Anytime you've got something that can take you into the political realm then you've opened up the conversation a lot.

I think I'm good at amplifying an actor's strengths, and minimizing their weaknesses. And they all have strengths and weaknesses.

When a film like Chris Nolan's Memento cannot get picked up, to me independent film is over. It's dead.

To me the director’s job is to leave it in better shape than you found it, literally.

If you're sitting around thinking what other people think about your work, you'll just become paralysed.

We [people] are a species that's wired to tell stories. We need stories. It's how we make sense of things. It's how we learn.

I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating...anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us-I think this world would be unlivable without art and I thank you.

You’re supposed to expand your mind to fit the art, you’re not supposed to chop the art down to fit your mind.

There are three major social issues that this country is struggling with: education, poverty, and drugs. Two of them we talk about, and one of them we don't.

What are the stories you want people to tell about you?

The ought to be a worldwide cultural taskforce that just stops you when you have ideas like combining The Red Desert with an armored car heist movie.

We have achieved two of the three alchemists' dreams: We have transmuted the elements and learned to fly. Immortality is next.

If you can't change it don't worry about it.

I feel responsibility for a lot of things that I manage to touch.

Working hard is a skill you have to nurture!

Before you tell me what you teach and preach, show me how you live and give.

Never give up. The bankers and financial people did not take me seriously initially. Everyone thought I would fail. My attitude was that 'No' is an unacceptable answer when it comes to financing.

Everybody has a different kind of talent and a different timetable as to when they develop.

I burned my own damn finger pokin' someone else's fire

Speed isn't everything; you gotta look cool on the touge too.

Some of us seem so anxious about avoiding hell that we forget to celebrate our journey toward heaven.