The humanists' replacement for religion: work really hard and somehow you'll either save yourself or you'll be immortal. Of course that's a total joke and our progress is nothing. There may be progress in technology but there's no ethical progress whatsoever.
I've been lucky. I've made films that I really like. It's been a combination of what comes to me and what I choose. I've gone after lots of things that I didn't get pet projects that everybody ends up chasing after. Really you're lucky if you get anything.