I only achieve simplicity with enormous effort
Each of us is born with a history already in place
Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity. What is the message when some children are not represented in those books?
I think it's difficult for young people to acknowledge being smart, to knowledge being a reader. I see kids who are embarrassed to read books. They're embarrassed to have people see them doing it.
When I began to read, I began to exist
We need to tell young people that America was built by men and women of all colors and that the future of this country is dependent on the participation of all of our citizens.
Cutting people out of your life is easy, keeping them in is hard.
I know that Martin Johnson [the England coach] was in the stands, but I didn't feel it was up to me to impress them. He and his assistant [Brian Smith] were here to support me.
People only mention it's a free country if they're doing something shitty.
You can work on a movie for years, and you won't know until you show it to an audience for the first time if it makes any sense to them at all, if they're touched, if they find it funny, so it's endlessly exciting, because failure is just right there all the time, and your chances of success don't rise that much based on the fact that you succeeded last time.
Go to hell, Willy, our souls eat poetry, but one has seven deadly sins to feed!