Sometimes you become a character, and sometimes the character becomes you.

Somehow people always had popcorn.

I came from stage in high school, and on stage you kind of overdo with putting on a character a little bit. Sometimes you become a character and sometimes the character becomes you.

Civilization is not inherited it has to be learned and earned by each generation anew…

'Harlem: The Unmaking of a Ghetto' is a surprise and a fresh way of looking at Harlem, connecting the black district with the architecture of its historical past.

I know! It means when two boys are really happy ‘cause they love each other.” She laughed. He wasn’t certain whether to laugh along with her—or cry.

Be brave and upright that God may love thee; speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death; safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath.

Good liquor is not cheap. Cheap liquor is not good.

Even if a fool lived with a wise man all his life, he would still not recognise the truth, like a wooden spoon cannot recognise the flavour of the soup.

I'm not interested in cutting the feet off my characters or stretching them to make them fit my certain political view.

It now seems plain to me that that theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one...the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.

Scenes change while shooting. Nowadays, while you're shooting the movie, you're cutting at the same time.

I'm not Ang Lee who knows so much about western market and the taste of western audiences.