Film in the 20th century, it's the American art form, like jazz.

There's no such thing as simple. Simple is hard.

You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it.

Every scene is a lesson. Every shot is a school. Let the learning continue.

As a child I had terrible asthma.

More than ninety percent of directing a picture is the right casting

Now more than ever we need to talk to each other, to listen to each other and understand how we see the world, and cinema is the best medium for doing this.

I love movies - it's my whole life, and that's it.

Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out.

Always stay open to surprise.

I’m not interested in a realistic look, not at all, not ever. Every film should look the way I feel.

Let your imagination spread, until you are satisfied, like I am.

I travel not only for the passion and madness and desire of movement, but because travel, like bread and water and air, becomes necessary to a life fully dreamed and lived.

What you're looking at there is my arm, going into the rock... and there it is, stuck. It's been without circulation for twenty-four hours. It's pretty well gone.

A revolutionary woman can't have no reactionary man.

President Obama invited John McCain to the White House to give his opinion on Egypt, specifically what it's like to be a mummy.

If the gig's going really well, I'm incredibly happy on stage and really feel good about my life and things.

Would you believe in what you believe in if you were the only one who believed it?

I think that, for sure, we as women should try and realize that it's more about having someone to share.

Watching a movie a couple of weeks ago. An American movie. I can't remember the name, but it wasn't even a sad movie. It caught me off guard. I was on an airplane.

My politics just kind of developed over time as a reaction.