How do I respond to criticism? Critically. I listen to all criticism critically..

I remember being taught in school that you would underline things that you liked. I remember just underlining everything as a kid, thinking, 'This ha….

I'll rebel against powers and principalities, all the time. Always, I will..

I write from my stomach..

I don't miss scenes at all the way that I used to miss them when I was younger making a film. It's actually quite fun to get rid of them now..

The films that I love are very straightforward stories, like really old-fashioned stuff..

So with 'There Will Be Blood,' I didn't even really feel like I was adapting a book. I was just desperate to find stuff to write..

I didn't have any desire I might have had 10 years ago to shoot every single word that I wrote..

My writing has a lot to do with who I am, and what my life is like, and my relationships to people..

I had the standard movie geek childhood, because for as long as I can remember, all I wanted to do was make movies..

There’s a lot for screenwriters to steal from songwriters, in terms of getting to the point..

I always had a dream about trying to make a movie that had no dialogue in it, that was just music and pictures. I still haven't done it yet, but I tr….

My dad was this sort of avant-garde guy who did all kinds of weird things. He was a true original and anybody who met him never forgot him..

Clinton used to like to get out of the White House a lot. He would take night trips to McDonald's, and stuff like that. I think he wanted to get out ….

I really subscribe to that old adage that you should never let the audience get ahead of you for a second. So if the film's abrasive and wrongfoots p….

I don't want to be the angry guy..

But I'd be lying if I didn't say that every time you go to make a film, you're desperate to either do it better than you did it last time or to not r….

Acting is the hardest job in the entire world. By far. Harder than ditch digging..

I don't get a sense of American pride. I just get a sense that everyone is here, battling the same thing - that around the world everybody's after th….

I guess what I like in my movies is where you see a character change by maybe two degrees as opposed to the traditional movie change of ninety degree….

I don't think it's a director's job to peek behind the curtain too much..