I just get the same stuff as I did before, but the price tag is much higher.

That's the trouble with anything which essentially has a lot of bits that are physically impossible: You're left, stuck, in the studio. And that's a shame. You're making a movie. You don't want it to stay put, you want it to be a movie - to move.

Why is it trivia? People call it trivia because they know nothing and they are embarrassed about it.

I knew it was going to be enormous because of the number of people who bought the books, but, to be honest, I never thought it would be bigger than Bond. Never in a million years.

I've got two young kids. I don't know what the future holds.

My dad? He died when I was 19, which is a bad time for your dad to die, because there's an awful lot of things you have to resolve with your parents past your teens if you've been a difficult teenager.

The backgrounds in Lord of the Rings are all explained.

I've signed on for four movies, and I'll do four. That's easy. No complications there.

I had a very bad time with acid. I did that classic thing of looking in the mirror by mistake and seeing the devil. But I took it several times, because you always think that next time you might have the wonderful time that everyone else is having.

And I think he's been very keen to do that.

Ninety percent of people's nightmares is standing in front of 1,000 people. Did you know that? And having to speak. You would have thought it would have been a madman tying you up and taking your eyes out.

What you do is get the right director and the right screenwriter and the right cast. It's a fantastic job.

I mean, I'm obviously not one of those people who's so beautiful women take their clothes off when I walk into the room. I didn't become a star overnight.

It's hell with that big beard and stuff. That's the one bit I don't like. Either you take out at lunch or you don't eat. So I opted not to eat, 'cause having to put it on twice is horrific.

I sometimes worry that all the beautiful things have been made.

It was quite instant that he wanted Harry's approval. Did you notice that? And the children sort of rescued him this time. It's a great turnabout. That's what happens as your children get older. They do things for you, and it's quite shocking when they do.

The person who comes up to you and makes the most noise and is the most intrusive is invariably the person in the room who has no respect for you at all, and it's really all about them.

Crows are incredibly smart. They can be taught five things on the drop.

Believe me, my children have more stamina than a power station.

When you are new to the business, you think if you give a really bad performance, that's one they will print. You will be judged. You just have to be brave.

Is it just me, or is the world full of beautiful women?

I've already felt that I want to direct. Being an executive producer is like the best job in the world because you make all these executive decisions and then you leave the money to other people. You don't have to be on set and counting beans.

I love films where the world seems to be going a bit faster and everything's a bit brighter and more in focus.

I think the shocking thing to discover is the owls are not stupid and very feral, very hard to train.

See, what you're meant to do when you have a mid-life crisis is buy a fast car, aren't you? Well, I've always had fast cars. It's not that. It's the fear that you're past your best. It's the fear that the stuff you've done in the past is your best work.

I just get the same stuff as I did before, but the price tag is much higher.

We are too quick to put labels on things. It is my profession. I get up and paint. Everyone wants to put a label on it, but I am a free spirit, so I fight against that.

I want to act and direct like Jodie Foster. I admire her because she went to college and she is still doing the same thing.

I think the only time I doubted myself was my senior year in high school. I was not offered a Division I scholarship. I remember a scout from Ohio State coming in and looking at my film. He was all excited to meet me. Then he met me and I was 5'10" and he said that I was not a Division I quarterback.

Always try to do something for the other fellow and you will be agreeably surprised how things come your way how many pleasing things are done for you.

Coffee and smoking are the last great addictions.

When you love something, it doesn't feel like work.

A lot of DJs dont realize theyre here today and gone tomorrow. Theyre literally taking jets to every show. Its crazy how much money theyre spending.

Conscience is a great ledger book in which all our offences are written and registered and which time reveals to the sense and feeling of the offender.

Once I moved to London I thought it was unbeatable. I work a lot in L.A. and love it, but would never give up London. It's a true world city, with an energy that's unique.

Anybody can be unhappy. We can all be hurt. You don't have to be poor to need something or somebody. Rednecks, hippies, misfits - we're all the same. Gay or straight? So what? It doesn't matter to me. We have to be concerned about other people, regardless.

Be grateful for small mercies.

A cat is never a presentation, but an innocent happening.

All that we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.

To go to bed at night in Madrid marks you as a little queer. For a long time your friends will be a little uncomfortable about it. Nobody goes to bed in Madrid until they have killed the night. Appointments with a friend are habitually made for after midnight at the cafe.

Boys don't like girls around when they do boy things.

I believe in free trade. I don't support regulating trade prices between different regions. Our point of view is we don't want trade barriers between different countries.

A lot of times as writers, you want to come up with the best possible story, and you bend it according to what you want to happen. I think one of the things that I always try to think about is what would really happen in a situation, what feels real.

I've trained myself not to put too much emphasis on awards, only because I never got into acting to win an award.

I'd love to work with Sir Anthony Hopkins, but if that doesn't happen, I'd sneak on to a film set and watch him at work. He is a compelling actor.

It would be nice to see a fashion range that is geared towards a vibrant, sexual, confident 50-something.

Obstinacy is a fault of temperament. Stubbornness and intolerance of contradiction result from a special kind of egotism, which elevates above everything else the pleasure of its autonomous intellect, to which others must bow.

It's rare to be treated like a friend you haven't met in a Hollywood meeting.

My first winner was on Legal Steps, in Ireland, at Thurles, in March 1992. I rode for Jim Bolger, and his stable jockey was Christy Roche.