Sheer obstinacy is very very important for anybody who wants to create.

Do what you love. It’s going to lead to where you want to go.

Almost all Iraqis with any previous experience in the intelligence business are Sunni Arab, increasing the risk of penetration of the new intelligence apparatus by the insurgency.

But I think frustration is hilarious. One of my missions is to bring humor into fine art. It's sacred.

I throw dignity out the window, and just become a creature of the moment on the stage. I act like I'd never act in real life.

If they make the deadline because the Shiites and Kurds essentially rammed a draft through over Sunni Arab objections, there will be hell to pay.

I hate people who act too cool for school. Just own up to it, dude.

The written word is the only anchor we have in life. How extraordinary would it be if we had even three or four paragraphs written honestly about their lives by our ancestors?

It's about communication, no matter how impossibly hard your art is to understand and how much of an ivory tower or high horse you get on, it's still basically communication or why are you doing it?

The only tip I have for an artist is perseverance... Never give up.

It would be really embarrassing to introduce yourself as somebody who makes beauty.

I don't need no Smith and Wesson, man, I got Merriam and Webster.

The will is the strong blind man who carries on his shoulders the lame man who can see.

A thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript one hopes to publish.

Don't cry to quit. Cry to keep going!

Gehrig had one advantage over me. He was a better ballplayer.

The reform of government needs to continue.

You must make your own opportunities.

By no means, I can't sing any rock and roll.

You can't push a wave onto the shore any faster than the ocean brings it in.

First law of Bad Management: If something isn't working, do more of it.