No matter how grave the secret, how imperative absolute silence, someone would always feel the urge to confess, and an unleashed secret is a terrible force.

In my earliest memory, my grandfather is bald as a stone and he takes me to see the tigers.

In the end, all you want is someone to long for you when it comes time to put you in the ground.

Believe me, Doctor, if your life ends in suddenness you will be glad it did, and if it does not you will wish it had. You will want suddenness, Doctor.

The forty days of the soul begin on the morning after death.

...fear and pain are immediate, and that, when they're gone, we're left with the concept, but not the true memory--why else...would anyone give birth more than once?

It's a sad thing to see, because as far as I know, this man Gavo had done nothing to deserve being shot in the back of the head at his own funeral. Twice.

Every day that we're not practicing godliness we're being conformed to the world of ungodliness around us.

War is an option of difficulties.

You can certainly shorten things and tighten things, we tightened up Jon's walk to Mance Rayder's tent. That was something that got tightened up a little bit because I had shot the hell out of that.

The episode of The Fresh Prince in Bel-Air when Will Smith's father disses him. That's sadder than when Mufasa died.

Experience is a great teacher, and sometimes a pretty teacher is a great experience.

Trust can be a hard lesson; hope still more difficult.

Democracies don't go to war.

Try something different. Surrender.

Ultimately, you just have to do what feels right for the film. It really helps when you have great collaborators like my editor, Eduardo Serrano, who kept telling me various scenes should be longer.

No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.