“By the time I was 12, I had memorised hundreds of couplets. I could re...” — Javed Akhtar Quote

“By the time I was 12, I had memorised hundreds of couplets. I could recite for hours poems written by others. I knew I could write a line in metre. But I never dared to do it till I was 33 years old.”

“Words are a strange thing. You once saw an animal and decided it's a 'cat.' But cat is a sound. This cat has nothing to do with the animal. But I have decided it's a cat. So a cat it is.”

“Indian cinema is changing not because of outside pressure but because of inside pressure. Society is changing. Obviously, ideas change because of globalization, because of the huge middle class that is mostly first generation.”

“Instilling a sense of self-discipline and focus when the kids are younger makes it so much easier by the time they get into high school.”

“You love your child, and you want to protect your child more than anything on this planet, and yet, by the time they're 17, 18, they're going to step into this world, and that world will not feel the same compunction, necessarily, toward your daughter.”

“I hated having my hair down because it got into my face when I was playing sports. My mom would always put my hair down and make it all pretty, and by the time I got to school, I would have it up in a ponytail.”