I never wanted to be a pop star.

When everything is for 'fun' nothing is for the good.

There is far too much literary criticism of the wrong kind. That is why I never could have survived as an academic.

I think a poet, like a painter, should be a craftsperson.

I believe the GOP should pitch its big-top tent around fiscal conservatism and a muscular foreign policy rather than carnival bark outside the sideshow tents of gay marriage and reproductive choice.

When you cut your life into a film - 90-some minutes of film - you end up taking snapshots and vignettes of the highlights of it - marriage, divorce, death, success, fame, loss. The up and the down and the up again.

I just love sport; I love competing. I'm obsessed by it, to be honest. I can accept losing, sure, no question, but it just drives me crazy. Just ask my wife.

The movies I like to make are very rich and full of passion. Some people see me as an action director, but action is not the only thing in my movies. I always like to show human nature - something deep inside the heart.