Joe Gillis

"The real monster isn't the person holding the gun. It's the system that loaded it."

"I wanted to be something. I ended up being nothing."

"The end is the only honest part of any story."

"I'm writing a screenplay about a woman who shot a man. Trouble is, nobody knows who she is."

"You don't know the whole story. Nobody does until they've lived it."

"In this town, dreams are a commodity. Everyone's selling, nobody's buying."

"A studio writer can't write. That's the secret of the whole thing."

"I needed the money. That's all there was to it."

"Hollywood's a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul."

"I'm not good at anything. That's my problem."

"You can't go home again, not when you've tasted this kind of life."

"The pool was just sitting there, empty and inviting."

"I wanted to be a writer. Instead, I became a hack."

"Time catches up with everyone eventually."

"They say this town chews up dreamers and spits them out."

"I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway."

"Success in Hollywood isn't about talent—it's about timing and luck."

"Every face in this town hides a broken dream."

"I came here to write great stories. I ended up writing great lies."

"Love in this town is just another transaction."

"The studios own you. They own everything about you."

"I was desperate. Desperation makes you do crazy things."

"The past never stays buried in Hollywood."

"You can smell the desperation in this town like cheap perfume."

"I didn't plan any of this. It just happened."

"There's no second acts in American life—that's what someone said."

"Money makes you do things you never thought you'd do."

"She was beautiful, but beauty is a dangerous thing."

"I knew I was in over my head, but I couldn't stop."

"Writing scripts is like selling yourself piece by piece."