I'm always looking for a way to surprise audiences. That's, I feel, my job as a director. I felt that Amy Adams playing a tough woman in 'The Fighter' was a surprise. People saw her as a princess.

The closer you stay to emotional authenticity and people, character authenticity, the less you can go wrong. That's how I feel now, no matter what you're doing.

Anything you could ever want or be you already have and are.

The holy trifecta of directing and filmmaking is character emotion, camera movement and music. When you hit those three, that's magical. That's what I'm trying to do.

I got put on jury duty, which is where I learned how to write.

There's nothing better than an actor who is really, really hungry to show everything they've got.

You know, veterans come home and they may not be bipolar, but after they've been through a war with PTSD or a head injury, their families have a handful when they come home.

That's just how I see things. I think things that are the most dramatic or tragic can also look the most ridiculous and funny. That's part of being human.

The idea that anyone would think their religious ideas make them morally superior is just preposterous.

The gift of life is the gift to suffer sometimes and to embrace it, heartbreak and all.

What do we have in life, really? If we're lucky we get to a certain age, and we have each other. We have the food we like. We have our crazy little rituals. And we have each other.

Through every turn in life, through every little twist of fate, there is an opportunity to take a step back, find and reinvent yourself, and come back a bigger, stronger, better you.

Grace is more than God opening the door to salvation

We all need daily encouragement.

Some beach, somewhere. There's a big umbrella casting shade over an empty chair. Palm trees are growin' and a warm breeze a blowing. I picture myself right there, on some beach, somewhere.

The simple answer as to why we get fat is that carbohydrates make us so; protein and fat do not

I always think the insecurity is going to go away, but it's always there. Only bad writers think they're good.

It's about time trees were good for something, instead of just standing there like jerks!

My first priority is to my wife, as hers is to me, and to our child.

Come down, O Christ, and help me! reach thy hand, For I am drowning in a stormier sea Than Simon on thy lake of Galilee

The metallic silver coating found on fast-food game cards.