Well, I am a dilettante. It's only in England that dilettantism is considered a bad thing. In other countries it's called interdisciplinary research.

I have lived in countries that were coming out of conflict: Ireland, South Africa, the Czech republic. People there are overflowing with energy.

Ambient music must be as ignorable as it is interesting.

Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences.

The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band

I had wanted a tape recorder since I was tiny. I thought it was a magic thing. I never got one until just before I went to art school.

My guitar only has five strings 'cause the top one broke and I decided not to put it back on: when I play chords I only play bar chords, and the top one always used to cut me there.

Lyrics are always misleading because they make people think that that's what the music is about.

Everything is an experiment until it has a deadline. That gives it a destination, context, and a reason.

Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.

If something is good, you must torture it mercilessly until it is either dead or great.

A breath?" she asked. She didn't want to kiss just any wooden man. He looked nice enough, but he might not be like his looks. A kiss seemed very forward. He might remember it, and make assumptions.

I think fitness is important. I think a healthy lifestyle is important. I think putting positive energy out there is important and just staying connected with the people.

Here's how you get Hollywood in Positano: You need a nail salon and a yogurt place.

Obama took a tour of the Great Wall of China and said, 'We need one of these things around the White House.'

I've directed enough in the theatre and a couple of films to know that - to feel fairly secure that if I find a story that I really like I can probably get it done somewhat.

Why was I condemned to live in a democracy where every fool's vote is equal to a sensible man's?

Insomniacs know better than anyone how it would be to haunt a house.

Creativity is good and whatever. But if the children don't know how to read, I don't care how creative you are. You're not doing your job.

I dont like any of them, because they don't read the books. In Kiss Me Deadly my story is better than his story. Anthony Quinn played in The Lond Wait and he didn't read the book either.

If you have children you worry about the world you're leaving them.