The endings for all my characters seem sufficiently human and messy for me to feel comfortable with them. In some ways they have only moved an inch, but sometimes an inch is a great distance.

The closer you stay to emotional authenticity and people, character authenticity, the less you can go wrong. That's how I feel now, no matter what you're doing.

Anything you could ever want or be you already have and are.

The holy trifecta of directing and filmmaking is character emotion, camera movement and music. When you hit those three, that's magical. That's what I'm trying to do.

I got put on jury duty, which is where I learned how to write.

There's nothing better than an actor who is really, really hungry to show everything they've got.

You know, veterans come home and they may not be bipolar, but after they've been through a war with PTSD or a head injury, their families have a handful when they come home.

That's just how I see things. I think things that are the most dramatic or tragic can also look the most ridiculous and funny. That's part of being human.

The idea that anyone would think their religious ideas make them morally superior is just preposterous.

The gift of life is the gift to suffer sometimes and to embrace it, heartbreak and all.

What do we have in life, really? If we're lucky we get to a certain age, and we have each other. We have the food we like. We have our crazy little rituals. And we have each other.

When someone is mean to me, I just make them a victim in my next book.

Even under the most difficult circumstances you can have creative flexibility.

Need is not quite belief.

This is our world, although the people who drew this map decided to put their own land on top of ours. There is no top or bottom, you see.

Temptations are a file which rub off much of the rust of our self-confidence.

All life is problem solving

The philosopher ought never to try to avoid the duty of making up his mind.

White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.

To make your voice heard is difficult. Sometimes we have to burn ourselves in order to be heard. It is out of compassion that you do that. It is the act of love and not of despair.

Mental life is indeed practical through and through. It begins in practice and it ends in practice.