"Behind every sucessful man there stands an astonished woman." "Compassion is a two-way street." "My advice to young film-makers is this: Don't follow trends. Start them!" "A great man and a great American, Frank Capra is an inspiration to those who believe in the American Dream." - John Ford "Frank Capra was the Carl Sandburg of Hollywood who reminded all America of the faces of American we love and cherish." - William O. Douglas "I thought drama was when the actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries." "There are no rules in film-making. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness." [on Marilyn Monroe] "Breasts she had. And a wiggly figure. But to me sex is class, something more than a wiggly behind. If it weren't, I know two hundred whores who would be stars." "Jimmy Stewart's appeal lay in being so unusually usual." (upon receiving his AFI Lifetime Achievment Award) "I'd be the first to admit I'm a damn good director." "Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream, it takes over as the number one hormone; it bosses the enzymes; directs the pineal gland; plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to film is more film." [On his early dream to be an astronomer] I could study the stars and the planets forever. I always wanted to know why, why.... Pictures changed my mind. I was too far along in the movie business. But when I go back to Caltech now and hear about things I'm not familiar with, like black holes, goddamn! I get mad. How the hell I ever refused that I don't know.... But it seems like motion pictures have a terrible hold on me. I don't know what it is...." "A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something." "Do not help the quick moneymakers who have delusions about taking possession of classics by smearing them with paint." "In our film profession you may have Gable's looks, Tracy's art, Marlene's legs or Liz's violet eyes, but they don't mean a thing without that swinging thing called courage."