Everybody has something that chews them up and, for me, that thing was always loneliness. The cinema has the power to make you not feel lonely, even when you are.

People ask me all the time, "What kind of father are you?" I won't know until my kids are grown.

The prejudice surrounding AIDS exacts a social death which precedes the actual physical one.

If I stopped having passion, I'd be done.

'Forrest Gump' was great, it was fabulous. It lasted much longer than anybody thought, and brought me a degree of attention that no human being on the face of the planet deserves.

That's what's nice about directing a film and having it done: There's nothing more I can do about it. It's done. That's it. All I can do is let it go and hope that people are kind to it.

For some people, I will be Forrest Gump for the rest of my life. But that's OK; that's a good thing.