In silent movies, they tended to put the camera down, and everybody walked in front of it and acted, and then they all walked off. Cutting was quite infrequent.

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.

If there is such a phenomenon as absolute evil, it consists in treating another human being as a thing.

I'm afraid it will never be perfect again. I am indelibly stained. Forever redefined, but blurred around the edges.

One is a member of a country, a profession, a civilization, a religion. One is not just a man.

For a writer, and particularly a writer of my genre, which is the fantastical, I think that it's to my advantage to feel remote from and disconnected from the world of deal making.

Whatever your problem, no matter how difficult, you can release spiritual power sufficient to solve your problem. The secret is--pray and believe.

Throughout the world, terrorists are actively seeking their next recruit. Alarmingly, terrorist organizations are increasingly targeting school-age children as the next generation of terrorists

I just really love the cartoon form. I love the plasticity of it.

The market is ridiculously overcrowded with early stage investors. This results in a talent drain, where the best talent gets diffused and work for their own startups.

I've experienced writer's block, but never for more than a few days.

Being young you have not known The fool's triumph, nor yet Love lost as soon as won, Nor the best labourer dead And all the sheaves to bind.