At the end of the day, it's still a show about guys who ride extremely fast motorcycles for a living.

That's why 'The Bourne Identity' has that sort of shaky style, because for the most part, Matt Damon and I were sneaking around Paris and shooting where we didn't have permits.

I can't impress people with the pedigree of obscure French filmmakers that got me into film. It was Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg. I really thought I wanted to make dumb action movies.

In movies, you can basically buy the audience into the theater. If you spend enough money on visual effects, even if you are lacking in story and character, you might still pull it off.

To be a lone filmmaker thousands of miles from home with nobody believing in me, that seems romantic.

I make movies for me and posterity. I'm more scared of history than I am of the studio.

If you do something that's really original, you discover why everybody else does it the other way, usually. There's a reason cliches exist, 'cause they work.

It's no secret that my process is a little bit loose and can be a little bit infuriating to a studio if they don't know what they're signing up for.

When I was shooting 'The Bourne Identity,' I had a mantra: 'How come you never see James Bond pay a phone bill?' It sounds trite, but it became the foundation of that franchise.

I probably shouldn't treat interviews as therapy sessions, but I don't keep a diary, so these end up being my way of keeping track of where I'm at and letting it all out.

You can find truly original pieces of writing, but they're original because you go, "Who would have even have thought of that?," or, "Why would anyone ever want to go see that?"

Real relationships are the product of time spent, which is why so many of us have so few of them.

Competition is a bad company [kusang, the company which will bring our downfall].

Families living in dysfunction seldom have healthy boundaries. Dysfunctional families have trouble knowing where they stop and others begin.

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.

Everyone got behind Fox, the name the guys had dubbed the red truck."Fox?" I asked, raising an eyebrow."Yeah, " Isaac said with a grin. "Our truck is hot, like Megan Fox.

I always said you have to be really smart or really dumb to play this game well. I just don't know where I fit in.

Do fewer things and do them well. Focus on the things only you can do. Do the important things which must be done now.

I think that fiction has a part to play in urging us, as a species, toward compassion.

When I went back to New York with somewhat of a name, they didn't want movie actresses.

If you're too happy about anything, fate usually gives you a good sock in the jaw and knocks you down.