Change is fundamental in story. If things go static, stories die.

The greatest story commandment is: Make me care.

Use what you know. Draw from it. It doesnt always mean plot or fact. It means capturing a truth from your experiencing it, expressing values you personally feel deep down in your core.

The best stories infuse wonder.

Don't give [the audience] four; give them two plus two.

I never think about the audience. If someone gives me a marketing report, I throw it away.

Loneliness is, I think, people's biggest fear, whether they are conscious of it or not.

Frankly, there isn't anyone you couldn't learn to love once you've heard their story.

That's what great art does - it inspires other artists to do great art, and that's what it should do.

Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty.

A strong theme is always running through a well-told story.

Modern life would not be possible if it were not for chemicals, nor would modern natural gas production.

I think it was when I was 12 when I entered a singing competition. I sang my own original song for an audience of 1,000 people.

You can cheat an honest man but not make a fool out of him.

Skip your brain and go right to the gut.

Nothing is so catching as example.

A noble birth and fortune, though they make not a bad man good, yet they are a real advantage to a worthy one and place his virtues in a fairer light.

If people around you don't believe in you, if they don't encourage you, then you need to find some people who do.

It wasn't a monkey on my back, it was Planet of the Apes.

You could not have done it better than Hughes.

Capitalism is like a child: if you want the child to grow up free and productive, somebody's got to look over the shoulder of that child.