Filmmaking is not a balancing act, although some directors think it is. I don't believe in it. I like ups and downs. They're the best way to translate my feelings to the screen.

When you are completely satisfied with what you have made, you're pretty much done as a director. So when that happens, that'll sort of be the end.

For me, trying to expand the energy to make one movie in Hollywood would be the equivalent in terms of energy to making 10 movies in Japan.

You can't really make something or make a movie and feel all through the process that it's a painful thing. It's not possible to do that.

I can't single out one thing that influenced me. My generation was influenced greatly by the manga that came out during our childhood.

I believe that every director's films reflect their lifestyle.

I don't know if I would call it therapy, but filmmaking is really the only thing I know how to do. For me, making movies is a way to bring on change for myself, and I really enjoy that part.

I go to the dentist, not a shrink.

As a filmmaker, you've got to have a nose for what's going on culturally. You have to feel it. It doesn't have to be manga or music, but you need some kind of antenna. That's very important.

And if I'm running away from something, I try to make myself face it and overcome that initial fear. As a director, I don't think it's possible to make a movie that you really don't want to make.

If you're trying to be realistic and bring real life to the screen, you are going to have different elements. That's what I'm trying to do. As I make the movie, different elements come in naturally.

No dream, no journey planed, no goals to dream for and achieve

Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue

There's a need to reform Medicare, but not a need to cut a half trillion dollars out of Medicare.

Will cannot be quenched against its will.

The tragedy of it is that nobody sees the look of desperation on my face. Thousands and thousands of us, and we're passing one another without a look of recognition.

Escapist literature gets a bad rap. But I think escape is important for a lot of people in a lot of places.

A politicians willingness to listen to good advice rises in inverse proportion to how badly he thinks he is doing.

A book… it’s a world all on its own too. A world made of words, where you live for a while.

An era similar to the one in which the black rotary phone dominated its product category may not recur anytime soon.

If you see the President, tell him from me that whatever happens there will be no turning back.