Any film which views the darker side of life, which is death with a sense of humor, is very much to my taste.

Big Sur is at the end of the continent. It attracts really crazy people.

Death is always around the corner, but often our society gives it inordinate help.

I dont find myself lobbying for projects. Filmmakers almost always come to me.

A carefree quality is a whole aspect of life that I will never understand. I don't think I have ever been carefree and can't see the pleasure of it.

I'm one of those people who is actually inspired by a deadline. I might not sleep for many days on end, it may not be good for my health, but it definitely helps.

Music is the subliminal connecting adhesive in film, or at least in narrative feature films.

I have always loved Scottish music - all sorts of Celtic, Gaelic music.

Conducting, I tried it once off the cuff, and quickly realized there were subtle aspects that I was missing. There is a lot more to it that I was able to grasp simply by watching conductors.

In mainstream romantic comedies, I'm usually tearing my hair out. It's just a devastatingly difficult genre for me.

I like business and personal life to be distinct.

. . . she tried to weave the strength of her father and the young beauty of her first love with David, the happy oblivion of her teens and her warm protected childhood into a magic cloak.

We must conquer life by living it to the full, and then we can go to meet death with a certain prestige.

Destruction makes people go away so, if you hide inside destruction, you're safe

Court an idea as long as you like, but be careful before marrying it.

Who struggles can fail. Who doesn't struggle has already failed!

Observation - activity of both eyes and ears.

I'm not one for Sudoku or crosswords - the thing that fires my little brain is doing tour budgets.

Growth is transcending yourself, your habitual self, which is none other than ego.

Sacrifice is the essence of love, which is the essence of God.

Despair breeds fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. A world of truly shared abundance would be a safer world.