Quotes from Martin Scorsese

My whole life has been movies and religion. That's it. Nothing else.

Every scene is a lesson. Every shot is a school. Let the learning continue.

People want to classify and say, 'OK, this is a gangster film.' 'This is a Western.' 'This is a... ' You know? It's easy to classify and it makes people feel comfortable, but it doesn't matter, it doesn't really matter.

I think all of us, under certain circumstances, could be capable of some very despicable acts. And that's why, over the years, in my movies I've had characters who didn't care what people thought about them. We try to be as true to them as possible and maybe see part of ourselves in there that we may not like.

I love movies - it's my whole life, and that's it.

I'd like to do a number of films. Westerns. Genre pieces. Maybe another film about Italian Americans where they're not gangsters, just to prove that not all Italians are gangsters.

I just wanted to be an ordinary parish priest.

Food tells you everything about the way people live and who they are.

I've been thrown out of schools and fired from jobs. I don't want to work. I can honestly say I haven't done an honest day's work in my life.

When I'm making a film, I'm the audience.

As a child I had terrible asthma.

I don't agree with everything he did in his life, but we're dealing with this Howard Hughes, at this point. And also ultimately the flaw in Howard Hughes, the curse so to speak.

I'm not videotaping my life, but in a way I am trying to put certain things about myself on canvas.

All my life, I never really felt comfortable anywhere in New York, except maybe in an apartment somewhere.

When I was growing up, I don't remember being told that America was created so that everyone could get rich. I remember being told it was about opportunity and the pursuit of happiness. Not happiness itself, but the pursuit.

I'm very phobic about flying, but I'm also drawn to it.

I was born in 1942, so I was mainly aware of Howard Hughes' name on RKO Radio Pictures.

It's interesting that these themes of crime and political corruption are always relevant.

Popular music formed the soundtrack of my life.

I'm trying not to let the anger and the violence that erupt take over my life. I guess it comes with the growing process, I don't know. A little mellowing.

I think when you're young and have that first burst of energy and make five or six pictures in a row that tell the stories of all the things in life you want to say... well, maybe those are the films that should have won me the Oscar.

People say you should do it this way, someone else suggests that, yes, there's financing, but maybe you should use this actor. And there are the threats, at the end - if you don't do it this way, you'll lose your box office; if you don't do it that way, you'll never get financed again... 35, 40 years of this, you get beat up.

If I'm not complaining, I'm not having a good time, hah hah!

There was always a part of me that wanted to be an old-time director. But I couldn't do that. I'm not a pro.