I remember one guy saying, "You're the only human out of all of them," and feeling a little concerned that somehow that meant I wasn't as funny.

I looked back at some high school journals and discovered that I definitely wanted to be a writer, but not necessarily comedy.

Writing is just my first love. And I still have some issues with telling people what to do.

Women are often pushed into the idea that they write softer, more character-driven jokes.

I actually write some pretty tough jokes. I don't want to push the "soft" angle too much.

I did improv at Yale, with the Exit Players. It was great, but they played a little rough.

I've met a surprising number of comedy writers whose parents are scientists. Both have an antiauthoritarian slant - they're both skeptics.

I do love science. My father is a scientist.

In high school, I was performing "forensics." You take a section of a play and portray all the characters. I even went to camp for forensics.

I am worn out with civility. I have been talking incessantly all night, and with nothing to say. But with you there may be peace. You will not want to be talked to. Let us have the luxury of silence.

How was a boy who'd tasted poverty ever expected to choose the poorer road?

In any team sport, the best teams have consistency and chemistry.

I don't live in France; I live in myself.

The place of the arts in the classroom is essential in encouraging invention, ambition, and an understanding of the importance and pleasures of living an examined life.

Things will get better if you just hold out long enough.

Setting skepticism aside, even briefly, can make for very interesting explorations. It is not necessary that we change any of our beliefs. It is necessary that we examine them.

The silence in the room had width, height, depth, mass and substance.

Courage leads starward, fear toward death.

One must have first of all a solid foundation.