Bush is very clever. When the debate should have been about the deterioration of our cities and the lack of action by government, he sent in his idiot to make an outrageous statement about Murphy...

If you’re in the position to help someone and you do it, it’s very rewarding.

I love iconoclasts. I love individuals. I love people that are true to themselves, whatever the cost.

I don’t care about Clinton’s haircuts or his affairs or any of that stuff.

There is absolutely no way that I would enter that world. I would never run for office.

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.

I think the enemy is self-censorship. In a free society the biggest danger is that you’re afraid to the point where you censor yourself.

I’m six foot four and a half and I have a temper. It’s reserved for very important issues. If someone is asking me to make an artistic concession, then I’ll become a madman.

Is Walt turning over in his grave? A man named Joe Roth runs Disney right now-he gave me the go-ahead and total freedom to do whatever I wanted to do.

Our resistance to this war should be our resistance to profit at the cost of human life. Because that is what these drums beating over Iraq are really about. This is about business.

I don’t know if I ever really bought into the eternal damnation bit.

There’s nothing more boring than unintelligent actors, because all they have to talk about is themselves and acting. There have to be other things.

Every day has been a joy on this movie,

I was a sports fan, but I also went to peace marches.

A chill wind is blowing in this nation.

It was dangerous to hit the wrong kid in my neighborhood, because a lot of the guys I played with had fathers in the Mafia.

There are dumb actors. But there are dumb politicians and dumb bakers.

I don’t think people have been able to deal with the fact that African American filmmakers can make movies about life and relationships.

There’s the theory that nudity doesn’t really make something sexy; the characters and their relationship make it sexy.

The story (is) about the common person who is able to rise to those acts of freedom, … and oddly enough, history has not celebrated them.

I wouldn’t even get elected. I’d probably deck a couple of people, too which would not play very well with the national media.

If I’m a commodity, it wouldn’t be a wise idea to buy stock in me – although, in the long run, maybe I’m a slow growth investment.

It’s certainly a lot more difficult to get a project made if you’re talking about something progressive. That’s just the nature of the industry.

When you make the judgement as a network that there are only three candidates, you are censoring points of view.

I don’t view myself as a political leftie. I view myself as a storyteller who is fair to both sides.

Toy Soldiers was my introduction to film. I certainly didn’t think I was doing art by any stretch of the imagination.

The fact that we make a movie about it isn’t gratuitous,

I wouldn’t say I’m a method actor. I do research when I feel I don’t have enough experience for the part I’m playing.

I don’t want people to be inspired or offended by what I do. If you determine your behavior by what [other people] want, you’re screwed.

It’s difficult when you have to turn down a tremendous amount of money because you don’t like what the script is saying and you don’t have any money.

[During the ceremony, Robbins described Sarandon as a great actress.] She has stunned me in ‘Bull Durham,’ ‘Thelma & Louise,’ this morning, or when she’s reading to my kids at night, … Long may her...

I have personal beliefs and they are sometimes reflected in the movies I make, but I also reflect other points of view.

When you have a person in power who punishes people for speaking their mind, it’s truly dangerous.

It is very inspiring and amusing how many people have come out in this genuine and spontaneous way to embrace peace and reject war. It reminds us there is a human and gentle spirit out...

I’m fairly competant as a director and actor, but I am Mr. Neurotic as a writer. I just don’t have enough confidence in my abilities to take criticism well. I take it personally. Start with...

Altman was told they wouldn’t do the film with me. He could easily have abandoned me, but he stood by me and really bailed me out.

Just because someone gets arrested doesn’t mean what they are doing is wrong. Some laws are unfair and unjust.

In Los Angeles I’ve been stopped and had my car searched. Why? Because of the fictitious war on drugs that we are fighting. The emotional issue of the drug war is used to justify taking...

I learned much more about acting from philosophy courses, psychology courses, history and anthropology than I ever learned in acting class.

You get money out of acting. You get gray hair out of directing. Actually, I get more of a rush from directing.

Some days you have to grow up all at once.

I’m not gangly; I’m very coordinated. I do have a bit of a baby face. But I guess that just means I’ll be working longer.

American people are not evil. Given information, they will do the right thing. But they’re not given the information.

Most good actors have a huge intelligence about the human condition and a real open heart to different kinds of people and behavior.

My philosophy is, don’t take no for an answer and be willing to sacrifice your entire project for freedom.

I learned never to listen to acting teachers because they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

You had to know how to fight or you had to know how to avoid a fight. I didn’t enjoy fighting, so I learned how to avoid them.

When we think about the authoritarian world that Orwell painted, the catchphrases are one thing, but when you read the book again, the specifics and relevance for now are stunning. Orwell may have been 20...

I’ve been lucky-my looks haven’t put me into one category. I don’t look like a blue blood. I don’t look like a criminal. I don’t look like anything.

Any time you’re trying to do a movie with a happy ending, it’s very difficult because it’s been done before and you don’t want to be manipulative.