My father was a jazz listener, and I think, at least before I was 5, I was not so into that. Although there were records that emphasized percussion that I liked, like Baby Dodds.

For me, a play is a form of writing which isn't complete until it is interpreted by actors. But it's still a form of writing. And so most of my time is spent thinking about how to write a sentence.

It's obviously a characteristic of human beings that we like to feel superior to others, but our problem is we are not superior

Who says one instance of writing has anything in common with another instance?

Even with my wife, I find sharing soup is hard.

I have been vain since birth.

Sleep: a poor substitute for caffeine!

I spend most of my time thinking about things like laundry and buying stationery supplies.

I'm not proud to be me, I'm not excited to be me, but I find that I am me, and like most other individuals, I send out little signals; I tell everyone else how everything looks from where I am.

Patriotism is considered to be an emotion a person ought to feel. But why? Why is it nobler to love your own country than to love someone else's?

I was making my living from a joke about my appearance that I didn't understand, and in a way still don't, because when I look in a mirror it doesn't seem funny to me.

Our imagination is God’s ingenious gift that hands us the privilege of romping and playing in realities that we can’t see only because we’ve yet to create them.

There is no possibility of a public demonstration [in Iran] of such defiance, but these defiant acts are certainly going on.

Networking is an essential part of building wealth.

Our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes - and I see many of them in the audience here today.

Everything is a battlefield. If you fight with anger, you are part of the problem. If you fight with joy, you're part of the solution.

There's a oneness to showing yourself to an audience. They feel that. It's healthy. That's what acting is all about.

Humor is just truth, only faster!

Poetry implies the whole truth. Philosophy expresses a particle of it.

As is the case with all good things in life - love, good manners, language, cooking - personal creativity is required only rarely.

The failures of other genres to provide an emotional connection with some of their characters and narratives gives memoir a toehold.