For big Hollywood movies, I'm on the more character-driven side of the equation. So, TV is a natural place for me to be because you've got no choice, but to be character-driven.

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.

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

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.

Joy is God’s presence in our lives.

While parchment may burn and gold may be stained or melted down, the things that are truly important to us will never lose their value.

It's impossible to defend oneself in the absence of goodwill

All three explanations—eternal life, reincarnation, and nothingness—are descriptions of the same reality.

The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villainous — licentious — abominable — infernal — Not that I ever read them — no — I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper.

I work late at night. I'm awake and nobody bothers me. It's quiet and things come and talk to me in the silence.

To remember my values, I need to lose certain tastes and find other handles for the memories that they once helped me carry.

Have you ever written a letter you knew you could never mail but you needed to write it anyway?

It's not the events that shape my life that determine how I feel and act, but, rather, it's the way I interpret and evaluate my life experiences.

They got me for possession of something that was long, long gone.