The poet Paul Éluard says that to understand my film version of Beauty and the Beast, you must love your dog more than your car.
This idea that failure is not an option: It makes failure invisible, inconceivable and inevitable.
Democracy is not simply a question of structures. It is a state of mind. It is an activity.
The question shouldn't be what we ought to do, but what we can do.
I do a lot of work with policymakers, but how much effect am I having? It’s like they’re coming in and saying to you, ‘I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seatbelt?’ And you say, ‘I don’t think you should drive your car off the cliff. ’ And they say, ‘No, no, that bit’s already been decided—the question is whether to wear a seatbelt. ’ And you say, ‘Well, you might as well wear a seatbelt. ’ And then they say, ‘We’ve consulted with policy expert Rory Stewart and he says. . . . ’
I found incredible kindness, dignity and hospitality in both Iraq and Afghanistan - am only alive because of it - the most worthwhile lesson of a twenty month walk to these countries was a deepening appreciation of the kindness of strangers.
I had been walking one afternoon in Scotland and thought: Why don't I just keep going? There was, I said, a magic in leaving a line of footprints stretching across Asia.
I never want to feel like the way that I see it isthe only way. Sometimes mistakes happen and that's better than whatyou thought the scene could be. You allow room for the possibilities.
Artists are the antennae of the race, but the bullet-headed many will never learn to trust the great artists.
A whole generation of young whites have involved themselves with traditional Negro music.
Faith in our associates is part of our faith in God.