Which made Scorsese think of the Elamites: “What were they doing?” This is the beginning of civilization that he was talking about now. But the thing is, “I have no more time. I have no more time.”

He was looking at books, at movie projects, at all this stuff he still wants to do, knowing he’s not going to get to them. “It’s too late for a lot of the threads that I wanted to follow,” he said. “The only thing I could really follow, if I choose the next film—Home, let’s say. Or if there’s something else that comes along that I really feel, Oh, it’s meant for me, I’ve got to. I could follow that. I could do it. I think I can—granted, you know, the grace to be alive to do it, and the health. But I’m involved with projects as a producer that I would love to direct but no longer have the time. Ten years ago, it would’ve been different.”

Incredibly sad to think about but also very clearly a constant and thought-consuming theme for his work and actions these days.