For weeks Tyrone thought he was going to die any minute, and there were also times when he was afraid he wasnt going to die.

But you cant shut everyone out. I mean you have to have someone to love. . .someone to hold on to. . . someone--

I've always felt alienated. I realized that I've been terrified my entire life. So I can identify that fear which drives so many of the people that I write about.

I just don't seem to be capable of believing in evil as some separate, distinct power within itself. I guess I'm just not a Southern Baptist or a Fundamentalist. I just don't seem to be capable of believing in it myself, somehow. I don't . . . I can't conceive from my experience how this force of evil can exist without the force of love being right there.

I guess it could be said that the inspiration for 'Requiem for a Dream' is watching the American dream not only destroy so many lives in the U.S., but infect the rest of the world with its obsession with getting more, ignoring the deadly effect that has on the planet.

People in Germany are very, very responsive to the readings.

All the energy of their frustration and fear going into their laughter.