Brian Selznick Quotes

I love all of my books. They were labors of love; I was striving to create something well done, and I do feel I succeeded.

If I didn't love it, I would not record it.

Directing is a very long process, and I have to be in love with it if I want to give up two years of my life and live with it from beginning to end!

I love so much what I do that I spend so much time thinking about it, and then I go home, and then I'm thinking about it, so it's nice sometimes when a movie is over, and then the niggling feelings about whether you've did it right or not start to ebb away.

I think when you're a director, it's hard to do something unless you're absolutely over-the-moon in love with it. The audience, they spend 90 minutes with it, but for you, it's anywhere between a year and a half to three years of your life, every day, working on it.

I don't take on a project unless I know the end result is going to make me happy. If I can't give 100 percent to something, I choose not to do it because it's very difficult to have so many pots on the fire at one time.

I've never adapted a book I didn't love.

I used to set out and do a film and say, 'This is going to be the biggest film I've ever done.' But that's not the right approach. The approach should be the work.

Neil and I share a desire for great quality in our work. If we are offered projects, look at projects, or consider projects that don't have that quality, then we don't do them.

You really just have to love the process. I can't tell you the amount of film sets I've been on where people are talking about Oscars in the middle of the production. It happens all the time.

A lot of authors, judging by their list, will put anything out that they finish... That's the worst model I've heard of in my life. It's just idiotic. Why wouldn't you just wait for the good ones?

I think of my shows as family reunions. I give 100% every time. I just do. It's a huge therapeutic release. Also I love my touring family. And I love my audiences very much.

Thy books should, like thy friends, not many be, yet such wherein men may thy judgment see.

I don't really think about genre. I like to write books that I'd love to read myself.

I was fortunate enough to write about things I really love, and love can be very analytic.

When you have three days to work on a scene, you can give all that love to the movie.

I don't try to be difficult. I just care so much about these albums that I get crazed sometimes when I'm making them.

I can never think about, 'Is this going to sell? Is this going to work on radio?' I just have to get in the zone where I'm like, 'Do I love this, or do I not love this?' Essentially it all comes down to that.

I actually care about my shows.

I'm doing super quality control. I'll have five tunes that I think are all good - before I would've put out all five tunes but now I'm just putting out that one out of the five that I think is the banger.

As a director, obviously you should challenge yourself. It's important, because it's this thing that takes you away from your family for years. You have to really love the thing you're doing. It's very important.

Filmmaking, it has been my first love.

For myself, personally, I am never really aware of timing or anything because I am passionate about what I do, so I have found that if you really love what you do, then time flies.

I like to see things that take a lot of time and effort and passion. Which I feel like 'Skins' has.

Over time, I decided to take up only those stories I love.