Excerpts from Screenplay, Stardust Memories, 1980

DORRIE "What are you thinking about when you look out there?"
SANDY "Just, you know, all those people and, you know, how unhappy most of them are, and how...those terrible things they do to each other and, you know. How everything is...over so quickly and you don't have any idea...was it worth it or not."
. . . .
SANDY "What was that? What was that?"
DORRIE "Hey, that's so pretty. A pigeon!"
SANDY "Geez...no, it's not pretty at all. They're...they're...they're rats with wings."
DORRIE "They're wonderful. No! It's probably a good omen. It'll bring us good luck."
SANDY "No...no, get it out of here. It's probably one of those killer pigeons."
DORRIE "No, get something for it to eat. We can coax it down! What are you doing? Hey, wait!"
SANDY "You see, it's got a swastika under its wings."
DORRIE "It's wonderful. Not that.
SANDY "I just...I just want to guide it out of the apartment. Geez. I don't want a winged thing in my house."
. . . .
SANDY "Hey, look, I don't feel that well. I'm tired. I don't want to go through an empty experience. I've had-"
SHELLY "Listen, empty sex is better than no sex, right?"
RADIO ANNOUNCER'S VOICE "We interrupt this program to bring you a special bulletin. Sydney Finklestein's hostility has escaped. Finklestein, a short man with glasses, told police that he had been fighting to hold his anger in for years. And he's very embarrassed that it broke loose while he napped. Police are combing the countryside and warn all citizens to stay indoors."
SANDY AS SYDNEY "My God, look. That's my school teacher, Miss Reilly. Oh, geez, look. That's my ex-wife and her alimony lawyer."
A MAN IN THE AUDIENCE "Your films are always psychological, never political. Where do you stand politically?"
SANDY "What can I say to that? I'm for total, honest democracy. You know. And I also believe the American system can work."
A WOMAN IN THE AUDIENCE "A lot of people have accused you of being narcissistic."
SANDY "No, I know people think that I'm egotistical and narcissistic, but it's not true. I, as a matter of fact, if I did identify with a Greek mythological character, it would not be Narcissus."
ANOTHER MAN IN THE AUDIENCE "Who would be?"
SANDY "Zeus."
. . .
SANDY "you can't control life. It doesn't wind up perfectly. Only art you can control. Art and masturbation. Two area in which I am an absolute expert."
. . .
2ND YOUNG MAN "I really admire your work, sir."
SANDY "Well, thanks very much."
2ND YOUNG MAN "You have such a degenerate mind."
SANDY "Oh, thank you. I take that as a compliment."
. . .
POTATO-CHIP WOMAN "Uh, Mr. Bates, uh, excuse me, what have you got against intellectuals?"
SANDY "What? What? Against intellectuals? Nothing. Why?"
POTATO-CHIP WOMAN "Mr. Bates, I've seen all your films. You really feel threatened by them."
SANDY "Threatened? You're kidding. I've always said they're like the mafia, they only kill their own."
. . .
SANDY "Do you guys gotta tell me, why is there so much human suffering?"
OG "This is unanswerable."
SANDY "Is there a God?"
OG "These are the wrong questions."
. . .
SANDY "But the human condition is so discouraging."