The artist's duty to himself is a combination of immense responsibility and immense irresponsibility. I think those two interlock.

Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos.

As a filmmaker, I ask questions but don't have answers. Moviemaking is a philosophical exploration. I invite the audience to come on the journey and discover what they think and feel.

Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab.

All stereotypes turn out to be true. This is a horrifying thing about life. All those things you fought against as a youth: you begin to realize they're stereotypes because they're true.

I can't imagine a life without humor. Especially if you have an existential understanding of life, you must acknowledge the absurdity of it all.

My understanding of life is very existential. I think that we are our bodies. There's nothing else, and when we die, that's it. No afterlife.

I like to laze around. I think that's a huge part of creativity. You have to let your mind relax and then another part of your brain suddenly connects with the solution you're trying to find.

Censors tend to do what only psychotics do: they confuse reality with illusion.

When I am creating art, I have absolutely no social responsibility. It's like dreaming.

Consciousness is the original sin: consciousness of the inevitability of our death.

You may marry Miss Grey for her fifteen pounds but you will always be my Willoughby. My nightmare. My sorrow. My past. My mistake. My regret. My love.

Once you've done it with him, he won't abandon you. If he really loves you, if he's a man with a heart, he'll follow you wherever you go. If he doesn't, he isn't the man you want, is he?

One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life is to have a happy childhood.

I've found myself moved by letters and diaries in archives as well as trashy, summer blockbusters. It's possible to make a connection with any kind of writing - as long as the writing is good.

You have to be kind to people. Treat them decently. There's no excuse for not.

The real goal of Christianity is not to create a religion about God, but that we would actually know Him, experiencing firsthand the wonders and power of His incomparable life.

Art was something I could do better. It gave me a sense of self.

A battle that you win cancels all your mistakes.

Co-existence or no existence.

I know that 20 years from now if anyone asks me one question, it will be, 'What was it like to be in Saving Private Ryan?