I am who I am, and I think I have a good nature, by and large. But if someone takes advantage of that good nature, well then, you know, I'm not that nice a guy.

We are still in the position of waking up and having a choice. Do I make the world better today somehow, or do I not bother?

And I'm not apolitical - I'm very specific in my politics. But a lot of the time it's nobody's business unless you're over at my house having dinner.

Movie-making is telling a story with the best technology at your disposal.

Never give up because you never know what the tide will bring in the next day.

If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great.

It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together ... and I knew it.

The only way you can truly control how you are seen is by being honest all the time.

I think it's better to feel good than to look good.

A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown.

If things were easy to find, they wouldn’t be worth finding.

Holland is a fairly small country, and in a weird way, somewhat conservative. That might surprise people because it is a very tolerant place, but it's also a somewhat Calvinist country.

Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?

Fishing is a constant reminder of the democracy of life, of humility, and of human frailty. The forces of nature discriminate for no man.

That experience of being in the wild in a place where life initially began for all creatures gave me a overwhelming sense of connection.

No perfect democracy is possible without perfect nonviolence at the back of it.

Praise is the highest occupation of any being

It's an odd state to be in, blowing the whistle on your home country.

Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone was the same, and also unique; and that this was the dilemma of being human.

I regard myself as one of the most dangerous enemies of religion

Adapt your style, if you wish, to admit the color of slang or freshness of neologism, but hang tough on clarity, precision, structure, grace.