“The technology keeps moving forward, which makes it easier for the artists to tell their stories and paint the pictures they want.”

I want to live where I want to live, and I will make films because I love to make films.

That had always been my purpose: to get people back in touch with what makes us so valuable as a human race.

The secret is not to give up hope. It’s very hard not to because if you’re really doing something worthwhile I think you will be pushed to the brink of hopelessness before you come through the other side.

Teachers are the most important individuals in our society – nothing is as powerful as the human touch in education.

You must let go of your past and embrace your future and figure out what path you’re going to go down

Making a film is like putting out a fire with sieve. There are so many elements, and it gets so complicated.

It’s very important not to do what your peers think you should do, not do what your parents think,your teachers or even your culture. Do what’s inside of you.

Part of the issue of achievement is to be able to set realistic goals, but that’s one of the hardest things to do because you don’t always know exactly where you’re going, and you shouldn’t.

I’ve always tried to be aware of what I say in my films, because all of us who make motion pictures are teachers – teachers with very loud voices.

I’m extremely grateful that I discovered my passion. I love movies. I love to watch them, I love to make them.

Working hard is very important. You’re not going to get anywhere without working extremely hard.

We were always dreaming of how it was going to be.

We are all living in cages with the door wide open.

Being in Washington is more fictional than being in Hollywood.

You need peers; you need people who are at the same level you are. You never know in life when you’re going to need help, and you never know who you’re going to need it from.

All democracies turn into dictatorships – but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it’s Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea.

Only an artist can interpret the meaning of life.

Everybody has anger or regret in them one way or another. They all try different things to get it out. Some people go to psychiatrists. Some paint pictures. Some people talk it out.

Art is the sound of a human dying to be an immortal artist.

Why should I deem myself to be a chisel, when I could be the artist?

Artists die twice. First creatively. Then physically. The second one is the easiest.

My dream job growing up was always to be an artist. It wasn’t even that I would be a rapper or singer; I just knew I would be a public figure.

I grew up thinking art was pictures until I got into music and found I was an artist and didn’t paint.

A good producer brings out the best in the artist he’s working with. You shouldn’t be able to listen to something and say, ‘So-and-so produced this album.