Well, Company of Wolves was about that literally, about fairy tales.

I hoped that grief was similar to the other emotions. That it would end, the way happiness did. Or laughter.

Is it fair to have given us the memory of what was and the desire of what could be when we must suffer what is?

For me, the filmmaking has to be about the dramaturgy.

Films have gotten leaner and leaner, cutting out all variations from the story line.

Never make a promise - you may have to keep it.

Initially with The Butcher Boy, there was this kid growing up in this strange, weird environment that I remember from when I was a kid. And Patrick's vision was so complete there.

My conception of it was that in a normal film you have a story with different movements that program, develop, go a little bit off the trunk, come back, and end.

If movies have to satisfy every possible quadrant before they're even made, they're dull. You only get great things when people overreach themselves.

There's no point in making a film out of a great book. The book's already great. What's the point?

I'm less comfortable making American movies because I don't know them so well.

I love when people quote me. It makes me feel that my words have meaning. People give words power. When they speak out for things they feel, we all become alive.

Music conveys moods and images. Even in opera, where plots deal with the structure of destiny, it's music, not words, that provides power.

I'm proud of my sexuality. I embrace it. It's just another part of me.

Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act.

Inspiration is a farce that poets have invented to give themselves importance.

The worst has happened. The best is next.

I'm bilingual. I speak English and I speak educationese.

Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic

To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls.

Successful avengers, who are good men at heart, will always be saddened.