Time and time again I was told that I would never make the film on time and never make it on budget. That kind of criticism tends to turn me into a great big motor of efficiency.

Never give up. You only get one life. Go for it!

I am drawn to writing and directing as it is most like the feeling I had when I was a teenager with my puppet theatre. You are more in control of everything and involved in every aspect of production, so more challenged and fulfilled.

Ensure that your script is watertight. If it's not on the page, it will never magically appear on the screen.

Proving yourself in a field where the casualty rate is so notoriously high is an ongoing challenge.

Always have an answer - even if you change your mind five minutes later.

Time and time again I was told that I would never make the film on time and never make it on budget. That kind of criticism tends to turn me into a great big motor of efficiency.

Anthony Hopkins says you just keep acting. Do it all the time and eventually it will happen. He got his break, after all, by taking a role nobody else wanted. A cannibal!

My father died prematurely at the age of 52 when I was 24, and it is a recurring regret that he never lived to see me succeed beyond university and drama.

Actors always think that others are getting more work than them. In my case, they usually are.

I am a very judgmental person. Of myself and other people. I recognise it's a great fault, but I have no power over that.

I don't think it's the case that 'posh actors' get more work than others.

I like fixing things.

I place an enormous premium on loyalty. If someone betrays me, I can forgive them rationally, but emotionally I have found it impossible to do so.

I watch TV all the time. Everything.

I would love to play your common, everyday guy, but I never get cast as that.

I would still like to go to the moon before I die.

I'm a hoarder.

It always depresses me when people moan about how commercial Christmas is. I love everything about it. The tradition of having this great big feast, slap bang in the middle of winter, is an essential thing to look forward to at the end of the year.

The fashion world is much more ephemeral than the film industry and moves at a faster pace, and it's got even more frenetic since the Nineties; more paparazzi hanging about and it seems to me there are even more fashion magazines.

Unless you are an enormous name, you never stop auditioning.

Well, it's true that I've never been solitary, although I spend a lot of time alone. I've never felt lonely or been shy.

When I came to England, the first director I met was Charles Sturridge, who told me, 'You speak like somebody out of the 1950s.'

When I meet a couple, I'm always interested to know if they have been together for a long time, or how loyal they are, because I know that will impact on how much I'm prepared to trust them.

You feel your game's raised by working with the best people.

Never give up. You only get one life. Go for it

Never give up. You only get one life. Go for it.

Criticism of government finds sanctuary in several portions of the 1st Amendment. It is part of the right of free speech. It embraces freedom of the press.

To what derision should I be exposed from a thousand quarters!- An unlearned female entering the lists of criticism against the mighty Johnson!

The best thing I can think of would be to create a union between something as beautiful and powerful and wonderful as Hollywood films and a criticism of the status quo. That's my dream, to make such a German film.

Though bitter, good medicine cures illness. Though it may hurt, loyal criticism will have beneficial effects.

No American soldier should be allowed to set foot on Iranian soil, regardless of the criticism we have of the Iranian government.

The English can be a very critical, unforgiving people, but criticism can be good. And this is a country that loves comedy.

Their is no defense against criticism except obscurity.

The dread of criticism is the death of genius.

This issue, if not addressed, leaves any President, including George Bush, open to the criticism that they are essentially ignoring the destruction of the nation and I believe that with all my heart.

A woman's flattery may inflate a man's head a little; but her criticism goes straight to his heart, and contracts it so that it can never again hold quite as much love for her.

I love criticism just so long as it's unqualified praise.

The strength of criticism lies in the weakness of the thing criticized.

Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance or a stranger.

Of course the French are making very credible movies and it is still one of the greatest nations in terms of world cinema but the real problem is the decay in film criticism.

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.

Few people have the wisdom to prefer the criticism that would do them good, to the praise that deceives them.

Dodi got a lot of criticism when he began dating Princess Diana. No one seemed to think he was good enough for her.

Painting what I experience, translating what I feel, is like a great liberation. But it is also work, self-examination, consciousness, criticism, struggle.

Poetry; a criticism of life under the conditions fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty.

The other part of our proposal that gets the 'dittoheads' upset is our suggestion that the commercial radio station owners either play by the rules or pay. In other words, if they don't want to be subject to local criticism of how they are meeting their license obligations, they should pay to support public broadcasters who will operate on behalf of the local community.

In marriage there are no manners to keep up, and beneath the wildest accusations no real criticism. Each is familiar with that ancient child in the other who may erupt again. We are not ridiculous to ourselves. We are ageless. That is the luxury of the wedding ring.

I think the hardest part about being a teenager is dealing with other teenagers - the criticism and the ridicule, the gossip and rumors.