David Lynch Found Hope for 'Divided' Country in Last PEOPLE Interview: 'This World Is Supposed to Be Beautiful' (Exclusive)

In one of his final interviews, director David Lynch said he was "very upset with us on this planet right now" but believed we could find a way to get along.

"People in the United States are divided, and one side almost literally and truly hates the other side," Lynch, who died Jan. 16 at the age of 78, told PEOPLE in a Nov. 1 interview. "This is not a way to live."

Related: David Lynch, Twin Peaks Creator and Mulholland Drive Director, Dies at 78: 'There's a Big Hole in the World'

The Twin Peaks director decried the ugliness of a partisan society: "There is so much bulls--- going on these days, it's hard to believe. It's like a nursery school. It's like little nasty children in a nursery school, and we're pooping in our pants, we're smelling up the place, and it's not pretty. And it doesn't have to be this way."

Lynch, a lifelong smoker who was diagnosed with emphysema in 2020, urged people to think about the common good.

Related: David Lynch Started Smoking at Age 8 — Now He Needs Oxygen to Walk: 'It's a Big Price to Pay' (Exclusive)

"We need to be getting along together," said Lynch, the Oscar-winning director behind iconic films such as Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet. "There's so many things we'd all agree on. We can solve these problems working together. Divided we fall, united we stand. This is a true thing. This life is not supposed to be a bad joke. This world is supposed to be beautiful. We're supposed to love each other as a family. "

At the time of Lynch's interview in November, his health had deteriorated to the point that he needed oxygen to walk across a room. But despite that — and what he saw as the state of the world — he said he remained "filled with happiness" because of his long-time practice of Transcendental Meditation. "When you get it from within, it doesn't go away."

Read the original article on People