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

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.

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

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

It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It's a lot more difficult to perform one.

You may be married to a star, but that doesn't mean they'll treat you like one.

Never trust your colleagues. Work politics are founded by them.

Everyone is beautiful but (unfortunately), we will usually stick to the person that reflects our confidence of beauty.

At the end of the day, life's about realising one's human potential. I don't know if I've realised mine, but I've certainly gone a long way towards realising some goals and some dreams.

Frankly, I was surprised at how generous the Japanese press has been to the idea of a foreigner running Sony.

Vision is not political rhetoric.

A survey carried out across the U.S. between 2004 and 2006 showed that frequent church- or synagogue-goers are more likely to give money to charity.

When I knew what I had to do / I took all my notebooks, all my manuscripts / and ate them page by page / so I could take my words with me

Iran is independent and independence is not tolerated.