Even when I have to write a simple letter I'm scared stiff as if faced with looming seasickness.

If the weather is good I go into the nearby wood - there I am painting a small beech forest (in the sun) with a few conifers mixed in. This takes until 8 'o clock.

All art is erotic.

After tea it's back to painting - a large poplar at dusk with a gathering storm. From time to time instead of this evening painting session I go bowling in one of the neighbouring villages, but not very often.

Although even when I am being idle I have plenty of food for thought both early and late - thoughts both about and not about art.

There is nothing that special to see when looking at me. I'm a painter who paints day in day out, from morning till evening - figure pictures and landscapes, more rarely portraits.

Sometimes I miss out the morning's painting session and instead study my Japanese books in the open.

There is no self-portrait of me.

I can paint and draw. I believe this myself and a few other people say that they believe this too. But I'm not certain of whether it's true.

On my first days here I did not start work immediately but, as planned, I took it easy for a few days - flicked through books, studied Japanese art a little.

Even when I have to write a simple letter I'm scared stiff as if faced with looming seasickness.

Whoever wants to know something about me - as an artist which alone is significant - they should look attentively at my pictures and there seek to recognise what I am and what I want.

True relaxation, which would do me the world of good, does not exist for me.

Art is a line around your thoughts.

When I cut the feet out of my pantyhose that one time, I saw it as my sign. I had been visualizing being self employed prior to this happening. It was my mental preparation meeting the opportunity in that moment.

An honest God is the noblest work of man.

In my iPod, there are many operas, from A to Z. I have 'Aida' and 'Boheme' and 'Butterfly' and 'Cavalleria'. My passion is for opera, but when I'm in the car, I listen to everything.

People come to Cannes just to advertise their films, not with a particular message. But the advantage is that if you go to the festival, you get so much press coverage in three days that it advertises the film for the rest of the year.

I don't know why, but audiences are often sympathetic to thieves. Sometimes they are more sympathetic to thieves then they are to earnest people. What does that say about society?

It's good to play something that's black and white, and a guy that sees right and wrong. I've never played a character like that.

I think that we have a great opportunity to impart our wisdom and our knowledge and our experience to this younger generation. It may be different times, but experience transcends time, and wisdom transcends time.

I would like to go back and spend a Christmas with my family and myself when I was five years old and just see what that dynamic would be like. Observe it. I think it would be a magical gift.

They're such hierarchical things, film sets, they're sort of mini societies. Often they're incredibly political places.

I know that's a secret, for it's whispered every where.

You always gain by giving love.

Let your fiction grow out of the land beneath your feet.

I wish all consumers were as gullible as advertising's biggest critics. Anyone who believes advertising is that powerful will believe almost anything.

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.

A broken wing simply means, you have to find another way to fly. Have a wonderful day people.

Reason is the tool men use to determine if their statements about reality are valid: there is no other. Those who do not or cannot reason are little better than slaves because their lives are controlled by the ideas of other men, ideas they have not examined.

I have come to believe that this is a mighty continent which was hitherto unknown.

What can I say? I deal with it. I think I have come to terms with my absolutely hateful and vile childhood. No, I have, really. But I did hate it at the time. I resented it. There were elements of it that were positively Dickensian.

I don't think we should stop emphasizing race because I think, you know, race is still very, very important, and we have to recognize that and continue to introduce programs to address racial inequities. But we have to widen our vision and also address the growing problems of economic class.

I grew up on black sand greens. The best tees were old, dry cowpies, believe it or not.

One of the many joys of tongue-twisters is that they serve no purpose beyond fun.

I have had hundreds of people work for me over the years, and I don't think I ever fired anybody.

Knock on wood, my groupies tend to be very artistic, creative people - sometimes way more creative than I am.

Translation is at best an echo.