Where The Wild Things Are we were asking a lot of a 9-year-old kid. We were asking a lot of any actor.

I like hiring people based on a feeling - this person gets it - rather than what they've done in the past.

Even in this world where you’re getting everything you need and having this nice life, there’s still loneliness and longing and disconnection.

I always aspire to that, where it feels like the film was made by the characters as opposed to the filmmakers. I try to be invisible.

Don't differentiate between 'This is a job' and 'This is what I'm doing for fun.' It's all simultaneous.

You make a movie that is about what you want it to be about and let people have their reaction to it.

The things that are really out of control, and scary, are emotions - of people around you, that are unpredictable, or those in yourself which are unpredictable.

If I leave my phone in the car and go to dinner or something for a few hours, I'm very proud of myself.

The past is just a story we tell ourselves.

Doing a documentary is about discovering, being open, learning, and following curiosity.

Be willing to get fired for a good idea.

I do not believe in God and I am not an atheist.

Come on Canada, it's time to kick our bad habits and get into shape!

Beware of the man who praises women's liberation; he is about to quit his job.

You can always spot bright people. They are reading a book.

Political Science carries inseparably with it the study of piety, and that he who is not pious cannot be truly wise.

We've tended to forget that no computer will ever ask a new question.

I was my own worst enemy in my debut. Not one player tested my mechanics.

A king, realizing his incompetence, can either delegate or abdicate his duties. A father can do neither. If only sons could see the paradox, they would understand the dilemma.

Literature is both my joy and my comfort: it can add to every happiness and there is no sorrow it cannot console.

We’re not completely happy here because we’re not supposed to be! Earth is not our final home; we were created for something much better.