There were times when gangs would approach me, but my father was way stronger than them. They would come make threats and stuff, and I was like, 'You don't know the opposition I've got upstairs. I'm not scared of you.'
People probably have different philosophies about this, but I think that when you're first shaping the play and trying to find a character, the initial actors that develop it end up imprinting on it - you hear their voices; you hear their rhythms. You can't help but to begin to write toward them during the rehearsal process.
There are only a handful of really good TV programmes, and I'm blessed to be in one of them.
If you're interested in any artist, go see them live. I always say that you should go see an artist live. That's an experience that only you and the people in the room can say that they have.
They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything.
I'm going to tell you what my religion is. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Period. Terminato. Finito.
The successful golfers - they're like astronauts or pilots. They have that demeanor that they can focus and stay within that one moment and nothing distracts them. That's not me.
Certain subjects may no longer be taboo in cinema. But there are ways to treat them that still create shock.
The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them.
I'm not going to grouse and complain when there's nothing I can do about it. Once you've broken up with somebody, arguing with them is not going to bring them back. You may want to stop their Twitter account or call them up late at night, but they made the decision to leave.
Feminists don't honor successful women. You never hear them talking about Margaret Thatcher. Take Condoleezza Rice. She's a remarkable, successful woman. You don't hear the feminists talk about her or Carly Fiorina or Jeanne Kirkpatrick.
If someone comes to you and asks for help, and you can help them, you're supposed to help them. Why wouldn't you? You have been put in the position somehow to be able to help this person.
That's the thing about awards - it's for the people who do all the hard work behind the scenes. An award is just a clap at them.
So few people vote these days, and I think it's partly because they don't feel like the institution really means anything to them. If you want them to vote, give them opportunities to do something else other than vote, to help.
Learning lines is on my mind until I do know them. I'll read the paper or paint the house to keep from starting to memorize. I've never found an easy way.
I am more excited about 'Divinity of Doubt: The God Question' than any other book in my entire career, and I've had seven New York Times bestsellers, three of them reaching number one.
London cabs always dis me. I purposefully give them a good tip because I'm trying to straighten up the image where they don't want to pick up some shady-looking, bummy kid like myself. I'm trying to teach them that if you pick up the bummy-looking kid, you still get tipped, man. But they still jerk me around.
Look at the facts as they truly are, not as you want them to be.
There are so many young talented actors today whose work I respect and admire - Ryan Gosling is probably primary among them. I take inspiration from so many amazing actors.
I am always friendly with people. When media asks me for a picture or interview, I readily do it. However, I wouldn't like them clicking my picture when I am eating or when I visit a temple. I don't want to be big in front of God.
As you get older you have more respect and empathy for your parents. Now I have a great relationship with both of them.
Haiti is always talking about decentralization and nothing has been so obvious, perhaps a weakness, as the centralized nature of Haitian society as being revealed by the earthquake. I mean, they lost all these medical training programs because they didn't have them anywhere else.
What little family I got is in Mississippi. A whole lot of them died before I left, and my sister died a long time ago, before my mama did.
For me, screenwriting is all about setting characters in motion and as a writer just chasing them. They should tell you what they'll do in any scene you put them in.
We're going to have robots in the home, but they're not going to be walking. Legs are complicated, unreliable and costly. Robots are going to look and be designed to meet the function they're supposed to perform. People will still name them and connect with them.
I guess I have kind of a type. Pretty much anybody who shows up in a black leather overcoat, I've doubled for them.
When people take off the headset, they immediately have a creative idea about what they can make in virtual reality, and a lot of them immediately want to get involved.
If I had planned to score double and triple hundreds, I would probably not have made them ever.
Traditional economics is based on imaginary creatures sometimes referred to as 'Homo economicus.' I call them Econs for short. Econs are amazingly smart and are free of emotion, distraction or self-control problems. Think Mr. Spock from 'Star Trek.'
I feel like nowadays everybody I know has a smidge of geek in them. In other words, they have some odd niche or some obsessive tendencies.
I feel so entirely in my element with a full orchestra; even if my mortal enemies were marshalled before me, I could lead them, master them, surround them, or repulse them.
Theatre owners cannot threaten actors with defamation cases and take them to court or seek compensation for losses incurred.
I really feel that I had a genuinely diverse, multicultural upbringing, and I just don't find New York to be quite as diverse. Maybe I'm romanticising, but I feel that I was exposed to a real melting pot in terms of culture and pop culture. My kids are essentially middle-class, but I do try to remind them that they come from humble beginnings.
To me, the most powerful people in this country, politically, are mayors. If you took all the mayors of the 25 biggest cities and you got them together, you could do more on that level than you ever could through the bureaucracy in Washington.
People ask me if I think Anne Boleyn was a feminist... but she wasn't striking out on behalf of women, and she wasn't particularly keen on them.
The exceptional feature of education programmes in Punjab is that students of all federating units have their due share in them.
