"In the '60s, when I was growing up, one of the great elements of American culture was the protest song. There were songs about the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the antiwar movement. It wasn't just Bob Dylan, it was everybody at the time."

"I think you should automatically donate your organs because that would turn the balance of organ donation in a huge way. I would donate whatever anybody would take, and I'd probably do the cremation bit."

"Failures are infinitely more instructive than successes."

"I've been working with Pat Robertson on Africa debt-relief, and we disagree on virtually everything except certain very specific, inalienable rights, and the truth is that morality and patriotism come in all shapes and sizes."

"I bought a piano once because I had the dream of playing As Time Goes By as some girl's leaning on it drinking a martini. Great image. But none of it worked out. I can't even play Chopsticks. But I've got a nice piano at my house!"

"Yes, I slouch. My mother tells me that."

"But I'm kind of comfortable with getting older because it's better than the other option, which is being dead. So I'll take getting older."

"If people see me having dinner with a beautiful woman, they immediately believe that I'm having a love affair with her. Of course that's rubbish. I'm not a playboy!"

"I use my film-making to work through my deep questions and my deep problems. I think I could watch each film and tell you exactly which part of my psyche I'm trying to work out."

"In doing the screenplay for 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' the most important thing for me was to constantly go back to wherever the opposition would argue. So I had to keep reading all the books and articles about why McCarthy is such a good guy."

"I think people in Italy live their lives better than we do. It's an older country, and they've learned to celebrate dinner and lunch, whereas we sort of eat as quickly as we can to get through it."

"I enjoy going on motorcycle trips and stopping in small towns and enjoying drinks with the locals."

"Directing is really exciting. In the end, it's more fun to be the painter than the paint."

"You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak."

"Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong."

"My mother would say, 'Why are you always playing alone?' And I would say, 'I'm not playin', Ma. I'm fuckin' serious!"

"And although I broke a lot of laws as a teenager, I straightened out immediately upon turning eighteen, when I realized the state had a legal right to execute me."

"A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff."

"I was a loner as a child. I had an imaginary friend - I didn't bother with him."

"I bet you anything that 10 times out of 10, Nicky, Vinny and Tony will beat the shit out of Todd, Kyle and Tucker."

"I'm happy to tell you there is very little in this world that I believe in."

"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist."

"If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten."

"There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past."