“There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more obser...” — Alexander Payne Quote

“There is an audience out there for literate films - slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made.”

“I get asked, 'How can you have such failures in your films?' Well, what else is life about? There's some sense of constant failure in something. Humor gives you a distance from it.”

“There's a bizarre insistence on how a story should be. 'The protagonist must be sympathetic!' they say. Whatever that means. I never engage in that discussion. I never use that word, 'sympathetic.' I just know 'interesting.'”

“The hardest part of this whole movie-making endeavor is finding ideas.”

“Each one of my movies becomes easier to get off the ground.”

“The kindest thing a director can do is look with open eyes at everything.”

“I don't touch anything I don't deserve.”

“America gets the politicians they deserve. That's it. And you keep struggling.”

“We have people around the world who live in the United States, and these people don't deserve to be called traitors.”

“One of the most terrible feelings in the world is knowing that someone else doesn't like you. Especially when you don't know what you've done to deserve it.”

“The only good place for a sage grouse to be listed is on the menu of a French bistro. It does not deserve federal protection, period.”

“Every member in Congress has a seat, and they deserve a seat at the table.”