Quotes from Spike Jonze

What I learned from the Beastie Boys was to be independent. They set up their own world separate from the label. They built their own studio.

There was definitely a point in my thirties when I thought, 'Oh, wow, I'm not the youngest person on the set anymore.' But I like it. Working with younger artists is totally exciting.

As a parent, your perspective of childhood is through the eyes of this person that you care so much about and you just want the world to be great for them. You want their life to be easy and happy.

I love when me and my friends don't know how to make something - there's that risk of failure, which should be there. If it's guaranteed not to fail, it's something you already know how to do.

Emotions are messy and hard to figure out.

Moms are people, too. Moms make mistakes, too.

I feel like every movie, I've learned more and more about what I think of the world and what I'm trying to figure out.

I knew I could write infinitely about relationships. That's the most beautiful, most confusing, most rewarding, most heartbreaking thing in our lives - and not just romantic relationships: that's all relationships.

I'm fortunately not, like, typecast. I don't have to just do one kind of thing; I can do all kinds of things that reflect different parts of me.

I am better at math than spelling.

I like naps. I don't drink coffee.

I've done a couple of interviews, and I realized how uncomfortable I felt as soon as I started talking.

Big emotions that are unexplained are really scary. At least to me.

The world is becoming nicer and easier, but that doesn't mean we are any less lonely or any more connected.

I loved Fugazi, the D.C. hardcore band, because they always did everything themselves. They had their own label, and the CDs always cost nine dollars, the T-shirts always cost eight dollars, the shows always cost five dollars, no major label.

I remember when MySpace came out. It did do something pretty incredible - which was unite people around the world with common interests and common tastes.

I'm hesitant to make grand statements because I feel like that it's not exactly what I'm writing about.

Emotions are messy and hard to figure out. Hard to know where you start and the next person stops. Even as an adult, that's a hard thing to know. As a kid, it can be really confusing, because it's all new and you're trying to sort of make your map.

Kids are so fiercely opinionated, that if they love the Harry Potter books and they go see the movie, they'll be the first to say, 'That was wrong! They didn't get that right!' They're storytellers themselves. They're critics. They're going to have the critical opinion.

Everything in L.A. is - it's just an easy place to live in. The houses are nice, the backyards are nice, you got the ocean right there and the mountains behind you; there's an idealised easiness to the way you live and the whole environment.

Doing a documentary is about discovering, being open, learning, and following curiosity.

I'm very nervous about taking jobs. I always make sure that, if I'm going to work with somebody, that they really understand what it is that I want to do. I'd rather not take the job than be vague about how I'm going to do something and run into trouble later on. It's a hard thing to negotiate.

The strengths and failings of a relationship depend entirely on your ability to talk about your feelings.

There's a difference between stress and pressure.