It's true that in Cuba there are double standards, there's opportunism, and there is a lack of freedom in some ways.

In Cuba and specifically in Havana there's a sort of energy that turns every situation into something unexpected.

Trips are part of humanity. Emigration is a part of humanity. And it's ever more dynamic due to globalization.

I don't think that the reality of Cuba is perfect, but it doesn't cleave to the negativity, either, with which some people see it.

Cuban public is special - they participate, generate a lot of energy, both in a positive and negative sense. It's always an expressive audience.

I think that this necessity to travel, to see, it's part of human nature.

The base of artistic pursuit is ambivalence and complexity. And that's what I try to do.

What is happiness to me is not necessarily for you. Someone once said, there are three truths: your truth, my truth and the truth. And I think that's true.

The magic of film isn't just because of the big screen, or the acoustics, but the ineffable shared experience of going to the movies.

The Cuban public is hugely cinephile. It's a shame that most of the movie theaters are so deteriorated. The sense of spectacle has been lost a little, but even so, people continue to go.

In all of my movies I've tried to address the need for man - not just Cubans - to have a dream and to fight for that dream, even when he doesn't achieve it. It's a form of happiness.

I don’t know what I did to deserve someone as smart and beautiful as you.”"You were you. And maybe that was enough.

I just wanted to be sure of you.

It's better to be hated for who you are, than to be loved for someone you're not. It's a sign of your worth sometimes, if you're hated by the right people.

I think you got to keep in mind that Obama was raised among Muslims, and I think he really does not want to use the word war on terror because he was raised in that community.

Now, look, baby, 'Union' is spelled with 5 letters. It is not a four-letter word.

Fifteen years was a long time to be stranded anywhere, particularly somewhere as mind-boggingly dull as Earth.

The one thing more difficult than following a regime is keeping from imposing it on others.

Organized crime is the dirty side of the sharp dollar.

You're just so excited that you have this record deal or this movie opportunity that you don't stand up for yourself and say, This is what I want to do.

I don't think the emotional quality is the defining quality of the music but it's definitely something that people have picked up on a lot