Whenever I write a part, I think there's this person somewhere in the world that this part is specifically for and all I have to do is go searching to find that particular individual.

One of the biggest blessings in my life is that I have a very wonderful family, a lovely wife and two lovely daughters.

It's not some big event that creates the drama, it's the little things of everyday life that bring about that drama.

The bigger confrontation is the one an individual has with itself.

I see screenwriting as a bit like a math equation which I have to solve.

When I decide to write a story, I don't think too much about what I want it to be, I just let things come naturally and this is how it turns out. It's just how my subconscious works.

I like storytelling, and for storytelling you need a drama. And for there to be drama, you need twists, and by twists I mean the ability to constantly change the trajectory of the story.

I would have had the same narrative, regardless of the atmosphere and the restrictions.

In my opinion when you speak about relationships between people, you are actually talking about everything in their world because everything is contained in that relationship.

One must never tell a child what it is they should display acting.

Poetry, especially traditional Iranian poetry, is very good at looking at things from a number of different angles simultaneously.

perhaps we would bear our sadnesses with greater trust than we have in our joys

God loves you unconditionally, even with all your imperfections. But you must do your best to continuously break some of your ungodly habits.

Each painting is fresh and new, a surprise even to myself.

The more hooks an idea has, the better it will cling to memory.

If your goal is to be the biggest movie star in the world, a 10-movie contract is gold. It was never my goal.

At some point, life starts to pass you by and becomes about avoidance. I want to stay clear from that situation, because I don't like that.

If that's art, I'm a Hottentot!

distrust ... is the beginning of hatred.

Jews have a tendency to become comedians.

The all-embracing vast being which is there behind the play of the universe and with which you will have to identify yourself - for this is your true self.