You are what you love. Not what loves you.

I think of myself as a guy who tries to write screenplays and now has tried to direct one. Anything more than that is meaningless and it gets in the way of being a real human being.

I do like escapism. I like going to the movies on a Friday night and seeing something fun.

The only honest and generous thing for me to do is to give people myself. That's all I've got as an artist, so I want to do that in an unflinching way.

The passionate ones, the ones who go after what they want, may not get what they want, but they remain vital, in touch with themselves, and when they lie on their deathbeds, they have few regrets.

Everything I've written is personal - it's the only way I know how to write.

You and I share the same DNA. Is there anything more lonely than that?

Why do I fall in love with every woman I see that shows me the least bit of attention?

Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon. Joel: I know. Clementine: What do we do? Joel: Enjoy it.

There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They're all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due.

Do not simplify. Do not worry about failure. Failure is a badge of honour. It means you risked failure.

God already knew the ones who would be saved, even before their birth

Look those tough and hard decisions in the face and make them

You're born thinking you're the centre of things, and they chip away at that until you expire muttering If I knew then, or some nonsense in an empty rooming house.

Godliness is more easily feigned in words than in actions

To have real knowledge, one must understand the essence of things and not only their manifestations.

What's cool about Twitter is that you can make a joke about something very of-the-moment or random that I wouldn't be able to joke about in stand-up.

A house is not a machine to live in. It is the shell of man, his extension, his release, his spiritual emanation.

Multiculturalism means your kid has to learn some wretched tribal dirge for the school holiday concert instead of getting to sing 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.'

Writing has made me a better man. It has put me in contact with those fleeting moments which prove the existence.

Because it doesn't take much courage to fight when you still believe you can win. What takes real courage is to keep fighting when all hope is gone.