I love to take actors to a place where they open a vein. That’s the job. The key is that I make it safe for them to open the vein.

- Mike Nichols

There's nothing in the American dream about character. It's a serious flaw.

- Mike Nichols

The only safe thing in filmmaking is to take a chance.

- Mike Nichols

The only safe thing is to take a chance. Play safe and you are dead. Taking risks is the essence of good work, and the difference between safe and bo…

- Mike Nichols

Directing is mystifying. It's a long, long, skid on an icy road, and you do the best you can trying to stay on the road... If you're still here when …

- Mike Nichols

The unconscious is our best collaborator.

- Mike Nichols

No doubt you are as alarmed as I by the tragic decline in America's language skills. If 10 people read the following sentence: Two tanker trucks has …

- Mike Nichols

A movie is like a person. Either you trust it or you don't.

- Mike Nichols

I love the editing process of making movies. I just wish that life had one.

- Mike Nichols