I think everything I do is based on my experience in the world in one way or another. — Charlie Kaufman

I think I’ve had pretty good experiences for the most part with the people who have directed my screenplays. — Charlie Kaufman

I have a background in theater, so I have experience with actors. I like actors–I used to be one. — Charlie Kaufman

I think generally I’m kind of interested in subjective experience, what goes on inside someone’s head, that being all they really know of the world. — Charlie Kaufman

We’re all subjective beings and trapped in our own realities and our own biographical stories and physical bodies and our histories–and that’s the only way we can experience the world. — Charlie Kaufman

Clementine: This is it, Joel. It’s going to be gone soon. JOEL: I know. CLEMENTINE: What do we do? JOEL: Enjoy it. — Charlie Kaufman

I’m in my mind a lot. I live there. — Charlie Kaufman

I think if something resonates, even if it’s surreal, it’s because it is relatable and I think that that’s a core issue for me. — Charlie Kaufman

Writing is a journey into the unknown. — Charlie Kaufman

I think dreams are metaphors. Everything you do in writing is metaphorical. So it seems like the same arena to me. — Charlie Kaufman

I don’t have a style. I wouldn’t say I have a style as a writer, either. I know people have said ‘This is what he does,’ but when I’m writing, I don’t think about that. I don’t think about a style. — Charlie Kaufman

Seriously, I don’t consider myself a writer. I don’t think I have writing talent. But I will continue to do it. — Charlie Kaufman

I think directing and writing are very different jobs. Obviously, directing is a more social and managerial job. The other thing about directing is that it’s a very, very pragmatic job, and writing isn’t. — Charlie Kaufman

I like titles that are a little difficult, because it’s kind of counterintuitive. — Charlie Kaufman

I don’t think I’ve had a lonely moment in my life. — Charlie Kaufman

There’s theater in life, obviously, and there’s life in theater. — Charlie Kaufman

I’m not a celebrity. I’m intentionally and defiantly not a celebrity. I don’t have any interest in it. I don’t have any talent for it. I keep my personal life out of my public life as cleanly as I can. — Charlie Kaufman

I’m not into extreme sports or something. I just live a quiet life. — Charlie Kaufman

There are things that aren’t represented in movies that are a big part of everyone’s life. This is a movie about health and about the body. — Charlie Kaufman

I’m trying to tell a story and do it truthfully. — Charlie Kaufman

I do have, at different times, a certain kind of self–consciousness in the world, an insecurity. — Charlie Kaufman

I try to present something that is true so I don’t further destroy the world with my contribution to it. — Charlie Kaufman

I don’t think the world objectively exists the way we think it exists. There’s a constant sort of storytelling process. — Charlie Kaufman

I often have a theme in mind when I’m starting. I know that I want everything to be in a world of, say, evolution, or guilt. — Charlie Kaufman

I think that people create the world that they live in. Your existence is very subjective, and you tell stories and organize the world outside of you into these stories to help you understand it. — Charlie Kaufman

There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They’re all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due. — Charlie Kaufman

So when I write characters and situations and relationships, I try to sort of utilize what I know about the world, limited as it is, and what I hear from my friends and see with my relatives. — Charlie Kaufman

There is so much crap in the world, both in show and other businesses, that I try to be vulnerable myself, in the hopes that there is some truth I can get to, that makes people feel less alone in the world. — Charlie Kaufman

As a writer, or as a filmmaker, you have to present yourself, and part of what yourself is is what you’re interested in, or what you think is funny, or what you think is sad, or what you think is horrible. — Charlie Kaufman

I don’t write genre stuff in any form. I’m not interested in it. I always try to do the opposite of that. — Charlie Kaufman

I actually think I’m probably more interested in structure than most people who write screenplays, because I think about it. — Charlie Kaufman

I’m interested in trying to explore what I think is the truth at a given time in my life, and part of the process of being honest is–in my mind–talking about the idea that you’re watching a movie. — Charlie Kaufman

I’m interested in art, and I think about the process of making art. It’s part of my personality, my experience of the world, so it ends up in the movies. It’s where my head is. — Charlie Kaufman

My time on the set is the least of my involvement. Most of my time is in pre–production and post–production. — Charlie Kaufman

The difference between a movie and a play is that the production you end up with is the production. If a movie that I spent time on turns out to be crap, it’s never going to be made again. — Charlie Kaufman

Scary is time passing and sickness and dying and regret and isolation and loneliness and relationship problems–as opposed to a guy in a hockey mask, which didn’t seem that scary. — Charlie Kaufman

I spend a lot of time in preproduction working with authors, and a lot of time in postproduction.: editing, music, all that sort of stuff. Casting. On the set there’s not a lot for me to do. — Charlie Kaufman

Directing is a more pragmatic experience, where you have to deal with the restrictions of time and money that force you to make certain decisions you don’t have to make when you’re writing. — Charlie Kaufman