Jeremy Irons Quotes

He's a man who... well, one of the great things about Shakespeare is that his characters are inconsistent, and that's something I think makes him a writer above most writers because inconsistency is what we, as people, are full of. We maybe don't see it in ourselves too often, but we are inconsistent.

Ultimately, a timeless story has to be about the human condition.

I've always preferred writing about grey characters and human characters. Whether they are giants or elves or dwarves, or whatever they are, they're still human, and the human heart is still in conflict with the self.

Bradbury would have said his plots are myths and metaphors that tell stories about the human condition. That's what sets him apart from other science-fiction writers: He doesn't write about technology, but about the human heart and psyche.

I'm definitely interested in exploring human contradictions. Contradictions are what make us human - it's what defines us as human beings. Contradictions are what make characters interesting, and I've been lucky to be presented with characters who have a lot of contradictions.

I don't write about good and evil with this enormous dichotomy. I write about people. I write about people doing the kinds of things that people do.

I think it is a quest of literature throughout the ages to describe the human condition.

Evil is such a simplistic way to describe any character, be it Iago or Caliban, or any character from history.

I love to start characters in a place where you think you know them. We can make all kinds of assumptions about them and think they have no redeeming qualities, but like everyone, they're complex.

I'm interested in characters that are complex people.

What I'm interested in is human beings alone.

Evil is relative - and what I mean by that is that our villains are as complex, as deep and as compelling as any of our heroes. Every antagonist in the DC Universe has a unique darkness, desire and drive. And the reason for being of 'Forever Evil' is to explore that darkness.

There have to be moments when you glimpse something decent, something life-affirming even in the most twisted character. That's where the real art lies. See, I always suspect characters who are painted as lovely, decent human beings. I would always question where the darkness lies.

We are human, and nothing is more interesting to us than humanity.

I like characters who have faults. I'm drawn to darker people.

Really I don't like human nature unless all candied over with art.

It is human nature that rules the world, not governments ...

People see footballers as different beings, as if we're untouchable, as if nothing ever happens to us, but we're people. Of course we're privileged, but in the tangibles, we're the same.

The human condition is the human condition, and what we try to do is illuminate the human condition.

Real people are complex, contradictory, and have their own motivations - they can't just be mouthpieces for the writers' point of view.

For me, I start at the place that my characters are human. I start at the place that they are onions that are layered and meant to be peeled, just as we as human beings are.

I like fractured characters with human follies.

I like the realism of anti-heroes. It's a healthy thing. I think heroes can be very unhealthy at times because it doesn't connect you to reality.

We're just kind of dark as humans, generally.

In TV, you look to make characters consistent, but in real life, we're not consistent. Sometimes we're brave, and sometimes we're not. Sometimes we're very aggressive, and sometimes we back right down.