I have a friend whose theory is that you're from wherever you went to high school. I think that's mostly true.

I think I'm good at amplifying an actor's strengths, and minimizing their weaknesses. And they all have strengths and weaknesses.

When a film like Chris Nolan's Memento cannot get picked up, to me independent film is over. It's dead.

To me the director’s job is to leave it in better shape than you found it, literally.

If you're sitting around thinking what other people think about your work, you'll just become paralysed.

We [people] are a species that's wired to tell stories. We need stories. It's how we make sense of things. It's how we learn.

I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating...anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us-I think this world would be unlivable without art and I thank you.

You’re supposed to expand your mind to fit the art, you’re not supposed to chop the art down to fit your mind.

There are three major social issues that this country is struggling with: education, poverty, and drugs. Two of them we talk about, and one of them we don't.

What are the stories you want people to tell about you?

The ought to be a worldwide cultural taskforce that just stops you when you have ideas like combining The Red Desert with an armored car heist movie.

Life is not about how long you live or how much you experience. Life is about how you choose to live it and what you experience.

All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from and to and why.

Every year thousands of Americans mistakenly refer to Cinco de Mayo as Mexico's Independence Day.

The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers.

Stop eating junk. Be a good listener and a loyal friend.

As [the New York Times] winds down its years and is becoming more and more problematic, it's gotten more and more vicious, more and more vile.

Grant me some wild expressions, Heavens, or I shall burst.

The limitless opportunity of being able to do anything is daunting, but it's also the most rewarding. I'm having the time of my life.

The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.

As far as I'm concerned, the whole point of making music is to get it heard by as many people as possible.