It is well to be alone. It fertilizes the creative impulse.

If I despised myself, it would be no compensation if everyone saluted me, and if I respect myself, it does not trouble me if others hold me lightly.

Civilization is built on a number of ultimate principles... respect for human life, the punishment of crimes against property and persons, the equality of all good citizens before the law... or, in a word justice.

It is well to be alone. It fertilizes the creative impulse.

The artist writes, paints, sings or dances the burden of some idea or feeling off his mind.

To remain always young, we need only do at every age what harmonises with it.

The problem with dragons is that everyone uses them. All the time. When that happens, they become commonplace. A lot of people think you can just throw them into a story and suddenly whatever you're writing is 28% cooler. But that doesn't work. All that does is make dragons into some boring cliche.

I am so picky about what films I get myself into because it's such an explosion of energy and commitment once you get in there, you destroy your life until you deliver these films. I never want to be in the position of making films that won't be a great use of 90 minutes of someone's life.

Be-YOU-Tiful.

The real important things are kindness and a sense of humor. I've been fortunate to have dated and could have easily married women who have those qualities, and time and circumstances didn't work out. Timing plays a big part.

Nearly all Americans felt they knew JFK intimately, his charm and wit regularly lighting up the television screen at home. This is why polls showed that millions of Americans took his assassination like a 'death in the family.'

I am always rethinking how art is perceived and received, questioning our relationship to art. That's always been a constant.

For me, family feels like a web of love and care, and instinctively, too, I do just like nurturing things.

Oh I am trying to remember, we would read the script after we did the show.

We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not legalize it and then tax it out of business?

Some of the best ideas that we've invested in have made no sense to conventional sources.

Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.

I never sing in the shower either.

When I get bored, I get into trouble.

At the art college in Edinburgh someone arranged for some London groups to come up and play. I was in a supporting band, with Bernie Green I think. Derek Bailey was one of the visiting musicians. He seemed to like my playing and asked me to come down to London.

You can get insular with fashion.

My life experience has taught me nothing happens by chance. Even the idea of the ball in a roulette game: it's not chance it ends up in a certain place. It's forces that are at play.

I have been very lucky for most of my adult life to be working as an actor.

No matter whether it's someone from the political left or right, we just need a voice to stand up and defend animal rights.

In 1966, NASA took over in space, and it has been a bureaucratic mess ever since.

I like writing, and I enjoy it. It's painful. You can't get around the pain of writing. I'm still trying to balance on what I think is my creative habit. It varies, but I do know that I need to continue. It helps me with my acting, and the writing helps me be invested in a different way.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Penn to me are the two best actors of all time. I'm just glad to have the pleasure to be in an era that they're acting while I'm acting. They're probably the best actors in my mind.

Compressed air can provide limitless amounts of clean energy using technology we have had for hundreds of years.

When it was announced that I was going to be on 'Castle,' there were immediate messages on all the TV news sites from 'Firefly' fans hoping for a nod to the series - some encrypted business just for them! I can't promise that, but I can say that a few people out there might get a thrill.

I've done the big 12-city tours, and I'm never going to do that again - never. I was younger then. It wears you out, you know.