Francis Ford Coppola

I was always the black sheep of the family and always told that I was dumb, and I had a low IQ and did badly in school. ”

If I have to be remembered for something, I want it remembered that I really liked children and was a good camp counselor. ”

I had a number of very strong personalities in my family. My father was a concert flutist, the solo flute for Toscanini. ”

When I was about 9, I had polio, and people were very frightened for their children, so you tended to be isolated. I was paralyzed for a while, so I watched television. ”

Listen, if there's one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business, it's that I don't know anything about human nature. ”

The essence of cinema is editing. It's the combination of what can be extraordinary images of people during emotional moments, or images in a general sense, put together in a kind of alchemy. ”

When that happens - when risk is taken and the filmmakers dive into the subject matter without a parachute - very often what you get it something with those qualities that make it age well with the public. ”

The time a movie is made is unique, not only from the talent that is available but if the public was ready for it. ”

I was a pretty shy, lonely kid. I blossomed about age 17, when I went to college. ”

Movie-wise, there is nothing I wouldn't do again. It's not possible to make one perfect movie every time. ”