Billy Wilder

The Austrians are brilliant people. They made the world believe that Hitler was a German and Beethoven an Austrian.

Don't be too clever for an audience. Make it obvious. Make the subtleties obvious also.

If you're going to tell people the truth, be funny or they'll kill you.

Color is a very critical thing. I've found that architects don't like colors. Engineers too. And so somebody has to stand in. Because this is the finish of it. It is the emotional part of a structure.

Most detective story readers are an educated audience and know there are only a certain number of plots. The interest lies in what the writer does with them.

As a writer, I try to do different things, but I'm not going to become a darker artist or turn into Radiohead overnight. I don't think that's my style.