by another’s ambitiousness.”

“Things I like: fires, Venice, tequila, sunsets, babies, silent films, heights, coarse salt, top hats, large long-haired dogs, ship models, cinnamon, goose down quilts, pocket watches, the smell of newly mown grass, linen, Bach, Louis XIII furniture, sushi, microscopes, large rooms, ups, boots, drinking water, maple sugar candy. Things I dislike: sleeping in an apartment…

“I feel—as a Jew—a special responsibility to side with the oppressed and the weak.”

“Filmmaking is nitpicking, anxiety, fights, claustrophobia, exhaustion, euphoria…. catching inspiration on the wing.… Filmmaking is blind instinct, petty calculations, smooth generalship, daydreaming, pigheadedness, grace, bluff, risk.”