Pender laughed. "Verify? In this day and age? Who cares about verifying anything? It's all about the speed. Who gets there first defines the truth. You know that as well as any man living.

In every thriller written about Washington, particularly after 9/11, there are good guys and there are bad guys, and there's no gray area at all.

Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?

I'm scattered, and then that last hundred pages, bam, I'm a laser.

But if I worried too much about publishers' expectations, I'd probably paralyze myself and not be able to write anything.

It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between.

Libraries rock! Not a sermon, just a fact. As a kid I was a library rat and books changed my life. They can change yours.

Today might not be so good. But tomorrow, you got another chance to get it right.

Fiction is sort of a way to set the record straight, and let people at least believe that justice can be achieved and the right outcomes can occur.

Two people can care for each other but not want the same things.

When a poor man gives something, that is a sacrifice indeed. When a rich man gives something, it hardly rises to the same level.

Though we are terrorized by death, it's not different from birth, it just happens

Christmas makes me happy no matter what time of year it comes around.

I think one of my very favorite films of all time was with Peter Sellers when he played Chauncey, the gardener. Being There.

In the States, I learned to fight for every idea. Sometimes, a director has to be a tyrant to keep the quality.

I can't think of a 30- or 40-year-old who can behave like Mugabe. They wouldn't even know where to begin, and given their own educational exposure, I think it will be very positive for Africa.

History is the revelation of Providence.

Nothing recalls the past like music.

Filmmaking is like playing in your imagination and getting paid to do it. I guess I'll ride this horse until it bucks me.

Some injuries heal more quickly if you keep moving.

I think sadness and anger are really fertile ground for comedy. No one is really interested in a happy person doing comedy.