"Patience is not passive waiting; it is active endurance with a calm countenance. Such is the immutable nature of understanding — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Patience is not passive waiting; it is active endurance with a calm countenance."

"A leader does not command the wind, but sets the sails and steadies the crew. Remember this in moments of decisive trial."

"It is a essential truth that every second given to regret is a precious second stolen from creation — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The military is a very cool world to write about. I went down to Ft. Benning, Ga., for military training, and I learned a lot about soldiers and officers and why they joined up and what their life has been like."

"'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.'"

"I sing seriously to my mom on the phone. To put her to sleep, I have to sing 'Maria' from West Side Story. When I hear her snoring, I hang up."

"When I made 'Real Steel,' the director actually had the robots in the monitor, so he knew where everything was. So technically, there's been advancements. But at the end of the day, movies are about story and characters, so all the other stuff is great, but unless you have those two elements, then you've got nothing."