"Because I'm the author of my screenplays I know what I'm looking for. It's true that I can be stubborn in demanding that I get what I want, but it's also a question of working with patience and love."

"And I don't believe that children are innocent. In fact, no one seriously believes that. Just go to a playground and watch the kids playing in the sandbox! The romantic notion of the sweet child is simply the parents projecting their own wishes."

"People expect me to be dark and gloomy, then write that I'm a jolly chap, and after all, that is what I am. I think it's a case of an absolute romantic naivety that there should be a parallel between the work and the artist."

"I love actors, both my parents were actors, and the work with actors is the most enjoyable part of making a film. It's important that they feel protected and are confident they won't be betrayed. When you create that atmosphere of trust, it's in the bag - the actors will do everything to satisfy you."

"There are many things that you can't measure. But the great fun of what I do for a living is figuring out ways to measure things that people previously considered intangible."

"I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm damn well gonna do it!"

"The key to organizing an alternative society is to organize people around what they can do, and more importantly, what they want to do."

"We do not believe voters gave President Bush a mandate to turn back the clock decades on so many of our legal protections."