Being non-commercial is never an ambition. Movies come together at different points for fortuitous reasons. You do them as you get the opportunity, as opposed to doing them when you choose to or design to.

- Ethan Coen

It's more interesting for me as an audience member to see a movie about a loser.

- Ethan Coen

Like any kind of writing, there are good days and frustrating days. But even frustrating days can be rewarding sometimes.

- Ethan Coen

We tend to do period stuff because it helps make it one step removed from boring everyday reality.

- Ethan Coen

I mean, Joel talks to the actors more than I do and I probably do production stuff a little more than he does.

- Ethan Coen

There aren't reasons why you like this song or this piece of music, or don't like it. It's just, it's either right or wrong, you know?

- Ethan Coen

We haven't had to defend anything to anybody.

- Ethan Coen

We wouldn't have done it if we didn't think we could have fun with it.

- Ethan Coen

I have never had feeling in my toes. My uncle, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, once told me in confidence he had the same syndrome, leading me to believe it is genetic.

- Ethan Coen

The mountain music... is compelling music in its own right, harking back to a time when music was a part of everyday life and not something performed by celebrities.

- Ethan Coen

When the movie's done, you talk about either the score or source music over a particular scene, what might work. You just throw a piece of music over the scene, and we both listen to it.

- Ethan Coen

Dave Van Ronk, for those who don't know him - probably most don't know - was a folk singer. He's kind of the biggest person on the scene in 1961 in the folk revival in Greenwich Village, biggest person on the scene until Bob Dylan showed up.

- Ethan Coen