There is no pain worse than not achieving a dream when it is your fault. If God did not want you to have it, that is one thing. But if you do not get what you desire because you are lazy, there is no pain worse than that.

There's a forgiveness that literary audiences will give you that film audiences don't give you. It's the two hour construct. You're in there and it needs to climax and finish.

I think for me, as a parent, once my children are thoroughly informed, they can make the decisions that they want to make. The only thing that I demand is a complete comprehension [of the information].

There ain't no problem that some other dude didn't have 1,000 years ago.

I'm profoundly changed. There's a bittersweet emotion that I feel from playing this role. . . . I want the world to be different because I was here. However lofty or crazy or delusional that may sound, I want people's lives to be better because I was here.

The women who don't seek attention are usually the women you need to be giving your attention to.

On learning to swim: I'm too big to have some woman hold my stomach and say 'Now kick your feet.'