I lived in the world of poetry and ideas. I thought life was all about art and philosophy. In the military, I suddenly found out about the real world.

The future belongs to us. I think that art is a force that can change the world.

Nothing is allowed in public, while everything is permitted behind closed doors.

I believe in freedom, I'm for a world without borders. But that's an ideal. On a practical level, I'm for a secular state where religion only plays a minor role.

The most important element of democracy, I believe, is the protection of minorities.

My family thought if I spent time in the military, I'd become more reasonable, a bit calmer. But I've always been extreme in what I do - both as a believer and a nonbeliever.

I was a very devout boy and one day I heard the music of an Egyptian Koran singer in the mosque. The melancholy of this music touched me so deeply that it brought me to tears.

Fundamentalists can't take a joke. Ever. They want us to blindly obey, parrot everything they do, and believe in their dogmas.

I'm a musician; I have to perform. I can't give up. I have to be even more courageous. We know that we have a lot of enemies. Not only in Iran. But that doesn't matter.

Caminante, no hay puentes, se hace puentes al andar. (Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks.)

I can feel it, logic is trying to distract me but my heart it's screaming it's him.

To solve a problem, you need to remove the cause, not the symptom.

...and he just sat back and stared at the tube, almost interested in what was happening, trying to find the ability to believe in that lie so he could believe the one within.

Once you don't smile on film, they say, 'Let's have that bloke who doesn't smile.'

Spare when young, and spend when old.

Methinks my own soul must be a bright invisible green.

I like to work in costumes, makeup, and hair that allow me tremendous freedom.

The idea of being all things to all people is a thing of the past.

Detested sport, That owes its pleasures to another's pain.