Given what the media have put the country through this past decade, it must come as a surprise to most Americans that the press has a code of ethics.

No matter what name we give it or how we judge it, a candidate's character is central to political reporting because it is central to a citizen's decision in voting.

The written tone and the spoken tone change and the reporters' disbelief in the veracity of the government spreads to the readers and the viewers.

In exchange for power, influence, command and a place in history, a president gives up the bulk of his privacy.

But the time has come for journalists to acknowledge that a zone of privacy does exist.

Most journalists now believe that a person's privacy zone gets smaller and smaller as the person becomes more and more powerful.

The relationship between press and politician - protected by the Constitution and designed to be happily adversarial - becomes sour, raw and confrontational.

And what it depends on, of course, is whether the story itself is worth the ethical compromise it requires and whether the competition is onto the story.

Journalists, who are skeptical to begin with, simply do not like to be lied to or made fools of.

The ethics of editorial judgement, however, began to go though a sea change during the late 1970s and 80s when the Carter and Reagan Administrations de-regulated the television industry.

The networks found themselves having to compete for an increasingly Balkanized audience.

There's only one rule you need to remember: laugh at everything and foget everybody else! It sound egotistical, but it's actually the only cure for those suffering from self-pity.

As much as I would love to do roles in big movies and am keen to establish myself in the industry. I don't want to sacrifice things that I really enjoy, like spending time with my family and friends.

I make money from touring and selling merchandise, and I honestly believe if you put effort into something and you execute properly, you don't necessarily have to go through the traditional ways.

Strategic plans cause more dumb decisions than anything else in America.

I never thought I could win the French Open.

Don't listen to the malicious comments of those friends who, never taking any risks themselves, can only see other people's failures.

Anaximander says that men were first produced in fishes, and when they were grown up and able to help themselves were thrown up, and so lived upon the land.

The world wishes to be deceived.

I can't say that I ever actually decided to become a writer. It kind of snuck up on me.

Family hang-outs can go very late into the night and involve lots of music.