For me optimism is two lovers walking into the sunset arm in arm. Or maybe into the sunrise - whatever appeals to you.

I believe the life of every person is worthy of scrutiny, containing its own secrets and dramas.

I have one good characteristic: I'm a pessimist, so I always imagine the worst - always. To me, the future is a black hole.

Maybe it is worth investigating the unknown, if only because the very feeling of not knowing is a painful one.

There are mysteries, secret zones in each individual.

In believing too much in rationality, our contemporaries have lost something.

This man (Bergman) is one of the few film directors-perhaps the only one in the world-to have said as much about human nature as Dostoevsky or Camus.

Do people really want liberty, equality, fraternity? Is it not some manner of speaking?

I like chance meetings - life is full of them. Every day, without realising it, I pass people whom I should know.

The realm of superstitions, fortune-telling, presentiments, intuition, dreams, all this is the inner life of a human being, and all this is the hardest thing to film.

(When asked what a director does) I help.

Great obstacles are no match for a great God.

When kings the sword of justice first lay down, They are no kings, though they possess the crown.Titles are shadows, crowns are empty things, The good of subjects is the end of kings.

I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind.

I need [Beijing's] trust in order to develop universal suffrage. The more suspicions being expressed, the more difficulty we'll have in moving towards the final destination.

The man who can articulate the movements of his inner life need no longer be a victim of himself, but is able slowly and consistently to remove the obstacles that prevent the spirit from entering.

Artists are the people among us who realize creation didn't stop on the sixth day.

I like to write adventure stories; that's what I tell myself. But you can't help letting your own personality, your own experiences, slip through.

I think fame is one of those things where you have a window of opportunity and you have a certain amount of trust from the fans and without that you don't have a career.

As I learned from growing up, you don't mess with your grandmother.

Brave is good - especially when you are a soldier.