I'm always a little unnerved when I see a show that's set in the past that implies in any way that things were nicer then.

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.

Sometimes, the inessential is essential.

Though I know he loves me tonight my heart is sad his kiss was not so wonderful as all the dreams I had.

No matter what business you're in, you can't run in place or someone will pass you by. It doesn't matter how many games you've won.

I wanna live 'til I die, no more, no less.

Vexed sailors cursed the rain, for which poor shepherds prayed in vain.

Only when man is willing to change himself, there can be a true revolution.

The pursuit of holiness must be anchored in the grace of God; otherwise it is doomed to failure

Rock is for everybody; it should be so implicitly anti-elitist that the question of whether somebody's qualified to perform it should never even arise.

There are times when even justice brings harm with it.

Work while you work, play while you play - this is a basic rule of repressive self-discipline.