Masturbation is the thinking man's television.

You know very well that unless you're a scientist, it's much more important for a theory to be shapely, than for it to be true.

I have always thought of sophistication as rather a feeble substitute for decadence.

Since my adaptation of Ian McEwan's 'Atonement,' I get sent a lot of novels that people think will work as movies. So every now and then I make a point of sitting down and reading a couple of them.

If you take a really good book, then the potential is for a really good film. But you've got to get it right.

It's great to get out of the study and work with real living and breathing people.

It's possible to disagree with someone about the ethics of non-violence without wanting to kick his face in.