His Holiness [the Dalai Lama] has told me, urgently and repeatedly, that he thinks my photographs are crap. His exact words were, 'These photos are of poor quality. Why is there no sharp focus? There is no clarity!' I said, 'But your Holiness, it's Goyaesque.' And he said, 'No! It's out of focus!'

A lot of making a movie is the comfort level of the people. It's just feeling open. We need to get along. We have to know something about each other.

We've had too many World AIDS Days.

There are times when telling lies are not a bad thing. It can be a compassionate thing. But to make it benign, you have to be aware of your compassionate reasons for telling that lie.

My first encounter with Buddhist dharma would be in my early 20s. Like most young men, I was not particularly happy.

I think that as human beings we tend to compartmentalize, and we have a selective morality based on the situation we're in.

I always remember what Bob Dylan said in that [Martin] Scorsese documentary on him. When he was asked about Joan Baez's complaints about the way he treated her when they were together, Dylan laughed and said, "It's impossible to be in love and wise at the same time."