“The greatness of a mind is determined by the depth of its suffering.”

Children understand intuitively that the world they have been born into is not a blessed world.

Stop trying. Take long walks. Look at scenery. Doze off at noon. Don’t even think about flying. And then, pretty soon, you’ll be flying again.

Our lives are like the wind or like sounds. We come into being, resonate with each other. Then fade away.

We depict hatred, but it is to depict that there are more important things. We depict a curse, to depict the joy of liberation.

If you release your subconscious it becomes really hard to live a social or family life.

The winds of time eventually turn them into the tools of industrial civillisation. It’s never unscathed.

First: don’t panic! Second: don’t panic! And third: did I mention not to panic?!

There are so many things we can’t do anything about if we think about generalities

I wanted to convey the message to children that this life is worth living.

Yet, even amidst the hatred and carnage, life is still worth living. It is possible for wonderful encounters and beautiful things to exist.

There are all kinds of values within the films but I don’t make message films.

I find it pointless sitting in my house not working, though I like to go on extended vacations from time to time.

Humans have both the urge to create and destroy.

Problems begin the moment we’re born. We’re born with infinite possibilities, only to give up on one after another. To choose one thing means to give up another. That’s inevitable. But what can you do? That’s what it is to live.

When I start creating a villain, I start liking the villain and so the villain is not really evil.

People in Japan have experienced many tsunamis and various earthquakes throughout the ages.

A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it.

It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.

Men went mad and were rewarded with medals.

I do not have love does not mean I don’t have anybody.

Love is very dangerous if you just have love and don’t have the ability to be lovable.

Riches do not delight us so much with their possession, as torment us with their loss.

In America, with all of its evils and faults, you can still reach through the forest and see the sun. But we don’t know yet whether that sun is rising or setting for our country.

I’m not interested in being a lover. I’m interested in only being love.