Today the real test of power is not capacity to make war but the capacity to prevent it.

Whatever punishment does to a nation it does not induce a sense of guilt

The percentage of mistakes in quick decisions is no greater than in long-drawn-out vacillation, and the effect of decisiveness itself 'makes things go' and creates confidence

Today is really all about Lane. I told a reporter today he has been like my brother.

There's been lots of tears here today. I had to tell the staff at 8 o'clock. ... I think he's just a class guy.

'The Iliad' is about a war 1,200 years ago that solved nothing and achieved nothing. Most of our wars achieve very little. But whatever agenda I have gets buried in a work this great. If you're being honest, you realize that, as an artist, you're not a policy maker.