I can't really see how anybody could be particularly optimistic about the future in general because we are destroying the planet.

When I was young I used to sit in the cinema thinking wouldn't it be great if you could have a film in which the characters were like real people instead of being like actors.

I try and create for the audience something that relates to real-life experience.

Given the choice of Hollywood or poking steel pins in my eyes, I'd prefer steel pins.

I hope I make films where you walk away . . . with work to do, arguments to have, things to worry about, things to care about. In that sense, I would regard what I do as political.

My work is about life as you and I experience it. You're either lucky or you're not lucky; either your relationship works or it doesn't.

But films should be voyeuristic. What else is a film if you’re not snooping into somebody else’s lives?

There's a constant drip and trickle of life that goes into one's awareness really and consciousness of things.

I discover what my film is by embarking on the journey of making it.

The way an actor is trained doesn't ultimately have much bearing on my work. I'm interested in the actor as artist.

It's an unhealthy habit to say that life is what you make of it, and if you want to be happy, then you can be happy. That's just rubbish, basically.

If you are going through hell, keep going

I mean, if the relationship can't survive the long term, why on earth would it be worth my time and energy for the short term?

An unexciting truth may be eclipsed by a thrilling lie.

Being the number one pick was a great opportunity and meant a lot to me.

No man should ever lose sleep over public affairs.

To be closer to god, be closer to people.

A tragedy can turn out to be our greatest good if we approach it in ways which we can grow.

There's no match for the silence of GOD.

Be guided by the axiom: There are no limits to the ability to contribute on the part of a properly selected, well-trained, appropriately supported, and, above all, committed person.