I started with California, and I did not like it. I flew over to Seattle, and I did not like it much. I felt like Iowa is the place - I like the people and the environment.

We need storytelling. Otherwise life just goes on and on, like the number Pi.

I see a movie as a way of learning about the world, about myself, and learning about my relationship with people and art.

people commit suicide for only one reason - to escape torment.

I think the American West really attracts me because it's romantic. The desert, the empty space, the drama.

My hometown was one of the major U.S. Air Force bases.

I think people are universal.

Sometimes, you have to get angry to get things done.

Every movie I make. That’s my hideout, the place I don’t quite understand, but feel most at home.

When there is a strong woman character in a story - that always grabs me

I think great romance needs great obstacles and textures.

Faith gives strength to my bones.Grace gives power to my spirit.Hopes give anchor to my soul.

Shakespeare's plays are more violent than 'Scarface.'

Euclid taught me that without assumptions there is no proof. Therefore, in any argument, examine the assumptions.

These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion.

Everything in the Universe, throughout all its kingdoms, is conscious: i.e., endowed with a consciousness of its own kind and on its own plane of perception.

There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles,” Chiron said. “And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think?

It's very hard for adults to maintain respect and romance so that a love affair can be sustained over years.

Creativity has to do with what came before you immediately, not what came before you a long time ago.

Either consciously or unconsciously we are searching for the highest Self, which is at once eternal and infinite.

When I was supposed to be awake, I was asleep. When I was supposed to sleep, I was silent. When a pleasure offered itself to me, I avoided it.