In my view, the operas of Carlisle Floyd will find a place in the permanent repertoire.

Everyone has seen photographs of Mexicans wearing those big sombreros. When you come to Mexico, the astonishing thing is, nobody wears these hats at all.

When I was 24 I went to Nigeria and it was such a culture shock, growing up in Australia and suddenly being the only white man in this unit full of black men.

When the music and the characters are flawlessly synchronized, the opera develops an emotional force that movies and plays cannot match.

In Australia, they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.

There were movies that always made me want to be a director. You see brilliant scenes and the way the emotions were handled. I thought, I'd really like to do that.

With a film, I do my best to understand the author's intentions and try to bring the characters to life.

Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.

The music of the most popular operas is so highly esteemed, it can stand endless revivals.

It's not enough to hit the notes. There is no point in the singers just standing there and sounding wonderful if they're not connecting with the characters they are portraying.

On stage, the audience watches from a fixed viewpoint and the director cannot retake something he doesn't like. It has to work straight through.

The journey is never over until you succeed in a very massive way. That being said, it's time for you to tirelessly push harder with smarter strategies.

Golden Arches' are the gateway to the afterlife.

I love to have more books since it keeps me busy reading.

I tell jokes to pay my green fees.

If you focus on success, you’ll have stress. But if you pursue excellence, success will be guaranteed.

Taking on challenging projects is the way that one grows and extends one's range as a writer, one's technical command, so I consider the time well-spent

There is too much repression and suppression in schools.

I won't make shorthand films, because I don't want to manipulate audiences into assuming quick, manufactured truths.

Overhead was a sky blacker than jewlers' velvet, and a billion stars screamed down.

If you read the Qur'an with your head, you find repetition. If you read it with your heart, you find depth.