I made my way on to a grey list, a black list even. That's something I'm very proud of, actually.

I thought in terms of the enthusiasm of doing it. I didn't think about whether I was ready.

One of the things that happens in the business is that success is a very strange thing in that if you are involved in something very successful the next person wants you to repeat it.

I did 10 years of comedies and 10 years of Westerns. I really like to stay away from car chases. I prefer the more intimate film. You have a much more direct association with the emotions.

I made my way on to a grey list, a black list even. That's something I'm very proud of, actually.

You wouldn't think it would but my parents were really balanced about that. When it came time for me to be out of the house and out on my own they were very supportive.

Victor Young had been hired to write the score for the dances of The Ten Commandments but he became very ill. You were then hired to write the score. But at the same time you'd written The Man with the Golden Arm score.

When you stop to think about it, so many films today where we don't have that kind of contact are films about alienation. About alienated feelings. We are much more alienated from our colleagues nowadays.

It was a great way to work. In those days, you had to be there. It was your world. It was your club. Your friends were there, your associates were there, your security was there.

There's no way I can compete with someone who can write rap or rock and roll. Nor do I wish to. But I've always kept up to date with music changes. I worked very hard not to type myself.

Today you have something like A Film by Joe Harry. That is patently asinine and ridiculous.

I would do the occasional score. I thought it was the most thrilling thing. It was instant. You made the music and they played it right away to millions of people. I found it thrilling.

I'm generally pessimistic about the dumbing down of America - especially with summer movies.

A massive state and federal effort, the likes of which we've never seen is going to be needed. We can do it for tsunami victims half a world away. We can do it for our own citizens.

When I sign on for a project, I'm there to give the director all the material he or she might need to tell their story, and that's the number one priority.

Concentration is the doorway through which the meditative state becomes available.

Looking back, I am thankful that I didn't go into the film industry.

The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure thing boat never gets far from shore.

The most important thing is friends, family, and the people around you. That's what really makes you happy.

I didn't want to spend my life behind a desk.

You know if something is good because you remember the lines because it is written so well. The rhythm of the speech is spot on.

True dignity is never gained by place and never lost when honors are withdrawn.

It will be readily admitted, that a degree conferred by an university, ought to be a pledge to the public that he who holds it possesses a certain quantity of knowledge.

As a religion, bilingualism is the god that failed. It has led to no fairness, produced no unity, and cost Canadian taxpayers untold millions.

Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson have rejoined and gone off again and rejoined, but I've been there the whole time, and even though Alan White is the 'new' drummer, he has been there since 1972, so he also deserves the credit for being around for 20 years.

It was important to me to become day-to-day fluent and functional in another language, and about 10 years ago, I went to Rome for the first time and felt an instant gut connection and wanted to get to know the city.

The purpose of meditation is personal transformation.

Most artists don't understand what they do, and I don't think we have to. Other people do that better - they understand what I do better than I do!

You have to love yourself or you'll never be able to accept compliments from anyone.

My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence.

Submit to a daily practice. Your loyalty to that is a ring at the door. Keep knocking, and the joy inside will eventually open a window and look out to see who's there.

A man can only attain knowledge with the help of those who possess it. This must be understood from the very beginning. One must learn from him who knows.

You know, I feel that God isn't going to put something in front of me that I can't deal with.

I grew up on hip-hop. I grew up on Run-D.M.C., Whodini, LL when I was in college, so I'm more of a music fan. I probably have the most eclectic collection of music in my Grand Cherokee. Literally, in a span of a week, I'll go from 2Pac to Boyz II Men to Sister Hazel, right down to West Side Story or the Wiz. I love show tunes.

I made my first film when I was 35, so I firmly believe that you don't have to be one thing in life. If you're doing something, and you have a desire to do something different, give it a try.

Women love a self-confident bald man.

We trifle when we assign limits to our desires, since nature hath set none.