My way of getting the best from people on a set is to notice their work, to make every prop master, every seamstress, part of 'The Newsroom' or 'The West Wing' or 'Steve Jobs.'
I grew up about 60 miles northwest of New York, in Middletown, NY.
I'm from outside Philadelphia, a town called Wayne, which is, like, 25 minutes northwest.
In the past, the West had tried to export one formula of democracy which should fit to the rest of the world, and they discovered that this doesn't work.
I've benefited from the best of both societies and both cultures, East and West.
The creation of Physics is the shared heritage of all mankind. East and West, North and South have equally participated in it.
It's only Western civilization that, God forbid, you talk about dying, when it's the only thing we know for certain, right? Everyone's going to die, so what's the big problem? 'Oh, God. Don't talk about it. Don't think about it.' I mean, I'm one of them. I'm not a big fan of talking about dying.
I would still describe China as a vast, invigorating puzzle that will never make sense to my western upbringing.
It is true that a large percentage of the Western world hopes that I am imprisoned or dead. But all my people, the Palestinians and the Arabs, wish me long life and freedom.
There is not a single Muslim leader today who has the courage and commitment to defend Islam and Muslims, they are all in awe of the United States and other Western powers, and are indebted to them.
