But I think that the spirit of protectionism would be the grave of European cinema. You cannot protect something by building a fence around it and thinking that this will help it survive.

I'm getting a little bored by the juxtaposition of American and other cinema. I no longer think this division is as true as it might have been in the 1980s, or the early part of the 90s.

Without dreams, there can be no courage. And without courage, there can be no action.

Take opera for example - to go to the opera you have to dress up in a tuxedo and pay lots of money.

My advice is, don't spend money on therapy. Spend it in a record store.

Every photo, every 'ONCE' in time is also the beginning of a story starting 'once upon a time...' Every photo is the first frame of a movie.

Film is a very, very powerful medium. It can either confirm the idea that things are wonderful the way they are, or it can reinforce the conception that things can be changed.

The more opinions you have, the less you see.

I think sometimes you have to just imagine something that looks pretty impossible. By imagining something that is impossible, automatically you wish you could make it possible.

For years all I seemed to be doing was lobbying politicians and others to persuade them that European culture needed movies, and that we had to protect it.

Photographs put time into such a perspective. They humble us and our selfish memories.

Wisdom of the Ages: Do the aliens on the moon pull down their pants and 'earth' their friends for fun?

Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that's important. Self-discipline with awareness of consequences.

This just in: Beverly Hills 90210, Cleveland Browns 3.

The space genre is timeless.

I hate my Visa card but have to use it for diesel, insurance and big items. I prefer paying by cash whenever possible because that way I feel as if I've got a better grasp on what I'm spending.

Well, there's Katrina, but you can go through lots of Kurdistan and it looks like Katrina was just there but there's people living in it.

My father was a man of few words.

I would work as a cook, get a little money, then open another restaurant.

No big modern war has been won without preponderant sea power; and, conversely, very few rebellions of maritime provinces have succeeded without acquiring sea power.

Writing is a channeling of an individual experience; so is reading. That's what's so exciting about this art form - it's interactive.