I am determined to give the Yiddish language a fighting chance to survive.

No heirloom of humankind captures the past as do art and language.

Epistemology is the study of knowledge. By what conduit do we know what we know?

I have always striven to raise the voice of hope for a world where hate gives way to respect and oppression to liberation.

By showing hunger, deprivation, starvation and brutality, as well as endurance and nobility, documentaries inform, prod our memories, even stir us to action. Such films do battle for our very soul.

I prefer to make common cause with those whose weapons are guitars, banjos, fiddles and words.

All too often arrogance accompanies strength, and we must never assume that justice is on the side of the strong. The use of power must always be accompanied by moral choice.

But there is a difference here: When Jewish children are murdered, Arabs celebrate the deed. The death of an Arab child is no cause for celebration in Israel.

No doubt unity is something to be desired, to be striven for, but it cannot be willed into being by mere declarations.

After the advent of the written word, the masses who could not - or were not permitted to - read, were given sermons by the few who could.

I am filled with awe that filmmakers have the capacity to stir us and give us back a sense of wonder.

They that will not be counseled, cannot be helped. If you do not hear reason she will rap you on the knuckles.

I would like to be someone like Steve Martin. That's the path I'd like to follow.

Human beings will line up for miles to buy a bucket of catastrophes, but don't try selling sunshine and light - you'll go broke.

I don't know what to say about myself. I don't know myself (laughs). People say my humility but I believe we're all humble in our own way. I try to stay close to my family and friends.

Los Angeles is a one-horse town. It's entirely driven by the entertainment business and that's what it is.

One of my real goals was to hear someone whistling a song I'd written.

Fractures well cured make us more strong.

I really spend as long as I can sketching everything out and working on the structure before I sit down to type out scenes.

There are some key elements to business being a success, and that's a smart visionary and great management behind the people that are going to build it.

Companies over-emphasize idea generation and under-emphasize idea execution when it comes to innovation.