But my sense in talking to people when I travel is that the film business is not that dissimilar from a lot of other businesses.

I think I'm good at amplifying an actor's strengths, and minimizing their weaknesses. And they all have strengths and weaknesses.

When a film like Chris Nolan's Memento cannot get picked up, to me independent film is over. It's dead.

To me the director’s job is to leave it in better shape than you found it, literally.

If you're sitting around thinking what other people think about your work, you'll just become paralysed.

We [people] are a species that's wired to tell stories. We need stories. It's how we make sense of things. It's how we learn.

I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating...anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us-I think this world would be unlivable without art and I thank you.

You’re supposed to expand your mind to fit the art, you’re not supposed to chop the art down to fit your mind.

There are three major social issues that this country is struggling with: education, poverty, and drugs. Two of them we talk about, and one of them we don't.

What are the stories you want people to tell about you?

The ought to be a worldwide cultural taskforce that just stops you when you have ideas like combining The Red Desert with an armored car heist movie.

Time is a currency you can only spend once, so be careful how you spend it.

A credit card allows you transcend time. For it allows you to put off until tomorrow what you bought today, while you are still paying off what you bought yesterday.

Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good behave yourself and never mind the rest.

Doubt is always accompanied by a pervasive cynicism that unconsciously puts a negative spin on whatever it touches.

I love California. I love Hollywood.

Pain creates movement, and movement controls balance. If the opponent does not feel any pain you may be forced to break bones.

To know the machine one must know where each part belongs, and what its office is.

This is Earth. Isn't it hot?

They who talk much of destiny, their birth-star, etc., are in a lower dangerous plane, and invite the evils they fear.

A hush is over everything, Silent as women wait for love; The world is waiting for the spring.