In writing scripts now, having made a film, I'm much more conscious of what it means to shoot and edit a movie, and that affects the writing.

I like movies that are about real people in real time with real problems.

It really shocks me when I encounter people who think kindness doesn't matter. Because I think it's pretty much the only thing that matters.

In college, you're kind of designing who you want to be. And I wanted to be a big reader.

I kicked college nostalgia in my late 20s. As much as I loved college and treasure the memories, I no longer want to go back.

I care about reading, a lot. It's a big part of my life.

Even though I occasionally appear on it, I don't watch television.

Kindness is not about instant gratification. More often, it's akin to a low-risk investment that appreciates steadily over time.

Film allows me to ask some really big questions with the time to explore them deeply. I love the form.

I actually have a thing about proper nouns. They clang on my ear in a weird way when I hear them dropped into movies.

All of the things I used to obsess over, I'm no longer as obsessed with. I have new concerns but they're a little more existential or cosmic.

Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.

Start with your heart, and only good can follow!

Year after year, President Bush has broken his campaign promises on college aid. And year after year, the Republican leadership in Congress has let him do it.

I get along with guys most of my friends are guys. It's easier to trust men sometimes. I only have a few close girlfriends that I trust.

I've been dreaming of this moment since I was a kid growing up in Tennessee: that one day, I'd have the chance to come here to Madison Square Garden and be the warm-up act for Elvis.

Fact and fiction carry the same intrinsic weight in the marketplace of ideas. Fortunately, reality has no advertising budget.

I try not to have expectations because they can tend to tear you apart. I expect to work as hard as I can possibly work and I expect to give every ounce of a hundred percent.

I am more and more convinced, of the propensity in human nature to tyranize over their fellow men.

A man is known by his conduct to his wife, to his family, and to those under him.

Where there is a lack of other connections, of meaningful moments, in our lives, music can often full the gap.