For The Truman Show, I worked for a few weeks, do my gig, then I was done.

It's hard to see a film that's been made from a book that you really loved because it's such a different experience.

I chose films made by people I wanted to work with, about subject matter I thought was intriguing.

I have a tight family group that's really important to me. I don't want to work all the time.

There's always a reaction based on fear. People assume if you're criticizing a decision to go to war, then you're saying something against the soldiers-which is not the case.

A lot of films come out before they're finished.

You can't betray yourself too often, or you become somebody else.

When I decided to direct, never having done that before, is something I'm very proud of.

I am not one of these guys who works job after job after job.

In the past 10 years, I've looked at life as this Pollock stuff. And now I'm almost in the post Pollock phase.

I've always wanted to work with Paul Newman. I had a couple opportunities in the past, and I didn't take advantage of it, so it was really fun to be working with him.

I like to act with people that know what they're doing.

Seeing what happens when you rip yourself open is what your job is all about.

You can mostly forget ethnic or religious differences. The competition for a bigger share of the oil proceeds is behind much of the fighting.

You get three hours' sleep and then you start all over again. Relentless. Pre-production was almost harder than filming. I was all over the city every day. It was really exhausting.

Pollock said several times that he couldn't separate himself from his art. Not knowing much about modern art when I began to read about him, I was much more his persona - his struggles as a human being - that was interesting to me.

I listen to National Public Radio, which, to me at least, presents the most rounded view of things.

I made career decisions that came from the part of me who wanted to shun the limelight.

You look at a guy like Lance Armstrong, and you have to be inspired. I sat next to Kirk Douglas the other day, and he's inspiring for fighting through his stroke.

I love this country very much, and I'm proud to live here, but I think our current administration is extreme. These are not merely conservative people, these are extreme right-wing people.

When Bush first got elected, the very first time there was talk of going to war with Iraq, the mainstream media gave his position total credibility. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now.

If I started worrying about how my constituents are going to react to every move I make, I wouldn't be able to do my job here. I'll do what I think is right and explain it later.

If I'm daring at all, I guess it would be emotionally. I try to keep things interesting for myself and to do things that challenge me.

I'm not an activist per se, but I have strong feelings about things. People can jump on celebrities for being ill-informed or naive, but I've got a right to say what I believe.

One of the first things I learned about acting was, the only person you compete against is yourself.

For The Truman Show, I worked for a few weeks, do my gig, then I was done.

I feel like my place in this industry is still progressing.

I had some really dear friends who died from AIDS-one in particular. His family wasn't around and he didn't have many friends. I spent a lot of time with him in his later days.

I think most people that are looked upon as doing something daring don't necessarily think of it that way-they do what they have to do.

I was concerned about filling my life up with something important to me. To me, it was just necessary.

You cant betray yourself too often or you become somebody else.

I'm a family man, I have kids, and I go to the movies. And I'm just going to make the kind of movie I want to see.

I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.

I think artists who are attracted to working on the Net will adjust their work to the capabilities of a very small screen.

The good old days are now.

I was always making up rhymes. But I never thought that poetry would become my life.

I prefer physical exhaustion over mental fatigue any day.

People only look at you and say, 'You are black and you are from the banlieue,' and all the doors are closed. I had the desire to be something else. If I see a door that is a little open, I will find a way to get through.

The source of the realization of truth is within man; he himself is the object of his realization.

The fugitive brief though intense satisfactions that come to the nerves through the appetite and passions are not the foundations of joy in this world they come with a moments flash and are disastrous in their flight.

We're living at this funny time, where we're all urged to express ourselves as unique individuals, but on the other hand, we share a limited set of tools for doing that. It's easy to feel like nothing more than the sum of your consumer choices.

One tends to write beyond what's needed.

My track record is that I have always sought to work with warmth and in a constructive way with the leaders of other components of the Jewish faith.

Registering people to vote is not partisan activity.

There is something in the very name Friend that quickens the pulse and warms the heart.

I was falsely arrested twice, slandered and defamed.

We should start by allowing drilling in Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge. It can provide billions of barrels of recoverable oil and trillions of cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.

I think I'm attracted to outlaws because they make me feel safe inside, like a little child.

My mother graduated from high school at 15 and went to work to support the family because the eldest son went to college.