After a brief period in which I had let many a Southern Californian convince me that it was all 'in my mind,' I am once again officially allergic to dogs.

I like movies that are about real people in real time with real problems.

It really shocks me when I encounter people who think kindness doesn't matter. Because I think it's pretty much the only thing that matters.

In college, you're kind of designing who you want to be. And I wanted to be a big reader.

I kicked college nostalgia in my late 20s. As much as I loved college and treasure the memories, I no longer want to go back.

I care about reading, a lot. It's a big part of my life.

Even though I occasionally appear on it, I don't watch television.

Kindness is not about instant gratification. More often, it's akin to a low-risk investment that appreciates steadily over time.

Film allows me to ask some really big questions with the time to explore them deeply. I love the form.

I actually have a thing about proper nouns. They clang on my ear in a weird way when I hear them dropped into movies.

All of the things I used to obsess over, I'm no longer as obsessed with. I have new concerns but they're a little more existential or cosmic.

No amount of community policing will cause the common people to accept a known corrupt police department.

Those who spell Magic with a K aren't.

Every time, Love pushed down the door where her loneliness lived. The Music came and sealed the chamber of her heart. She was filled with clear sweetness that was there from the start.

She discovered with great delight that one does not love one's children just because they are one's children but because of the friendship formed while raising them.

A very populous city can rarely, if ever, be well governed.

The Church has its problems, but the older I get, the more comfort I find there.

You cannot grow a beard in a moment of passion.

If you want to be a star, don't bother doing it because it ends up being very empty.

Man is born to conquer nature and not to follow it.

We are defined by the stories we tell ourselves.