Fairytales were never really meant for children; they were meant as cautionary tales for teenagers on the verge of growing up.

Stories are like that. Like cities, they are built on the stones and bones of the past.

Storytelling is as old as speech. It existed before humans first began to carve shapes in stones and press their hands upon the rocky walls of caves.

When our ancestors crouched about the camp fire at night, they told each other tales of gods and heroes, monsters and marvels, to hold back the terrors of the night. Such tales comforted and entertained, diverted and educated those who listened, and helped shape their sense of the world and their place in it.

A novel's whole pattern is rarely apparent at the outset of writing, or even at the end; that is when the writer finds out what a novel is about, and the job becomes one of understanding and deepening or sharpening what is already written. That is finding the theme.

Creativity is every company's first driver. It's where everything starts, where energy and forward motion originate. Without that first charge of creativity, nothing else can take place.

The Khmer Rouge can't destroy me. I still have my imagination and am capable of making films. I am not locked up.

Reporters have to use their imagination, really put themselves in the shoes of the person they want to interview.