Discussing possible casting choices Mel Gibson and Nicolas Cage for Three Kings before he had signed to the movie: "Luckily, both those guys were tied and gagged in my apartment, and that was a problem for the casting department." "I don't like to share my personal life... it wouldn't be personal if I shared it." "I was too busy breaking up Tom and Nicole's marriage." -on the fact he had nothing to do with the breakup of Julia Roberts and Benjamin Bratt. Speaking about the 2003 Iraq war: "You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people revenge-seeking. These days it only matters who's in charge. Right now that's us -- for a while at least. Our opponents are going to resort to car bombs and suicide attacks because they have no other way to win. ...I believe (Rumsfeld) thinks this is a war that can be won, but there is no such thing anymore. We can't beat anyone anymore." "It's not about an opening weekend. It's about a career, building a set of films you're proud of. Period." "Ninety percent of films are pretty mediocre, but they have a built-in audience and open on 3,000 screens." "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind bombed. But I can take it. Most of the films I've done haven't done particularly well. I'm surprised I'm continuing to work". "Directing is really exciting. In the end, it's more fun to be the painter than the paint." "I don't believe in happy endings, but I do believe in happy travels, because ultimately...you die at a very young age, or you live long enough to watch your friends die. It's a mean thing, life." "We've been trying to push our involvement within the studio system, sort of push the things that we've learned from foreign and independent films through the 80s and push those things back into the studio system. Like Out of Sight isn't your standard studio film by any means; Three Kings wasn't the'standard Warner Bros. kind of film". "...directors are the captains of the ship, and it's your job as the lead actor to make sure that the rest of the cast understand that by doing whatever he says." "See, the first thing about actors is, you're just trying to get a job; and you audition and audition and you finally get them. And you still consider yourself an auditioning actor. I auditioned for One Fine Day, I wasn't offered that. So you're still in that 'hey, I'm just trying to get a job' thing. Then, you get to the point where, if you decide to do it, then they'll make the film. That's a different kind of responsibility, and it usually takes a couple of films to catch up. And then you have to actually pay attention to the kind of films that you're making". "You got to think of things at their worst, not at their best. And Out of Sight was the first time where I had a say, and it was the first good screenplay that I'd read where I just went, 'That's it'. And even though it didn't do really well box office-wise - we sort of tanked again - it was a really good film. And I realised from that point on that it was strictly screenplay first. And then it becomes easier because once you eliminate the idea of doing a vehicle ... believe me, there's nobody who's encouraging us to make these films, not agents, not ... we're not getting paid for these things, and it's not like we're going to make a mint". On making Ocean's Eleven: "It was the easiest shoot ever for any actor, and we all knew it when we were doing it. We were like, it's never going to be better than this. He [Steven Soderbergh] was in hell because it was a really complicated film to put together. We were like, we're in Las Vegas, we go to work at one in the afternoon and we gotta be done by six at night. Six hours of work. Steven was editing all night". "I'm a hybrid. I succeed in both worlds. I hope that selling out on 'Ocean's Eleven' is not such a bad deal. The trade-off is, I get to go make something uncommercial that will probably lose money." "Steven [Soderberg] and I have a great relationship inside the studio system. We make the kinds of films we want and commercial films at the same time. Steven and I have lost a lot of money. We are way in the hole. But this is not a day job. I've got some cash. I have a nice house in Italy. I do OK." "It's true information is harder to get these days. When I was growing up there were three networks - three news shows, delivering the same information. You took that information into your home and you formed your own opinions. Now we have 130 channels. You go to the channel that plays to your belief pattern. We start with different sets of facts, it's more polarizing." "I'm not a snob, I like entertaining films as well. But when you do a film like this, or like Three Kings - films that get you in a bit of trouble - it's fun to open up a debate." [On Good Night, and Good Luck.] "I think, if you listen to the piece, I certainly did not talk about wanting to kill myself. I was talking about the idea of living for years in that kind of pain. Please don't use my words out of context." [Responding to media reports that he had contemplated suicide following surgery] "An acting career usually has about a shelf life of ten years before people get sick of seeing you. It's a good thing to have a job to fall back on and I really do enjoy directing." "I doubt anybody gets taken seriously for very long. I'll be on some reality show in about six years going, Hey, I had a great year in 2006." "People thought I was Tom and Nicole's bodyguard. They'd come up and go, "Is it okay if I go up and ask for an autograph?' It was good. I'd charge 'em three bucks a person. Yeah, you gotta make some money off of that." "I'm the flavor of the month." "Run for office? No. I've slept with too many women, I've done too many drugs, and I've been to too many parties." "I know what my limitations are as an actor, but my strength is putting myself into a well-written part. When I get in trouble is when I have to fix it, or when I have to carry it on personality." "Here is my theory in debunking photographs in magazines. You know, the paparazzi photographs. I want to spend every single night for three months going out with a different famous actress. You know, Halle Berry one night, Salma Hayek the next, and then walk on the beach holding hands with Leonardo DiCaprio. People would still buy the magazines, they'd still buy the pictures, but they would always go, 'I don't know if these guys are putting us on or not.'" "You never really learn much from hearing yourself talk." "I don't live at full tilt the way I used to. You begin to hate waking up with the kind of hangover you get from going on huge benders with your buddies. Also, since my neck surgeries, I've been forced to take things easier and not beat up my body the way I used to. I'm more cautious." "The idea that every time you do a film you're supposed to be tortured confuses me. I mean, guys who say 'Oh, it's really tough, my character is really suffering" - come on. For us, even in the rotten ones, we've had a good time. I don't think you have to suffer." We're the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered. And we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. This academy - this group of people - gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this academy, proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch. You can only get so far without discernible talent - then you either work, or use cheap publicity tricks to keep the public's attention. Paris (Hilton) has no reason to complain if she is on the end of bad publicity.