Stage-persona notwithstanding, I'm extremely shy and quiet. Almost painfully shy. People misinterpret that as being above it all or not interested.

I think that we are already making steps toward mapping out the brain so we can identify the chemical patterns that create and store memory.

It was the dawn of the third age of mankind.

No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.

Avoid the tyranny of the reasonable voice...it will guarantee a complacency of never trying anything adventurous.

If sacred places are spared the ravages of war... then make all places sacred. And if the holy people are to be kept harmless from war... then make all people holy.

All love is unrequited. All of it.

I am a control freak. I will admit that freely.

Never follow somebody else's path; it doesn't work the same way twice for anyone... the path follows you and rolls up behind you as you walk, forcing the next person to find their own way.

Take care, don't fight, and remember: if you do not choose to lead, you will forever be led by others. Find what scares you, and do it. And you can make a difference, if you choose to do so.

Wouldn't it be much worse if life really were fair and all the terrible things that happen to us happen because we really deserve them?

It's your life. What are you going to do about it?

We progress a step farther, in each tick of the clock

My job is to persuade people to toe the line and play within the laws of the game.

Happiness always returns to port . . .

Next, we will create a modern immigration law.

As a kid, I sensed history going on all around me, but the basic thrust of it didn't move me.

Dead scandals form good subjects for dissection.

I've done collaborations in all my movies, and I think it's part of what I enjoy about the process. This kind of intimacy that you create. Because it becomes very intimate.

Anything worth knowing is already known and must be remembered and reclaimed by the soul.

Sometimes, political campaigns make decent people act and talk like perfect buffoons.