When I was 14 I felt very rundown I had a home to go to but I felt like I was 60 or something older than I feel now. And I don't know if it's something that happens at 14 or whether it was adolescence or whether I was gay or closeted gay or whatever it was I felt that.

Part of what I loved - and love - about being around older people is the tangible sense of history they embody. I'm interested in military history for instance because both my grandfathers fought in World War II. I'm interested in writing because one of those grandfathers wrote books.

What I am saying is all health care has a problem with costs. Medicare is growing slower than the private insurance plans. Why? Because of their efficiency. They don't have to give money to shareholders. Why should be defending shareholders?

When you get older your health becomes important to you things start breaking down you've always got a different ache or pain.

I basically believe the medical insurance industry should be nonprofit not profit-making. There is no way a health reform plan will work when it is implemented by an industry that seeks to return money to shareholders instead of using that money to provide health care.

Today we have a health insurance industry where the first and foremost goal is to maximize profits for shareholders and CEOs not to cover patients who have fallen ill or to compensate doctors and hospitals for their services. It is an industry that is increasingly concentrated and where Americans are paying more to receive less.

I believe the most important aspect of Medicare is not the structure of the program but the guarantee to all Americans that they will have high quality health care as they get older.

I find that the older I get the more I see that there really aren't huge zeniths of happiness or a huge abyss of darkness as much as there used to be.

The older I get the more I see that there really aren't huge zeniths of happiness or a huge abyss of darkness as much as there used to be. I tend to walk a middle ground.

I'm actually tougher on myself as I get older. It's a vicious cycle. The things that are important in life are the things that you can't buy in life: love health and happiness. I say that and I believe that and I try to live that.

Grown men can learn from very little children for the hearts of little children are pure. Therefore the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.

I teach one semester a year and this year I'm just teaching one course during that semester a writing workshop for older students in their late 20s and early 30s people in our graduate program who are already working on a manuscript and trying to bring it to completion.

My mother gave lots of good advice and had a lot to say. As you get older you realize everything she said was true.

You don't appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle-aged woman: Stuff you pay good money for in later life.

The stories that I want to tell especially as a director don't necessarily have a perfect ending because the older you get the more you appreciate a good day versus a happy ending. You understand that life continues on the next day the reality of things is what happens tomorrow.

When you are older you will understand how precious little things seemingly of no value in themselves can be loved and prized above all price when they convey the love and thoughtfulness of a good heart.

I was baptized alongside my mother when I was 8 years old. Since then I have tried to walk a Christian life. And now that I'm getting older I realized that I'm walking even closer with my God.

And as I grew older I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London and they said well no we won't accept you because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.

You will attract the younger generation and they might well prove tougher than the older generation. What we are trying to do is to look at the future and see what we can do to bring some stability back to people's lives.

If younger people see older people who haven't planned ahead and have to rely on charity the young will be more likely to provide for the future. Today when someone plans poorly the only consequence people see is a demand for more government.

It's a funny thing because you look at the careers of other filmmakers and you see them sort of slow down and you realize maybe this becomes harder to do as you get older. That's sort of a cautionary thing. I hope it doesn't happen to me.

I have an older sister named Haley and she wanted to be an actress. So I wanted to be an actress. It's really funny the way that some people don't give kids enough credit for like really being driven and really wanting to do things so badly.

I come more to Scotland than I ever used to so I feel more connected to it more part of the zeitgeist. You know when you realize you have a choice and I'm choosing my homeland. It's funny: when you get older these things creep up to you.