“I love the fight game. I like the brutality. I like the mentality. I like the aggressiveness, but I like the technique and skill. I like the stakes. I like the people around in the gym. I like the everyday, working class feel of a boxing gym.”

I think they are very important because westerns have a code and a symbolism.

There are different reasons to make movies.

I would love to get great performances from actors as a director, because that’s what I’m always looking for, a director that’s going to help me go places I’ve never been before.

You can go left, you can go right, I don’t give a damn. Just make a decision.

You have respect and reverence for your characters and the fact that you’re going to epitomize that person for the rest of their lives. They’re going to be judged based on your performance by millions of people. You have a certain responsibility.

I think women can be as cruel as men, and men as tender as women, and vice versa.

I can think of films that I’m producing right now that are extremely hard-hitting, graphic films, that nobody necessarily wants to see, graphic in terms of violence, of adult content and racial and historical subject matter.

Filmmaking is a difficult process. There are the logistics of making a film. You have to do your part, and then change the entire thing around to do someone else’s part. A lot of the magic is lost, in between that, and you have to figure out how to get it back.

I owned a 1972 Plymouth Valiant that we bought for $125. It was infested with cockroaches and geckos – it was its own little ecosystem.

But I guess I like playing flawed guys ’cause it gives a place for the characters to go.

I got as much information as I could, so I wouldn’t look stupid, but this is a post 9/11 world and there’s only so much you can do with the FBI in terms of research.

I think every actor wants to be an FBI or cop at one point.

The day you stop caring what other people think of you is the day your life begins.

The only morality in a cruel world is chance.

If it helps me in the way that if this movie is successful, I get to make more films, great, and the more films that I make and the more interest that I’m allowed to cover, the better for me and the better, hopefully, for the people who like to watch me.

Well, I’ve thought many times when my career was in the toilet, that I was going to have to seriously consider getting another job, I don’t know what I’d do.

There’s something about beating another human into the ground who also has the ability to fight for his life and the opportunity to take yours. it makes you feel particularly great when you win.

I love boxing more than anything & I respect the sport & have dedicated my life to it.

I respect all of the fighters within the sport of boxing, legends of the past, stars of the present, and prospects of the future.

If you are not the best, then pretend you are.

My wealth is in my knowledge of self, love, and spirituality.

I’m young; I’m handsome; I’m fast. I can’t possibly be beat.

Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.

It’s hard to beat a guy when he’s got his mind made up that he’s going to win.