“I think the bottom line [in America] has always been the economic drive to make money. That’s the culture, I think. It seems throughout history, they talk about the advances and the transcontinental railroad and all that, but behind all that is to make more money—at anybody’s expense. That’s the key thing. What is success here? Success is making money, and if you can’t make money, at least it’s winning at any cost. That is the American dream. The value of the culture is distorted, then. I think that’s what I’ve learned over the years reading more about history and reading more about European history, Asian history.”
— Martin Scorsese (via)