If you start very far to the left, it's harder to get to the middle.
Supporting American technology companies is one of the most patriotic things you can do - the technology industry is the reason our country has such a high-standard of living and why we can afford to spread the democracy virus around the globe.
That was very difficult for me on 'American Idol' to feel like I had to be a certain way. It wasn't that the producers were saying that you shouldn't be gay or whatever, but there was this unspoken energy around saying you have to appeal to Middle America, and Middle America at that point was not ready for all that.
When you work in television, it's an isolating experience. You rarely ever get to watch it with an audience.
It's always a good idea to go up for the male roles. You go up against a bunch of beefy guys, and the casting director then feels smart for taking you on, like he's the one who thought outside the box.
I am really interested in eccentric minds. It's rather like being fascinated by how cars work. It's really boring if your car works all the time. But as soon as something happens, you get the bonnet up. If someone has an abnormal or dysfunctional state of mind, you get the bonnet up.
Times were very hard if you were a poor, politically correct Jewish girl living in the east end of London during the Blitz and you were trying to eke out a living as a hairdresser.
I think you always have to be innovating and adapting and improving. You can't stay the same.
When you're doing the work, film and TV are exactly the same. TV is just film in reduced pieces.
A lot of politicians say they want to get people out to vote; sometimes you can't totally believe they really want that.
You know who is against democracy in the Middle East? The husbands. They got used to their way of life. Now, the traditional way of life must change. Everybody must change. If you don't give equal rights to women, you can't progress.
I don't think you're selling out by allowing the masses to love your art. The only curse is that, when you get so big, sometimes people forget to look at the music.
Directing remains very psychological, and it takes a lot of time and reflection. When you're an actor, it takes less time, and you can express yourself physically.
You'd think experienced political professionals would know better than to place their trust in exit polls, notoriously inaccurate surveys that had John Kerry winning the 2004 election by five points when he actually lost by three.
Don't believe everything you hear on the street.
I think if you want to do something, then you should go all out completely and be fearless.
Audiences make their minds up about people they see on screen, just like they do in real life. That's what fascinates me in film. You see a character and have to think: is this person different to what I assumed he was when I first saw him?
It's not a good idea to always look for new frontiers, especially when you have opportunities in your existing businesses, in your own backyard.
Marathons don't come to you overnight.
When you deal with a comedian who has a specific act, you can't hold 'em back. You got to work with 'em, dude. What you think, I'm just gonna do what's on the page, say 'yes sir, no sir'? I'm creatively beyond that.
And what we've lost sight of is that performing manual labor with your hands is one of the most incredibly satisfying and positive things you can do.
School is such an encouraging and safe environment. It's filled with idealism and just really working on your craft. When you enter the business world - where art meets commerce - it can become quite depressing.
I like cool jackets - a nice fall or winter coat. You can get a lot of use out of it, and you'll wear it frequently, so it can really set the tone of your uniform for the season.
There is this absurd assumption that the revitalisation of the public sphere is always a good thing. I think people tend to confuse 'civic' and 'civil,' and they believe that everything that is done by citizens is necessarily a good thing because you build a network, an association.
Never let up. The more you can win by, the more doubts you put in the other players' minds the next time out.
I think clothes should make you feel safe. I like clothes you want to go to sleep in. I sometimes stand in front of a mirror and change a million times because I know I really want to wear my nightgown.
If you search for Colombia on The Nation's website, you will see how key the country has been in regional politics.
'Clueless' is an adaptation of 'Emma' by Jane Austen. It works either way: if you know the book and if you don't.
The first book I bought with my own money as a teenager was Martin Amis's 'Money.' You know that thing when you read a book and you think, 'I'm going to have to read every word ever written by this man.'
Whenever you have to do a photo shoot with a woman, there is this weird competition. They need to prove something. They need to play games - maybe unconsciously - but women are so sensitive, and people call me more masculine sometimes.
Books are wonderful. They are like people, except they mind less when you put them down and wander off to eat something.
Universal background checks work. You keep the guns out of the hands of dangerous people. That shouldn't be partisan - that should be something we can all agree to, but it became this huge battle and, you know, really, really a challenge.
For the most part, I think of PC as meaning Plain Civil. You treat people the way you'd like to be treated yourself, and that means not using language that is demeaning.
When life knocks you down, keep getting up.
I'm not a big equipment guy; I think that people are a little bit shocked by that. I really don't care about gear in general. I care about people and their intentions to make music - it doesn't matter what equipment you have.
Sometimes if I tell people, 'I'm afraid that I'm really a fraud,' or 'I have a lot of self-doubt,' they go, 'Oh, no, you're kidding.' I go, 'No, I'm really honest.'
