To be a film-maker, you have to lead. You have to be psychotic in your desire to do something. People always like the easy route. You have to push very hard to get something unusual, something different.
I believe you cannot survive in this global economy without some form of postsecondary education.
That's a big gift when people say to you that a song helped them or brought them to some place in their life where they needed to be.
Read Churchill, he tells you how crucial was the Greek role in your decisive desert victory over Rommel.
If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.
You never know when you'll have a bad idea for a worse joke.
In network TV, you have to present the box before you can step outside it.
I really like books that you can kind of hear as much as think about, that are so graphic and visual.
What I do like is hiking. And that's what filmmaking is. It's a hike. It's challenging and exhausting, and you don't know what the terrain is going to be or necessarily even which direction you're going in... but it sure is beautiful.
I'm a firm believer in staying out of the way. When you're on a team and the guy's throwing a no-hitter, you don't talk to them. You let them do their thing.
If you're suddenly doing something you don't want to do for four years, just so you've got something to fall back on, by the time you come out you don't have that 16-year-old drive any more and you'll spend your life doing something you never wanted to do in the first place.
There's no point in burying a hatchet if you're going to put up a marker on the site.
No matter how you travel, it's still you going.
I think it was Duke Ellington who once said that we're always most pleased with our current record. I mean, you have to assume that you learn from one, and you do something better next time.
But when you actually go in the ring, it's a very lonely and scary place. It's just you and the other guy.
I have no memories I'm prepared to share with you.
Choosing what you want to do, and when to do it, is an act of creation.
My childhood was limited to mostly gospel music. We didn't have, like, a lot of records in our house, you know. It was like my grandparents who raised me. They were pretty old-fashioned in their religious ways, so it was like church, church, church, school, school, school.
To be really great, you need to be naturally funny in order to stand out. But you can work at it, and find the best vehicle that you have to communicate what you're saying to people.
If you're not big enough to lose, you're not big enough to win.
I was a pretty alert kid, and I, you know, I was very interested in arts.
Even if you are vegetarian, you do want to have a stuffing for Thanksgiving. The stuffing is not so much about the vegetables, but it's very unique to the season.
The characters in 'Ray Donovan' are not very articulate - we're the worst Irish family you could ever live next to in L.A.
One thing that I tell people all the time is, 'I'm not going to answer a call from you after nine o'clock at night or before nine o'clock in the morning unless it's an emergency.'
If you really wanted to settle down the Middle East, if what you wanted was change in the Middle East, it is perfectly obvious that the first step is resolving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
You move around at Fox depending on where they need you. That's what team players do. You pitch in. You know, you make it work.
But it's cool working with female directors because I'm a girl, so you do relate to them more. You can talk to them about other stuff like clothes and all that.
Talk about divine intervention. I can't even tell you how blessed I feel.
Credit buying is much like being drunk. The buzz happens immediately and gives you a lift... The hangover comes the day after.
If you hate what you're seeing, you call it sex and violence. If you like it, you call it 'romance and adventure.'
My job is writing. I get paid to do it. When was the last time you heard someone challenge a doctor for making money off of cancer?
Someone once told me that religion is like a knife: You can stab someone with it, or you can slice bread with it.
Don't underestimate the importance of having enough room to work. Grilling is much more relaxing when you are not trying to juggle a whole collection of plates and bowls as you do it. If your grill doesn't have enough workspace - and they almost never do - set up a table right next to your grill.
Shirley MacLaine said, You're so funny, then gave me a hug. Everything went white. I couldn't hear, I couldn't see. I thought I was going to pass out.
The chance to be both artistically appreciated and commercially appreciated... That's what you hope for.
If you're not out front defining your vision, your opponent will spend gobs of money to define it for you.
