I never staged a coup. They picked me up. Like I say, they forced me to become premier, maybe hoping that by that way, they send me to the electric chair.

Americans are big boys. You can talk them into almost anything. Just sit with them for half an hour over a bottle of whiskey and be a nice guy.

After the 1954 Geneva international conference, Vietnam was divided into two parts. On paper, North and South Vietnam were twin countries born at the same moment.

The way Americans understand and treat other peoples almost guarantees that the world will suffer more trouble.

I never staged a coup. They picked me up. Like I say, they forced me to become premier, maybe hoping that by that way, they send me to the electric chair.

And then when they picked me as premiere, I don't think I feel, you know, different. For me, the position mean responsibility, but that's all.

After Watergate, America was a ship without a rudder. Vietnam was left to its own devices, drifting along towards its fate.

By the mid-sixties, the United States had poured more than half a million troops into South Vietnam.

We all know that in war the political and military factors have to complement each other.

Through leadership of the fight against French colonialism, Ho Chi Minh had made a name for himself in the international political arena.

I have been blessed often by Buddha, but equally by America.

During the Fifties, political and military activities in Vietnam were heavily influenced by the French, who as recent colonial masters, made all-important decisions.

From its inception, South Vietnam was only considered to be an outpost in the war against communism.

By fighting a limited, defensive war, America permitted the enemy to endlessly re-supply their field armies.

If the war has faded into history, democracy's defeat in Vietnam has left deep marks in the consciousness of both nations.

If Americans knew how to deal with other people, they could bring peace to the world. Alas, they have not learned enough yet. The true American feels that he is 100 percent welcome anywhere he goes.

South Vietnam had to be built from scratch and, from the very beginning, depended far too much on the Western superpowers. As in the case of a person on public welfare, this dependency, which became greater with each day, was quite difficult to shake.

Maybe because I come from choreography, I've always felt that there's something about action films that made it very natural for me to go that way. It's story through movement.

If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?

I can be sarcastic.

The key things I learned as a hospital administrator are to be organized, communicate, and be flexible.

It's every manager's dream, I suppose, to build a team by coaching young players of 15 to 17. That's why I started a youth scheme.

Passion is no respecter of persons. She hardly seems to select her victims.

It's pretty awful being told you're a racist.

Dance is certainly a sport, and they are phenomenal athletes, and they're also artists.

I wear a lot of different jewelry. I love to look for it when I'm abroad or if I find a great antique or vintage shop.

My mother is an actress, and she used to drag me from theater to theater and reading to reading.

Whoever brings you the most peace should get the most time.

The government can't even do a good job of something as simple as running the Post Office. How can it be expected to do a good job with something really important, like educating our children?

As a director, it is important to understand the actor's process.

I think you can laugh the hardest when you get closest to something real.

I went to school with butterflies of fear every day for years - from primary school onwards - not just worried about being bullied by classmates, but by teachers.

I always wanted to be a psychiatrist.

I always make healthy choices.

It's about keeping animals in our environment. They can't be on somebody's purse or shoes or something.

The drama may be called that part of theatrical art which lends itself most readily to intellectual discussion: what is left is theater.

The danger in promiscuity is that it's always barking at your heels.

I hope to goodness I would not still be working in the corporate world - the money is OK but it is no life at all.

In these litigious times, if you're a beginner, it's becoming harder and harder to get your work to the people who might actually be able to hire you.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

The so-called incorrigibles were not the way people said they were. I found a lot of character in some of these people.