Life is going to test you. But no matter how bad it may seem, we can always step up and beat it.

I usually head up to the mountains or out into the desert. Somewhere nobody is. There I can dig deep and find the core that got me where I am today. It's sort of like my reset button.

I've always been drawn to stories and characters facing some sort of struggle against forces beyond our control, be it love, loss, betrayal.

I'm pretty cerebral, so I can occasionally rationalize emotional pain away, but when I can't, that's when I start to feel the fire inside take over and somehow manage to power through.

Although it may seem like it, life will never give you more than you can handle. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy; in fact, quite the opposite.

Have faith in yourself.

Whether you're a vampire or werewolf, love is still love. Betrayal is still betrayal.

I'm not afraid of scars, be them emotional or otherwise. I think it builds character, and if it doesn't destroy you, I truly believe it makes us stronger.

It doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter if you have training or a background in it. Just create something, and lend a piece of yourself to that art.

Be brave enough to create.

It's much easier to put yourself out there under the guise of a character. You get a different name, different habits, different words. When I have to just be Nathan, that's when I feel vulnerable.

If you were my child, I would staple you to your bedroom wall.

The vertical thinker says: 'I know what I am looking for.' The lateral thinker says: 'I am looking but I won't know what I am looking for until I have found it.'

[Instead] of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long.

You cannot barter security for freedom, or freedom for security.

If I had only a negative side of things to present, I think I would have much less of a drive to do it. Because what would be the point?

As the actor, you just have to believe in what your character is doing in order to play them.

Jewish introspection and Jewish humor is a way of surviving . . . if you're not handsome and you're not athletic and you're not rich, there's still one last hope with girls, which is being funny.

What's wrong with being number 2?

The gross size of our talent inventories is less important than the net use of our talents?

In the villages in Europe, there are still healers who tell stories.