“So much of making movies is about discovery on the day, what you’re figuring out. If you know everything going in, then it’s not worth doing – it’s already done. I’m interested in finding people who I think have a voice – and a very specific voice.”

Success is a beast. And it actually puts the emphasis on the wrong thing. You get away with more instead of looking within.

Fatherhood is the best thing I ever did. It changes your perspective. You can write a book, you can make a movie, you can paint a painting, but having kids is really the most extraordinary thing I have taken on.

When I was a boy, I would ask about my family history, about my bloodlines. We really didn’t know that much. We had a little Indian in us from the Oklahoma Trail of Tears.

You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you.

I’m probably 20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic. I don’t think anyone really knows. You’ll either find out or not when you get there, until then there’s no point thinking about it.

If someone wants to do drugs … as long as he or she isn’t corrupting minors or driving under the influence or endangering others, shouldn’t a person have that right?

I look and there’s our boy from Vietnam and our daughter from Ethiopia, and our girl was born in Namibia, and our son is from Cambodia, and they’re brothers and sisters, man. They’re brothers and sisters and it’s a sight for elation.

In Missouri, where I come from, we don’t talk about what we do – we just do it. If we talk about it, it’s seen as bragging.

I had a friend who worked at a hospice, and he said people in their final moments don’t discuss their successes, awards or what books they wrote or what they accomplished. They only talk about their loves and their regrets, and I think that’s very telling.

Heartthrobs are a dime a dozen.

I don’t feel restless, I just like to travel.

A family is a risky venture, because the greater the love, the greater the loss. That’s the trade-off. But I’ll take it all.

America is not a country, it’s a business.

I don’t want to waste time being angry at someone I love.

You make yourself what you are. You have control of your own destiny.

The woman is the reflection of her man. If you love her to the point of madness, she will become it.