All of us have that feeling of some deficiency from our childhood. I think that's a universal thing.

Belgrade has kind of a Dublinesque, dear-dirty charm.

My favorite sci-fi always uses its hook to amplify some bigger theme or idea - some emotional thrust.

Much of directing [a movie] is not directing but just listening and being present in the moment and just keeping your eyes open.

If you make something interesting, inevitably not everybody is going to like it.

You go from these high hopes when you're writing to just a desperate want of not making a complete fool of yourself by the end of it.

All my favorite movies are somebody else's least favorite movie.

You come out of each movie just thinking, "God, if we can fool them into letting us make just one more, we can get it right."

Writing sucks. I think it's terrible. Writing is not fun, and don't trust anyone who claims to enjoy it. Liars!

Writing in a lot of ways feels more like excavation than construction. It feels like you're uncovering this thing bit by bit, discovering what it is, instead of constructing it upwards.

Showing your movie to an audience... it's like your kid doing a piano recital. 'Just let it not fail. Please.

Man created words to free himself

Oh, come on," Clary said. "You're a vampire, not Spider-Man.

It is far more honest to be undeservedly ignored than to be honoured without merit.

A lot of people have many misconceptions about religion. I know what I'm talking about for myself. My mind is very ordered, so to speak. I need to put things in order.

However, the moral center of New York City, I believe, is the New York City Ballet.

Desire is a teacher: When we immerse ourselves in it without guilt, shame, or clinging, it can show us something special about our own minds that allows us to embrace life fully.

Newt Gingrich is an idiot of great renown... There's something so hopelessly gross and vile about him it's hard to take him seriously.

Fierce Determination and Gentle Humility are the ornaments which make one attractive in the eyes of the Lord.

I think once you love somebody, you love somebody; that's just how it is.

Gifts have ribbons, not strings.