You can make a very good argument that society would be much worse off if you let 10 rapists and murderers free rather than put one poor, wrongly accused accountant in prison. And so my only point on that is that it should open up an argument. It should not sort of settle one, because nobody disagrees with it.
Of course, you always think about how it will be read. I always aim for a reading in one sitting.
Well, you would have to say what is the criteria to determine the success of any merger? It would have to be that the companies are stronger financially, that they took market share, and they are on a very steady footing in terms of their performance.
The whole idea is whatever you do, have fun with it; try to make sure that it's quality and something you don't mind putting your name on.
I'm sick of very white teeth and lots of gymnasium practice. I'm bored, you know, send in the next one. I wanted a real man that I could believe was my brother, my father, you know, my next-door neighbor - a real person.
In films you do a scene, you play around with it and unless you're doing a lot of reshooting, which no one has the luxury to do, you deal with the problem for a day and then you move on. On some level, it never allows you to go very deep into what performing is about.
You must have been a beautiful baby, 'Cos baby just look at you now.
You don't build walls; you build bridges between people.
I guess you could say that no matter what the characters are enduring, I try to make them retain their humanity. Their self-absorbed, grouchy, selfish, aggravating humanity.
If I could rap, that would be a sensation, but I can't, you see, I'm just a Caucasian.
On one level, nothing's really changed in my life. I still drive my daughter in the car pool on Monday. But it's impossible not to be aware of this rush of attention; it's impossible not to be seduced by it once you've entered into it, seduced by being unhappy when the attention wanes.
I've heard some tunes in recent years that were pretty close to that same idea. The idea was you turn on the radio and you want to hear some music and up comes a commercial.
Follow the way of life, which the Holy Prophet has shown you, for verily that is the right path.
Whether or not you agree with Ayn Rand - and I have certain issues with some of her beliefs - the woman can tell a story. I mean, the novel as an art form is just in full florid bloom in 'Atlas Shrugged.' It's an unbelievable story. The characters are so compelling, and what she's saying is mind-expanding.
On red carpets, as people throw questions at you, you try and answer as quickly as possible.
Pain is pain, joy is joy - you can't avoid bringing pieces of yourself into a role.
You know the actor John Garfield? In one movie he walked up to this train station, the ticket booth, and the guy says, 'Yes, where are you going?' And he says, 'I want a ticket to nowhere.' I thought: that's it. The freedom to do that. I want a ticket to nowhere.
If you really spend time with movies, it's three years of your life from beginning to end. I started out planting the seed with 'Monster's Ball' about independent cinema and raising money and that whole thing as a producer, and then it becomes easier for me.
I'd rather win two or three, lose one, win two or three more. I'm a great believer in things evening out. If you win a whole bunch in a row, somewhere along the line you're going to lose some too.
I also love the makers of South Park, because they're political, strong, and they're making all of these comments that would get you shot for if you did it in a drama.
My whole mentality is that I eat what I want within moderation, and I have a little bit of everything. If you deprive yourself, you get moody and unhappy, and you have to enjoy life.
I'm not an example for how people should live their lives. Never in my life would I ever set out to be an example for people on how to live their lives. If you need an example for how to live, then you just shouldn't have been born. Straight up.
If there's anything in life you consider worthwhile achieving - go for it. I was told many times to forget show business - I had nothing going for me. But I pursued it, anyway. Voila!
Who cares who comes out of the closet or not, so long as you're happy?
My mother and I were on welfare and food stamps until I was 18, so I've always had this ethos of, like, 'try and make a little bit of money now because you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.'
A lot of people think YouTube is quite easy, when it just isn't. I've been doing YouTube for six years now, and I'd say the hardest years were definitely the first three or four. You have to constantly put out content that is good just to make people come back to your channel, and I work every single day just to try and expand my brand.
If you think before you speak the other guy gets his joke in first.
But beyond the hysteria of phantom death panels, where is the abomination? Show me the provisions that will hurt consumers, because if you think a $110 billion a year tax break for working-class Americans to buy private health insurance is a government takeover, I welcome the debate.
You could not buy a house in those days without just assuming that the house was not only a place to live, but it was a good investment, because it was going to keep up with inflation or get ahead of inflation, and it was just - that was America.
If you're lucky, and a building succeeds, the real product has many more dimensions than you can ever imagine. You have the sun, the light, the rain, the birds, the feel.
It's like an act of murder; you play with intent to commit something.
My dad was good friends with the Bad Medicine Blues Band - one of the only blues bands in Fargo, as you can imagine! He took me out to see them play when I was 12 years old and I was really inspired by their guitar player, Ted Larsen.
When you make movies, you have to be preoccupied with the social problems, otherwise there is no point in making a movie. To have a story, you need a social problem. Not necessarily a problem, but something to get the idea for a story, otherwise there's no story.
I mean you got to thank your parents for giving you the right genes.
If you look for me, I'm in the fiction section. Romance has its own section.
People assume you can't be shy and be on television. They're wrong.
