"As I get older, my emotions are closer to the surface." — Richard Linklater

I've always been most interested in the politics of everyday life: your relation to whatever you're doing, or what your ambitions are, where you live, where you find yourself in the social hierarchy.

We filmmakers are control freaks. For us, it's about bending the elements of a story into existence.

The truth will only be told over a career.

One minute you're starting left fielder, hitting home runs; the next, it's career over. I was 20.

We emphasize negativity and violence in the media because that's what grabs everybody's attention, but in the real world, it's mostly people being very cooperative and caring and connected and kind. That's the norm of human experience. And yet, what gets our attention is the very opposite.

It was always kind of sad when your favorite punk rockers, like Jello Biafra or someone, would say they hate something you like. It was, 'Oh, I thought we were on the same page.'

My plan B has always been to make a film about people who talk a lot.

I lost a year or two in there, trying to get films financed that I didn't know would never get financing.

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As I get older, my emotions are closer to the surface.