My father was 65 when I was born so we didn't have much time together.

I couldn't be a cameraman or a designer or an actor - I have to be a director because I learned how to do that from my dad.

I think my dyslexia was a vital part of my development because my inability to read and write meant that I had to find knowledge elsewhere so I looked to the cinema.

I see the job of directing as being one of creating the right atmosphere, creating an environment where people can realize their full potential.

Every time I make a film, I feel it gives me the chance to learn something new.

Fairy tales to me are never happy, sweet stories. They're moral stories about overcoming the dark side and the bad.

Modern, not bottom-dwelling literature like a carp.

I was known for a while for doing very long takes, especially after Atonement.

I don't make a division between an art film and commercial art.

I feel more in touch with the world when I'm filming.

Generally, I've never known quite how to fit in in civilian life, but on set, making a film, I know exactly where to go, how to behave and how I fit.

[I]t wasn't history that was too fragile, but me.

...men are much softer than women, more sentimental. They cry at the movies and pretend not to. The male of the species is weak. He doesn’t tolerate pain well.

Sports movies are often very good at dramatizing the intersection of public and private realms: the body politic.

To place yourself under an obligation is to sell your liberty.

On Keith Richards: He's like a monkey with arthritis.

I love having other people sing my songs.

Rock music is quite big in India - but it mostly just replaces all the intricacies of Indian rhythms and Indian melody with lumpen rock drumming and power chords.

Each country, if it so desires, will make its own revolution. And if no such desire exists, no revolution will occur.

It is necessary for men to be deceived in religion.

I'm sure it's there traced along my career. I'm sure it is in most actresses' careers.