Nature is an expert in cost-benefit analysis, ' she says. 'Although she does her accounting a little differently. As for debts, she always collects in the long run...

Debt . . . . that peculiar nexus where money, narrative or story, and religious belief intersect, often with explosive force.

Money isn't the only thing that must flow and circulate in order to have good value: good turns and gifts must flow and circulate . . . for any social system to remain in balance.

The gods help those who help themselves.

Never chase love, affection, or attention. If it isn't given freely by another person, it isn't worth having.

Part of American leadership is making sure that we're doing nation building here at home. That will help us maintain the kind of American leadership that we need.

For me, it's always filmmaker and then character and then story. They're all equally important but if you don't have a great filmmaker, you will not have a great film unless you just get lucky.

Why do 'slow down' and 'slow up' mean the same thing? Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

My private life is very private, and I have chosen not to live in America or England, where you are so exposed and can't fight against it.

Writers would be warm, loyal, and otherwise terrific people-if only they'd stop writing.

Sleep, rest of things, O pleasing Deity, Peace of the soul, which cares dost crucify, Weary bodies refresh and mollify.

There is no pain like the pain of knowing you love someone but cannot live with them.

Everything characters say or do is a clue to their personalities, their histories, and the forces that motivate them.