This [the earthquake] was a very big influence on me, and the issue of life and death from then on does recur in my films.

I've often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us, unless it's inside a frame.

Religion works on some people but not on everyone, because it says, 'Stop thinking and accept what I tell you.' That's not valid for people who want to think and reflect.

Cinema seats make people lazy. They expect to be given all the information. But for me, question marks are the punctuation of life.

A movie is about human beings, about humanity.

In the total darkness, poetry is still there, and it is there for you.

Film is very much a universal and common voice, and we can't limit it to one particular culture.

Good cinema is what we can believe and bad cinema is what we can't believe. What you see and believe in is very much what I'm interested in.

My way of expression is full of complications and mystery because that's my perception of life.

I would be too selfish if I said everyone should see my movies more than once. To say that would mean I'm just marketing my work!

I spend a lot of time doing carpentry. Sometimes there is nothing that gives me the contentment that sawing a piece of wood does.

I believe that we all need to do charitable work. It should be taken seriously in the area of education, as someone from the industry.

was it a vision or a waking dream? Fled is that music--do I wake or sleep?

The leader's main job is to make themselves obsolete.

I suppose I'm most influenced by any good, commercial writer. I learn from everyone.

If the United States is accommodating, the North Koreans become accommodating. If the United States is hostile, they become hostile.

If politics is the art of the possible, research is surely the art of the soluble. Both are immensely practical-minded affairs.

I now know that experience comes to us for a purpose, and if we follow the guidance of the spirit within us, we will probably find that the purpose is a good one.

A man may lose the good things of this life against his will; but if he loses the eternal blessings, he does so with his own consent.

We can't just act without thinking anymore, Tris. They've been trying to teach as that all along. I guess if we're mages, we can't exactly be kids, can we? - Sandry after the pirate attack

My meaning in saying he is a good man, is to have you understand me that he is sufficient.