Charlie Kaufman

“I'm not a nostalgic person. I'm not a sentimental person. I'm not a person who is particularly given to looking back.”

“I've been on a treadmill since I was born, and I'm not getting anywhere.”

“Meet me in Montauk.”

“You are what you love, not what loves you.”

“Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating.”

“What I am is a person who has a lot of anxiety and a lot of neurosis, and it is through my work that I am able to deal with it.”

“The only thing that makes me feel any good is to create. That's the only thing that's of any value.”

“I do like to fly under the radar. When you start being celebrated, it's dangerous.”

“There are too many ideas and things and people. Too many directions to go. I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size.”

“Sand is overrated. It's just tiny, little rocks.”

“Hiding is a way of staying alive. Hiding is a way of being alive.”

“I think of myself as a writer. The best part of my job is the freedom that I have to create.”

“I don't believe in happy endings. I believe in happy nows.”

“I'm interested in the notion of a 'self.' It's a very difficult thing to pin down.”

“I am not an autobiographical writer, but I am a writer who deals with my own concerns.”

“I think a lot of people feel like they don't have a choice in their lives. They're just sort of moving forward on a conveyor belt.”