They change. They're different. There are no two alike, that's the miracle of it. But if they have something to teach the students. You can see them writing during the show.

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

The difference - the fundamental difference between theater acting and film acting is that film acting is disjunctive.

I think that anybody's craft is fascinating. A taxi driver talking about taxi driving is going to be very, very interesting.

When you're talking about the thing that is most important to someone, they're liable to feel something strong.

Comedians don't laugh. They're too busy analyzing why it's funny or not.

I must confess that when I'm alone in my study, here in New York, writing; that's when I'm happy.

There's only one man I've called a coward, and that's Brian Doyle-Murray.

A good day's writing, when I turn off my computer after I know that I've written okay, or as well as I can write, that's a day well spent.

Our language, one of our most precious natural resources, deserves at least as much protection as our woodlands, streams and whooping cranes.

The definition of genius, really, should be that that person can do what the rest of us have to learn how to do.

The flute of the Pied Piper of Hamelin has never left us and it is essential that we train our ear to detect its false notes because in our case the flute is being played by the rats.

I worked with Steven Spielberg on Amistad... he seemed so very secure in himself that he let me do things.

People say they want shorter, but really want something that rivets them. They've got endless time for great.

Nothing violent, oft have I heard tell, can be permanent.

My uncle was a hero, Lewis Roundtree. He was not even related to me really, but he was always called my uncle. He was like a father to me. I was closer to him than I was my father.

I'm somebody who considers happiness a journey, not a destination.

A wide receiver like me wouldn't have won. The quarterback - or even the running back - always wins.

In college, I had a lot of friends who were writers and wanted to be writers and I felt intimidated by it. I just didn't know if I had any gift or voice and I had no confidence about it.

Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!

Most 'profound truths' are just timely ideas.