You write who you are. But you also cheat, and youwrite what you want to be. It's embarrasing to be the guy who madethe movie, knowing you're not exactly who you want to be.

My older sister was at the cusp of new wave, and I had older brothers from my father's first marriage who were rock 'n' roll guys, so I was exposed to a lot of popular culture.

Screenwriting is like ironing. You move forward a little bit and go back and smooth things out.

I'll rebel against powers and principalities, all the time. Always, I will.

Acting is the hardest job in the entire world. By far. Harder than ditch digging.

It's a gamble you take, the risk of alienating an audience. But there's a theory - sometimes it's better to confuse them for five minutes than let them get ahead of you for 10 seconds.

My dad was this sort of avant-garde guy who did all kinds of weird things. He was a true original and anybody who met him never forgot him.

I am always looking for that nuance, that moment of truth, and you can't really do that fast.

My writing has a lot to do with who I am, and what my life is like, and my relationships to people.

Film school is a complete con, because the information is there if you want it.

There’s a lot for screenwriters to steal from songwriters, in terms of getting to the point.

One of the fears of having too much work is not having time to observe. And once you get recognised, there is nowhere for you to look any more. You can't sit on a night bus and watch it all happen.

Don't let your dreams rust! Listen to your youthful bells ringing loud inside of you.

Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.

...all people needed was time and then they could figure most things out of themselves.

Sometimes when you meet a musician you are a fan of, and he or she isn't the friendliest person, you walk away from the experience wondering if you will ever be able to listen to their music again.

Magic trick: to make people disappear, ask them to fulfill their promises.

What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think to ask.

... the constructive power of an image is not measured in terms of its truth, but of the love it inspires.

Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.

We are two people. The person inside and the person outside. Sidq (truthfulness) is when they are the same.