I've just been to the Taj Mahal which I'd never been to and I'm not a very romantic kind of guy but it is the most romantic thing I've ever seen.

It's a good place when all you have is hope and not expectations.

I grew up in a city, I'm a city person - I go on holiday and I'm bored.

There's lots of things that can be solved with cash.

The sun is the most important thing in everybody's life, whether you're a plant, an animal or a fish, and we take it for granted.

I don't want people to sit there and objectively watch the film. I want them to experience it as something that's under their skin, so you try to make the films really tactile.

I want people to leave the cinema feeling that something's been confirmed for them about life.

If you have to be persuaded about something, you shouldn't do it.

I learned with 'The Beach' that I'm a bit better lower down the radar.

The awards season gives a chance for independent films to have a bit of longevity in the press and the media.

I don't want to make pompous, serious films; I like films that have a kind of vivacity about them.

Trees allow their old leaves to fall so they can then blossom.

Emotional quotient is far more important than intelligence quotient. We live with people, not with math problems.

Like any other actor, I draw on life experience.

If I start to become a star, I'll lose contact with the normal guys I play best.

Nothing is wrong about giving a rose to someone you like or love.

So long as the product is sold, everything is taking its regular course from the standpoint of the capitalist producer.

The black family unit that had survived 150 years of slavery was decimated in less than 30 years by welfare payments that stopped if the family structure remained intact.

We have the means to change the laws we find unjust or onerous. We cannot, as citizens, pick and choose the laws we will or will not obey.

When I first came in, I partied and had a good time. I used to spend $500,000 on chains that don't make no sense. Then I started having babies. I don't do the bull**** no more.

The rewards go to the risk-takers, those who are willing to put their egos on the line and reach out to other people and to a richer, fuller life for themselves.