“Obviously it was happenstance, but it did change my opinion of human nature. I now saw war as a constant, akin to wildfires. They break out unless you work actively to prevent them. Its an atavisti...”

“The administration often used the analogy of planting the seeds of democracy in the Middle East, as if theyd sprout into democratic regimes as nature took its course. Democracy doesnt sprout like a...”

“When I first arrived in Baghdad in January 2003, I thought I would soon rent a house and envisioned myself swimming in the Tigris to cool off after reporting in the city the caliphs called Madinit ...”

“In 2009, Hamas was relatively new to power. It had won elections just three years earlier and was flexing its newfound strength via a war with its old enemy, Israel, which it officially wants destr...”

“Kidnapping is always a threat in this life of reporting on men hurting one another because of religion and politics.”

“We know that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has some very dangerous, very important leaders who are tied directly to the top leadership of al Qaeda central, including a man who was formerly Osam...”

“We can learn to work and speak when we are afraid in the same way we have learned to work and speak when we are tired.”

“If we feel inwardly strong, we will have no need or desire to speak ill of others.”

“My problem is I say what I'm thinking before I think what I'm saying.”

“There's something very cool about that indie spirit that I try to hang on to even now with the bigger films that I'm working on.”

“My dad could be beyond brilliant but totally introverted. If we're talking about computers, he's on. Otherwise, he's a total recluse - he stays in the house and won't leave, and I'm like that. If I...”

“Besides the two Christmas things, we've got a about a dozen new tracks we're working on.”

“Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.”

“The perceptions of middle age have their own luminosity.”

“The Middle East is hopeful. There's hope there.”