“I never want to make beautiful pictures. I just want to make sure it’s right. Every set up, every shot, represents a choice: what you want to see, and what you don’t want to see.”

“Every time you have to make a choice about anything, think "Does this go toward or away from what I want?" Always choose what goes toward what you want.”

“We could've done this anywhere, but I wanted you to see me, to see this," he said, gesturing at the room. "I wanted you to know where I come from, what I am under the choices I make.”

“People will want you to behave a certain way, to make a certain choice because it reinforces the way they see the world… But you have to do what's right for you.”

“You make what you see into a window, and you see what you want through it. You make what you see a sort of a door.”

“I know what you want. You want a story that won't surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won't make you see higher or further or differently. You want a flat story. An immobile story. You want dry, yeastless factuality.”

“Sometimes what I want and what I don’t want make so many concessions to each other that they end up looking alike.”

“I don’t think it would actually make you happier to be told you were right about this,” he said finally.
“I don’t want to be happy,” Dahl said. “I just want to know.”

“Maybe you just saw what you wanted to see. Or maybe you justfelt what you wanted to feel.”

“Every relationship is messed up. What makes it really perfect is if you still want to be there when things suck.”