"Most people seem to think I'm the kind of guy who shaves with a blowtorch. Actually I'm bookish and worrisome." [on being a director] "It's the best job in the picture business because when you're a director, you're God. And you know that's the best job in town." "Life is to be lived within the limits of your knowledge and within the concept of what you would like to see yourself to be." [speaking in 1983] "Tits and sand - that's what we used to call sex and violence in Hollywood." "I don't know why Airport was nominated for any Oscars - it's the biggest piece of junk ever." "We're all forgotten sooner or later. But not films. That's all the memorial we should need or hope for." "I woke up one day a star. It was terrifying. Then I worked hard toward becoming a good actor." [Advice to actor Bruce Davison, on the set of Ulzana's Raid] "You try to please the director, and the cameraman and the soundman, and you're acting and acting and acting and by the time you come to your close-up, you've shot your wad. It's like making love to a woman: you can't try to come all at once, son. A bit of a tit here, a bit of an inner thigh there, and you have a performance!"