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I try to leave out the parts readers skip.

[his first rule of writing dialog] If it sounds written, it's wrong.

[about the adaptation of his book "Get Shorty"] All the adaptations of my books all sucked. This one [O Nome do Jogo (1995)] got it right for once.

If work was a good thing, the rich would have it all and not let you do it.

I think any writer is a fool if he doesn't do it for money. There needs to be some kind of incentive in addition to the project. It all goes together. It's fun to sit there and think of characters and get them into action, then be paid for it. I can't believe it when writers tell me, "I don't want to show my work to anybody". Well, what are you doing it for?

[on film versions of his work] I don't remember all the bad ones. I know "The Big Bounce" was bad, though, and they made it twice. It wasn't bad enough the first time [Cartada para o Inferno (1969)]. I don't think anybody in the picture knew what they were doing. The second time they made it [O Golpe (2004)], they shot it in Hawaii. They would cut to surfers when they ran out of ideas.

[on the process of writing] There isn't any secret. You sit down and you start and that's it.

[re villains' brevity of speech] You never tell the guy what could happen to him. Let him use his imagination, he'll think of something worse. In other words, don't talk when you don't have to.

The bad guys are the fun guys. The only people I have trouble with are the so-called normal types. Their language isn't very colorful, and they don't talk with any certain sound.