I think the collision between the First and Third world is going to become more and more conspicuous. It's the big cliff that we've all got to climb.

I can't think of anyone I admire who isn't fuelled by self-doubt. It's an essential ingredient. It's the grit in the oyster.

I am interested in the gap between what people say and what they think - the undiscovered world of people's lives. Lives of quiet desperation.

I've always argued, unsuccessfully, that there's no point in giving money to the arts unless you educate people in them.

What we hold in our heads - our memory, our feelings, our thoughts, our sense of our own history - is the sum of our humanity.

Resolution, like responsibility, is a product of ownership, and kids can't resolve a conflict until they figure out how they contributed to it.

I envy the happiness of others... I envy the sense of belonging... I seem always to be remaking myself.

If the arts are held up solely as a means of social insight, fantasy is denied the chance to be commonplace and reality the chance to be exotic.

You can't be minimalist as a director until you have acquired the experience and confidence to say no.

Naming a baby is an act of poetry, for many people the only creative moment of their lives.

Instead of casting aspersions at the process, why don’t you redirect your energy towards something more advantageous, like finally completing the Program!

Never, never underestimate the power of desire. If you want to live badly enough, you can live. The great question, at least for me, was: How do I decide I want to live?

Large companies cannot finance political parties as their shareholders and employees have different political views.

Found a smoldering cigarette left by a horse.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely

Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite of it, and then it will gradually yield to him.

The state is out of control, the state is on a spending binge, the state has to stop putting itself in a hole thats getting deeper and deeper and deeper.

A true champion is not only formed in victory. To be defeated makes you learn.

Nobody wants to pay higher taxes. But do you want your kids to get a good education? You have to pay for that. Do you want Medicare for senior citizens? I do. We have to pay for it.

If forced to choose between the penitentiary and the White House for four years, I would say the penitentiary, thank you.