I think I have a gift... but I haven't really opened that gift yet and given it to myself.

I loved going surfing down on Venice Beach. Id go out with a board under my arm and think, I cant do that in Cranhill.

After I've been in America for a while, I get homesick for Scotland.

Rather than thinking, 'If I do this, and in five years I'll be where I want to be,' you're better just doing something that makes you happy now.

My worst habit is whistling while I sleep.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun to go to these nights out, like the opening of a film or something, but I dip in and out of it.

I think Scotland has some great stories.

But you talk to most filmmakers and it is six, seven, eight years trying to get things off the ground. It is incredible really.

He [Viggo Mortensen] was standing behind the camera throwing the apples … And I’ve never seen him so happy.

Hobbits are a lot like Scots. It’s all about nature and enjoying their land, which is a very Scottish thing.

Sometimes the songs you think will be best don't turn out to be best.

I don’t wish for more time. I wish for more courage to live freely right now.

If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?

Let dreams shine. Let hope bloom again.

Great, numbskull. Just bloody great. You've already managed to piss off the Queen. What's next on your agenda, setting fire to Disneyland?

If somebody tells me what to do, I will do my best not to do it.

You don't need a grand plan, you don't need to go back to the ancestors and rewrite the rules. You just need to take small steps and accumulate small wins.

When I write a book, I hope to be beyond mortal by the time I'm finished.

As big as an elephant is, a whale is still larger. Everything's relative. Even gods have their spot on the food chain.

Advice is offensive, it shows us that we are known to others as well as to ourselves.

I don't know how many records I'm selling.