I have not seen a film as powerful, surreal, and frightening in at least a decade unprecedented in the history of cinema.

I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature.

The power of a volcano when it erupts is so evident, so visible, so palpable.

If you’re purely after facts, please buy yourself the phone directory of Manhattan. It has four million times correct facts. But it doesn’t illuminate.

It's curiosity, and always a sense of poetry. You see it in particular in the chapter "Iceland" where I'm reciting ancient Icelandic poetry. It has this very beautiful gravitas in conjunction with the volcanoes.

We were very, very lucky [with Tim White filmed making historic discoveries in the East African Rift ] . In 100 years, only three skeletal remains [of early man] were ever found at this site. This was the third one, and we were right there when it happened. In fact, when I first heard they had found something, I said, "Please stop it! Don't do anything right now. Let's do it tomorrow until we have unpacked our cameras and assembled our stuff.

I'm not a journalist; I'm a poet. I had a discourse, an encounter with these people but I never had a list of questions.