You didn't hear the angels singing. It was brought down to Mother Earth, which is where it should be. And that led me to a lot of other reading.

To create characters, one must build background. And one of the tools we use is improvisation.

That's like asking a cobbler if he's made too many pairs of shoes.

The way I see things, the way I see life, I see it as a struggle. And there's a great deal of reward I have gained coming to that understanding - that existence is a struggle.

I believe every day when I wake up and go to bed and during my dreaming time there's some moment of truth that's in front of me that will always be in front of me until the end of days.

Everything is difficult, and everything worthwhile is difficult. A certain need, a need not unlike Mickey had: to know, to understand, and I had that need to understand and to know.

You're working on being a father, so that is something that when you experience it you'll understand the profundity of wanting to protect something dear to you.

Uhm, I'm the one wanting the lessons! I don't want to say too much about it because I'd rather have you see the movie, but he's trying to find his music.

They have equal weight and you do the same work you'd do if you were playing a dramatic role.

What fascinated me mostly about Mickey Cohen was that he, in his later years, hired someone to help him to comprehend literature, to help him to read better, to understand words better.

Then I heard this genius teacher Stella Adler - I recommend you read anything you might find about her and if you have anyone interested in theatre, you get them one of her books.

The worst grudge is being told that you are forgiven, yet your sins are still glowing in their hearts like a burning coal.

A man has the strength to face what he is thrown in life. If he falls or is beaten, he does not complain but gets up and rides in to face the challenge once more.

We are all innovators, we all like to use our imagination, which is our greatest tool.

Monsters just outside our peripheral vision are scarier to contemplate than monsters miles away or in someplace only a fool would set foot in.

If we went back to the imprisonment rate we had in the early '70s, something like four out of five people employed in the prison industry would lose their jobs. That's what you're up against.

These trifles will lead to serious mischief. [Lat., Hae nugae seria ducent In mala.]

A guilty system recognizes no innocents.

Subtlety chases the obvious up a never-ending spiral and never quite catches it.

Marathon running, for me, was the most controlled test of mettle that I could ever think of. It's you against Darwin.

I think the American public has gone from really almost white-hot anger in 2010 to an anxiety knowing their government needs to work.