The sun, too, shines into cesspools and is not polluted.

Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

I hardly read fiction; I mostly read nonfiction. I like to examine material things.

If I had a dozen lives, one of them would involve really getting off the rails in India, heavy into meditation.

As a filmmaker, you want people to understand and get what you do, and it's a lot to ask for.

Kenny Lonergan, as a filmmaker, doesn't tell stories so much as he observes them, which is to say, his films don't come pre-digested. You have to bring your own enzymes. It's a more gripping and challenging experience.

You can recognize almost immediately if the film you're watching is the product of some kind of a hive mind or the result of a personal vision and genuine collaborations. 'Manchester by the Sea' reminds us of the potential of the latter and, for that reason, is the kind of work that makes me, as a filmmaker, want to continue. It's inspiring.

If you find yourself considering a project that seems like a layup, then you're diluted, or that movie's probably not the right movie for you to be making.

Film as a medium, like a novel as a medium, possesses a unique ability to communicate. Film is capable of communicating in a way that no other medium can, and I would say the same for the novel.

What I will say - one thing that is attractive about getting a real film made within the studio system is that studio systems, with their marketing and distribution, have real power.

As a filmmaker, one tends to want to evolve evermore towards a place of independence.

I'm actually not a big reader.

I think Will Ferrell is probably completely evil, the darkest of them all. He is known among comics as the dark knight. An evil, evil man and a dangerous soul.

One of the biggest turnoffs is being presented with an idea that's already, to a degree, complete. That's not an adventure, and it's not a learning experience. It's more of a chore. Then you become a technician with taste, as opposed to an explorer and an author.

I know what it's like to be genuinely intrigued and compelled by a story and to have a sense that there's an adventure to be had and a film to be conjured.

If something is to be quietly powerful, it requires more balance than a film that allows for more freneticism.

I think it's fair to ask how truthful a film is as opposed to how factual it is.

There is a paradox in politics that what it takes to get elected is not necessarily what it takes to govern, and my feeling is that trying to control things too much feels icky to me.

I am and always have been fascinated with people, and I have a very good time coming up with the narratives of people's lives, exploring how a person thinks and feels.

I like to rehearse. We did a lot of rehearsals for 'Moneyball,' but it is really individual to the actor. It's not like, 'Here is my process, everybody. Fit in.'

Filmmaking requires the participation and cooperation of many people. It's unrealistic to expect that you're not going to be challenged by unforeseeable forces from every direction.

If you track something like a political campaign and parcel out what's being communicated in a literal and narrative sense, and what's being communicated by means of emotional and symbolic language, you might find that it's the latter elements that absolutely dominate and move people. It makes me want to take that language and expose it.