If we don't tell our own stories, no one else will.

Never treat anything you do as a stepping stone. Do it fully, and follow it completely.

Making films is about having absolute and foolish confidence; the challenge for all of us is to have the heart of a poet and the skin of an elephant.

It is because my roots are so strong that I can fly.

What is really important to me is a sense of humour and a mischief about life. Life is just too boring otherwise.

We all know the power of film; we all know there's almost nothing more powerful than to see people on film that look and talk like you, like we do.

We have to realize only in communication, in real knowledge, in real reaching out, can there be an understanding that there's humanity everywhere, and that's what I'm trying to do.

Christmas lights may be the loneliest thing for me, especially if you mix them up with reindeers and sleighs. I feel alone. I feel isolated. I feel I do not belong.

I am still attracted to stories about people who are considered to be on the outside of society. I still seek inspiration from those stories.

I grew up in a small town in India, but through books I knew the world.

'Salaam Bombay' didn't put a halo on the poor. Instead, it said that they will teach us how to live.

We are more disturbed by a calamity which threatens us than by one which has befallen us.

Why do kids always say peace out, I though peace was in.

I was a sportsman for years. I've always had a physical background. I've always had an interest in boxing and fighting. To get physical in films is a dream. I love it.

Avoidance is a great tool to get away from food in my face all day long.

I'm really happy for [David Petraeus]. He's exceptionally talented.

Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions.

There's nothing I like less than bad arguments for a view that I hold dear.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have enough of, or the right kind of. It's an ongoing process. The opposite of faith is despair.

My work always tried to unite the true with the beautiful; but when I had to choose one or the other, I usually chose the beautiful.

Age indomitably, in the European manner. Do not finish your labours young. Be a planet, not a meteor. Honor the working day. Sit at your desk.