@:

Hmm... I believe I watched a long translated interview with him regarding his creation of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and it appeared in there somewhere when he was asked why he creates anime and manga. It seems it's a rather popular quote of his-he uses it a lot to explain his aesthetics and such.
He also stated that he does not personally create stories with strongly stereotypical characters because he does not believe that the world is that way-for example it is not realistic to have a very evil and malicious character. Instead he tries to put certain elements of darkness into his main characters and throw in a strong spark of creativity.
He's also very good at displaying equal sides of masculine and feminine power in his works, as in the cases of Asbel/Nausicaa and Ashitaka/Mononoke. But he also does this through less heroine-like characters such as Chihiro.

Wah, I did not mean for this to turn into a Miyazaki rant ^^
Good to know you find him inspiring as well, thanks for the comment!!