Every frame and every scene has to have an intention.

Never treat anything you do as a stepping stone. Do it fully, and follow it completely.

If we don't tell our own stories, no one else will.

Making films is about having absolute and foolish confidence; the challenge for all of us is to have the heart of a poet and the skin of an elephant.

It is because my roots are so strong that I can fly.

What is really important to me is a sense of humour and a mischief about life. Life is just too boring otherwise.

We all know the power of film; we all know there's almost nothing more powerful than to see people on film that look and talk like you, like we do.

We have to realize only in communication, in real knowledge, in real reaching out, can there be an understanding that there's humanity everywhere, and that's what I'm trying to do.

Christmas lights may be the loneliest thing for me, especially if you mix them up with reindeers and sleighs. I feel alone. I feel isolated. I feel I do not belong.

I am still attracted to stories about people who are considered to be on the outside of society. I still seek inspiration from those stories.

I grew up in a small town in India, but through books I knew the world.

Success is ...embracing one's failure

Scouting rises within you and inspires you to put forth your best.

We aren't addicted to oil, but our cars are.

As long as I can make that audience one thing, one unit, then I'm okay with it. But, sometimes, the bigger the audience, the weirder it gets.

The richest genius, like the most fertile soil, when uncultivated, shoots up into the rankest weeds.

I never thought that I'd be a role model. Everyone kind of just made me a role model, and I hated that.

The most important resources you will ever have are your mind and your mind-set. You must protect them at all costs.

The federal government is our servant, not our master.

Giving your book to Hollywood is like turning your daughter over to a pimp.

Smart people underestimate the ordinarity of ordinary people.