To make a film is to create a world.

[speaking at age 61] In the morning I feel about 50; then, depending on how the day goes, I might get down to about 22. When I'm directing on stage, I'm 43 and 32 when making a film because I feel less in control. Acting? Oh, then I'm 24. And when I'm on my own, I feel about 17 and think the world is all before me. Show less «

I suppose I'm the boy who stood on the burning deck whence all about he had fled. The trouble is I don't know whether the boy was a hero or a bloody idiot. Show less «

[speaking in 1986] The modern perception of British cinema has nothing to do with British films - merely with the business of getting more money through the box office. Show less «