Why, for example, do the great writers use anticipation instead of surprise? Because surprise is merely an instrument of the unusual, whereas anticipation of a consequence enlarges our understanding of what is happening.

The God I do believe in is the God who doesn't care: James Joyce's God who stands back, paring his fingernails.

If the sad truth be known, writers, being the misfits we are, probably ought not to belong to families in the first place. We simply are too self-interested, though we may excuse the flaw by calling it 'focused.'

No writer besides Shakespeare has created more memorable characters attached to vices and virtues. In even their least sympathetic characters, one senses a kind of helplessness to passion quivering between the poles of good and evil.

The coronation is a symbol of power, but it's not a symbol for us the people. It's a symbol for that person, who is a human, to become a higher being and become one with God. The church, the scepter, and the crown have been around forever. And the line of kings of England goes back thousands of years.

At various times during the last four thousand years God has asserted his rights and endeavoured to establish his own authority, his own laws, and his own government among the children of men.

I used to say to my late wife, 'I have great faith in the American people.'

The Lord, over the years, grew a seed in my heart to make faith-based films.