The great lesson about filmmaking is never take "no" for an answer, especially if you have a lot of passion and inspiration to do something.

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.

In the end, I always act from the heart, even if I also value reason and tradition. I wish I could explain why, but I don't know.

Taren Ferry folk had a reputation for slyness and trickery. If you shook hands with a Taren Ferry man, people said, you counted your fingers afterwards.

If you do not expect it you will not find the unexpected for it is hard to find and difficult.

I became a mom at 37 and having a child has been an emancipation for me.

Last night I'd made love to a woman for the first and last time. It had been amazing and I had a memory that would shape the rest of my life.

Millions and millions of exuberant monkeys are creating an endless digital forest of mediocrity.

When you feel pain, you know that you are still alive.

The artist is a member of the leisured classes who cannot pay for his leisure.

I went to the movie this weekend with a gun. And surprise, surprise, I didn't kill anybody!

I'm a straightforward person. I like to be direct with people.