When I was growing up my mother would say, 'Your dad may have to learn about being a father because he lost his own and that would have affected him'.

If you look at Shakespeare's history plays, what the setting of monarchy allows is this extraordinary intensification of emotions and predicament.

I would say L.A. is more polite than London - it's a very careful place. People talk a lot in code.

I appear to be drawn to iconic characters and what they reflect back to our cultures.

I'm enough of a southeast Texas boy - there's enough white trash in my blood that when somebody gives me money to make a record, I feel like I have to please them instead of myself.

When I was about 9 years old, I became very interested in the human body and diseases. In general, I was just curious about the world around me. I think that any sort of curiosity as a child is a good beginning to a career in science because science, at least to me, is a continuous exploration of the unknown.

World's major powers, including China and Russia, don't want to 'finance' American military adventures anymore.

I came from a family in Texas who simply never spoke about money.