And the best films feel like a fist punching you in the solar plexus and all elements of the filmmaking process - the acting, the design, the cinematography, the music, is all working to one end.

I did one sci-fi movie. I did 'Gattaca.' I liked 'Gattaca' because that was always the kind of science fiction I really dug, the non-action oriented sci-fi.

Life's hard. It's supposed to be. If we didn't suffer, we'd never learn anything.

In New York, you've got Donald Trump, Woody Allen, a crack addict and a regular Joe, and they're all on the same subway car.

Read. It makes you more intelligent. It’s that simple. We all see the universe through the tiny keyhole of our own eyes, and every book is another keyhole from which you can gaze.

Success isn't measured by what you achieve, it's measured by the obstacles you overcome.

Don't you find it odd," she continued, "that when you're a kid, everyone, all the world, encourages you to follow your dreams. But when you're older, somehow they act offended if you even try.

I met a lot of famous people when I was about 24. And none of them seemed very appealing. And so I didn't know why I would struggle to be that kind of person.

There is no trick to writing a believable love story, a heartbreaking scene or real-sounding dialogue. All you need is to tell the truth. It’s always heartbreaking.

The older I get, the more I realize how rare it is to meet a kindred spirit.

I'm horrified to admit that I just love Salinger. I was devastated to find out that other people feel the same way.

We have forty million reasons for failure but not a single excuse.

If Michaelangelo made a marble sculpture of a defensive end it would look like Mario Williams.

When I met David Green at film school he always used to offer free haircuts - he was kind of an artisan. In a lot of our films, he's constantly trying to give me weird looks.

I grew up conservative because my mum was a conservative, and when I finally realized what conservatives were, I changed my mind immediately.

The prayer life does not consist of perpetual repetition of petitions. The prayer life consists of life that is always upward and onward and Godward

There are worse things than being mad.

I maintain my sanity by keeping my distance.

Praising the Lord and passing the ammunition are mutually exclusive ideas.

India seeks to be a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council... things like this don't happen automatically, you need constant dialogue and discussion with the world.