External freedom has probably never existed, but neither have I ever known anyone who knew inner freedom.

I knew I couldn't go on like this, but I'd never been capable of simply nipping an anxiety in the bud. I always had to wait until it was ripe and mature and fell from me.

Suddenly I had a flash of insight: I am a monster, I realized, a monster that wants to stalk through the woods, free and alone, and cannot even bear so much as the touch of a branch on its skin.

The barriers between animal and human come down very easily. We belong to a single great family, and if we are lonely and unhappy we gladly accept the friendship of our distant relations.

When you love your neighbor, you won’t have problems with embracing them

Humans beings always do the most intelligent thing…after they’ve tried every stupid alternative and none of them have worked

There is a secret about human love that is commonly overlooked: Receiving it is much more scary and threatening than giving it.

Basically, I think you need two things to get by in this world: a sense of humor and the ability to laugh when your ego is destroyed.

The second time I was banned was when I directed a film called Xiu Xiu. I was banned for three years from China.

If you eliminate what no longer works, you illuminate what does.

When you think about it, Adolf Hitler was the first pop star.

Transition begins in forgiveness.

When sincerity fails, the offer of money usually works.

No one is immune from either taking the wrong action or not taking action at all, but the sense that something is completely out of a person's control is stronger in China.