I don't think secrets are a bad thing. I think there's this idea that everything needs to be transparent in order for it to be free.

It's always surprised me that mainstream America had the good taste to like R.E.M. It doesn't have the digestible quality the general public tends to look for in its favorite musicians.

The first horror movie I saw, in first or second grade, was My Bloody Valentine [1981], where there's a deranged killer in a miner mask stalking a small coal town.

There's a structure to a detective story that I can easily understand. I understand playing that particular game. It's like solving a puzzle. Or creating a puzzle.

I was never afraid on stage. That's where I was the least afraid. I could just do what I do and I had the amplification and the lights.

When you create a fence, you keep people out, but you also limit your mobility.

I have always wanted to be either a cinematographer or a veterinarian.

I've never had a mentor. I've always wanted one. I'm actually really disappointed that nobody took my under their wing.

Looking back, [R.E.M.]videos, by in large, have always been art films. I'm thinking of "Losing My Religion." That's a landmark piece.

There is a value to moving more slowly through a story.

There's also something sexual about watching the nubile girl in terror. But you do take on her fear as your own.

War can not be avoided until the physical cause for its recurrence is removed and this, in the last analysis, is the vast extent of the planet on which we live.

Don't judge people by their physical appearances if you truly want to get to know them. Just watch their frequent footsteps and you would surely know their true personalities.

I try. I am trying. I was trying. I will try. I shall in the meantime try. I sometimes have tried. I shall still by that time be trying.

It's not to give people fish It's not to teach them how to fish It's to build a new and better fishing industry

I really wanted to approach performing live differently than most people who just play guitar and sing.

I am not very tough with raising my children, but you can argue that to be more tough will help your children.

There's a good old boys' network out there that's hard to penetrate and it's not always in the best interest of the party or for conservative principles.

Decisions decide destiny, there is no action without decision

I don't worry so much about the audience. I want them very much to be involved and enjoy the movie, but I try to just inhabit the character in a full way, where I can create a personal stake.

Nothing good ever ends.