Paul Schrader quotes

If you write interesting roles, you get interesting people to play them. If you write roles that are full of nuance and contradiction and have interesting dialog, actors are drawn to that. (Paul Schrader)
Ultimately, it's an illusion that you can understand yourself. View quote
Paul Schrader
People who act against their own best interests are interesting characters. View quote
Paul Schrader
I want to be happy; why do I do things that make me unhappy? View quote
Paul Schrader
I teach a course in screenwriting at Columbia, but I've never taken a course and I've never read a book about it! View quote
Paul Schrader
As screenwriters, we struggle with our own success. We have wallpapered our world and now we can't get anyone to notice the picture we just hung. View quote
Paul Schrader
The secret of the creative life is to feel at ease with your own embarrassment. View quote
Paul Schrader
The only economic paradigm that movies have ever known is capitalism. There were no church sponsors or state patronage. The idea was that if you'd pay to see it, we'll make it for you. View quote
Paul Schrader
Those artists who say that somehow therapy or analysis will thwart their creativity are completely misinformed. It's absolutely the opposite: it opens closed doors. View quote
Paul Schrader
All the animals come out at night. View quote
Paul Schrader
I still think like a critic, and I still analyze films like a critic. However, it's not possible to write criticism if you're making films. (Paul Schrader)
I was raised as a Calvinist, which is doctrine-driven. And though there are many things wrong with Calvinism, you are at least encouraged to argue about things. View quote
Paul Schrader
Screenplays are not works of art. They are invitations to others to collaborate on a work of art. View quote
Paul Schrader
The clock is impotent; mechanical time does not affect those living in an eternal present. View quote
Paul Schrader
Anything that doesn't bore me I think is doable because it's keeping me awake. View quote
Paul Schrader
'Taxi Driver' wasn't autobiographical in terms of the actual events, but I did draw on my own mental state. View quote
Paul Schrader
You can't take contradiction away. Part of the fun of it is that the contradiction never really quite goes away. View quote
Paul Schrader
Now I see it clearly. My whole life has pointed in one direction. I see that now. There never has been any choice for me. View quote
Paul Schrader