I don't see myself as a violent guy.

The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.

I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press.

Like a duck on the pond. On the surface everything looks calm, but beneath the water those little feet are churning a mile a minute.

Things parents say to children are oftentimes not heard, but in some cases you pick up on things that your parent would like to see you have done.

I do not like assassins, or men of low character.

Dysfunctional families have sired a number of pretty good actors.

Seventy-five per cent of being successful as an actor is pure luck. The rest is just endurance.

Honesty isn't enough for me. That becomes very boring. If you can convince people what you're doing is real and it's also bigger than life - that's exciting.

Hollywood loves to typecast, and I guess they saw me as a violent guy.

My wife and I take what we call our Friday comedy day off. We watch standup comics on TV. The raunchier the better. We love Eddie Izzard.

HOUSE Grow high. The devil can't find you. Grow deep. Buddha can't find you. Build a house and live there. Gourd creepers will climb over it, their flowers dazzling at midnight.

You know, the heroes in my romance novels always say that. Scout's honor. But they all later admit to never being a Boy Scout.

The absence of dissent does not necessarily imply acceptance

To be "modern" means refusing to worry about where the benefits of progress actually come from.

Poetry is not a profession it's a destiny.

I'm waiting for the time when I fail - because we all fail - and I'm ready, I'll take up carpentry.

I'm free... to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't. I can. And my children will.

The older I get, the better I understand that every day is a gift.

Like all sick children,' he answered dispassionately, 'you say you don't want pity, but your very existence depends upon it.

Writing is one of the few professions in which you can psychoanalyse yourself, get rid of hostilities and frustrations in public, and get paid for it.