In the land of ideas, you are always renting.

I think I'm good at amplifying an actor's strengths, and minimizing their weaknesses. And they all have strengths and weaknesses.

When a film like Chris Nolan's Memento cannot get picked up, to me independent film is over. It's dead.

To me the director’s job is to leave it in better shape than you found it, literally.

If you're sitting around thinking what other people think about your work, you'll just become paralysed.

We [people] are a species that's wired to tell stories. We need stories. It's how we make sense of things. It's how we learn.

I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating...anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us-I think this world would be unlivable without art and I thank you.

You’re supposed to expand your mind to fit the art, you’re not supposed to chop the art down to fit your mind.

There are three major social issues that this country is struggling with: education, poverty, and drugs. Two of them we talk about, and one of them we don't.

What are the stories you want people to tell about you?

The ought to be a worldwide cultural taskforce that just stops you when you have ideas like combining The Red Desert with an armored car heist movie.

Life is given to bring the will of God on earth

In wars amongst ideas, doubters are the victims.

The process of writing a book is like the process of preparing a dinner. Serving dishes, choosing ingredients and so on.

Depict a leader who seemed overwhelmed and rarely made key decisions.

There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths.

The eye is the notebook of the poet.

I think one wants lots of different lives.

Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit.

As a writer, my job is to think of evil ways to destroy the world and save it. What could be more fun?

The greatest things in life - truth, creativity, imagination, love, kindness, compassion -are already inside us, and they're all free.