“If America is the pursuit of happiness, the best way to pursue happiness is to help other people.”

If you want to be successful in a particular field of endeavor, I think perseverance is one of the key qualities.

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.

I’ve been working for many years and I think I’ve managed to work with some of the best people in the business, which has been rewarding and an apprenticeship.

Start with the assumption that the best way to do something is not the way it’s being done right now.

Dashed hopes and good intentions. Good, better, best, bested.

Neither one of us could be sure we’d get our money back on this investment, but we just wanted to have company of our own for once because we were best friends.

I’m always studying my craft because I want to be the best at what I do.

I really love music and I want to make it better the best I can.

I wanna be the best at what I do. I wanna sing, I wanna dance, I wanna act. That’s about it.

It is no longer possible for lyric poetry to express the immensity of our experience. Life has grown too cumbersome, too complicated. We have acquired values which are best expressed in prose.