I think I probably have the philosophy of a poor man. You know, like maybe I'd steal the pennies off a dead man's eyes.

I'm a great believer in spontaneity because I think planning is the most destructive thing in the world.

I think people are very stiff. Money makes people stiff, and we want it, and we have to pay the penalty. I never agreed with stiffness. I think people have an understanding of what their life is. I define success by being a realist and not humiliating people. I'm a revolutionary - but not in the political sense.

I think I'm probably one of the worst directors around, but I do have an interest in my fellow man.

I could, of course, have written about the film world and the jealousy there and the frequent belief that others don't have talent. But, for some reason, it just struck me to write about art.

Every writer I know has trouble writing.

Nobody would know it to look at me, but the movies I liked as a kid were musicals - 'All That Jazz,' 'Hair,' 'Fame,' 'Annie,' all that stuff - that's where my little youthful imagination was.

I think in music and a lot of creative fields, people's egos get in the way of their ability of seeing the big picture.