My father had a couple of kids at the beginning of the Depression. There was not much employment. Not much welfare. People barely got by. People were tougher then.

I was always respectful of people who were deeply religious because I always felt that if they gave themselves to it, then it had to be important to them. But if you can go through life without it, that's OK, too. It's whatever suits you.

Pay attention to the work you want to do and everything'll work out fine. If you're in it for the ego, you might be successful but at a limited level.

Everybody always feels that they're right even if they're wrong and that's what a whole actor's career is built around rationalizing your way into whatever character you're playing.

I just kind of had my own impressions growing up with Hoover as a heroic figure in the 40s - actually the 30s, 40s, and 50s and beyond - but this was all prior to the information age so we didn't know about Hoover except what was usually in the papers, and this was fun, because this was a chance to go into it [ during filming 'J. Edgar Hoover' ]

When anybody gives you an award, it could be wrong. You’ve just got to bear that it mind and go ahead and enjoy it. Like Morgan says, it’s a pat on the back, so great you’ll take it and then move on.

If you don't pay attention to history, you're destined to repeat it.