Part of being an actor is almost self-hypnosis during those brief moments when the cameras are rolling. You want to actually believe you're Chris Gardner or Muhammad Ali.

Sitting in the movie theater watching "Star Wars," I've never had an experience with any form of entertainment that was like that. It was almost spiritual. I couldn't believe that someone's mind created that. And, right, it felt like George Lucas had a piano that was playing my emotions, and he could go ahead and do whatever he wanted and make me lean forward if he wanted, or he could make me go oh, or he could make me hide my face.

There's a certain delusional quality that all successful people have to have. You have to believe that something different than what has happened for the last 50 million years of history - you have to believe that something different can happen.

The best feeling in the world is knowing that you actually mean something to someone.

Greatness is not this, wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. You know? It's something that truly exists, in, all of us. It's very simple, this is what I believe, and, I'm willing to die for it. Period. It's that simple.

For me, the greater purpose of the story is just to illuminate some pattern of human truth.

Whatever you have is gonna die and you are gonna have to rebirth something new. You have to be willing to ride the waves.