Ben Hecht

In moderating, not satisfying desires, lies peace. ”

What better is there to sigh for than happiness, yesterday's or tomorrow's. ”

There are millions of Americans who belong by nature in movie theaters as they belong at political rallies or in fortuneteller parlors and on the shoot-the-chutes. To these millions, the movies are a sort of boon - a gaudier version of religion. ”

Prejudice is a raft onto which the shipwrecked mind clambers and paddles to safety. ”

Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away. ”

Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock. ”

Hollywood held this double lure for me, tremendous sums of money for work that required no more effort than a game of pinochle. ”

I discovered early in my movie work that a movie is never any better than the stupidest man connected with it. There are times when this distinction may be given to the writer or director. Most often it belongs to the producer. ”