I actually think every war movie is an antiwar movie in its own way - with the exception of some of the propaganda movies.

So to be standing here, this was really, truly, honestly never part of anything we even imagined in our wildest dreams.

For better or worse, most of my writing life has been about people that work behind the scenes. I'm interested in finding extraordinary moments in otherwise normal people.

The fact is that war films, by their very nature, are pitched at a high dramatic range.

I write on a computer, on a laptop or whatever.

Ever since 9/11, I found myself interested in chronicling the war and the war on terror and the way that this giant machinery was affecting individuals.

You're trying to dramatize events to tell a story most effectively. That doesn't mean the events aren't true, it just means you're making them as dramatic as you possibly can.

I think as a filmmaker you try not to have any expectations other than that the film have a fairly substantial beginning, middle and end.

There's nothing more confirming in your life than looking in front of you and seeing some really amazing people who you care a lot about who care a lot about you.

The best way to break up with a girl is like I'm taking off a band-aid. Slowly and in the shower.

Beauty is much more intimidating than brutality.

McCain is the most unifying figure in the Senate. Barack Obama is so far left. Turning to her co-host, Joy Behar, an Obama supporter, she said: Do you want some more Barack Obama Kool-Aid, or what?

American journalists tend to treat inequality as a fact of life. But it needn't be.

I don't go out of my way to write Weird Fiction, or in any other genre. Some of my stuff easily slips into the Weird slot.

Get out of your own way. Often, we're our own worst enemy when working towards our goals.

We only rise above mediocrity when there's something at stake. p. 174

If God did not exist, he would have to be invented.

Selfishness, eager for a heaven of enjoyment, is quite a different thing in the soul from love and purity and truth, yearning together for what is their natural element.