3D doesn't work quite so well with quick cuts and I probably would have done some longer takes had I really taken that information onboard.

I couldn't be a cameraman or a designer or an actor - I have to be a director because I learned how to do that from my dad.

I think my dyslexia was a vital part of my development because my inability to read and write meant that I had to find knowledge elsewhere so I looked to the cinema.

I see the job of directing as being one of creating the right atmosphere, creating an environment where people can realize their full potential.

Every time I make a film, I feel it gives me the chance to learn something new.

Fairy tales to me are never happy, sweet stories. They're moral stories about overcoming the dark side and the bad.

Modern, not bottom-dwelling literature like a carp.

I was known for a while for doing very long takes, especially after Atonement.

I don't make a division between an art film and commercial art.

I feel more in touch with the world when I'm filming.

Generally, I've never known quite how to fit in in civilian life, but on set, making a film, I know exactly where to go, how to behave and how I fit.

Every child is born as angel.

Lindsay [Doran] goes round the table and introduces everyone -- making it clear that I am present in the capacity of writer rather than actress, therefore no one has to be too nice to me.

It is not the opinion of the common man that matters, but the opinion of men for whom you admire and truly respect.

Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other.

Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.

I don't know what the hell I'm doing; I like what I've been doing. I believe in what I've done in the past; I hope my kid enjoys the movies I've made and enjoys some of the movies in the future.

Appearances are deceptive.

Beauty is what sustains things, although beauty is underwritten by pain and fear.

Oh, and she told me that men want only one thing. And on that note, I must give praise and thanks to the powers that be. I don't want much else from them either.

I've never been a girly-girl, never drawn to things that are fussy.