I'm a writer, first and foremost, and I sort of take my cues from the songwriters of the '70s, who are talking about what's really important to them.
A liberal is a man who is willing to spend somebody else's money.
The lawgiver ought to be gentle, lenient and humane. The lawgiver ought to be a skilled architect who raises his building on the foundation of self-love, and the interest of all ought to be the product of the interests of each.
My opponents are the people who gave up our borders.
Who naught suspects is easily deceived.
I just love biography, and I'm fascinated by people who have shifted our destinies or our points of view.
People are incapable of stereotyping you; you stereotype yourself because you're the one who accepts roles that put you in this rut or in this stereotype.
An actor's popularity is fleeting. His success has the life expectancy of a small boy who is about to look into a gas tank with a lighted match.
We have over an hour of footage with Ken Marino. Same with Kevin Smith. Because you never know, when you let people who are so talented at improv go, what you're going to get. You don't want to strangle them with your own words, because probably what they're going to say is way better.
That's why I wanted to be part of this AIDS Project Los Angeles party. We help raise funds for those who are having a tough time with some very basic necessities, like shelter, food, and medical care.
The street to obscurity is paved with athletes who can perform great feats before friendly crowds.
You got to have people at the top who respond to and are selected by presidents.
Anybody with my background in the airline business who is not deaf is a fraud.
The only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise.
Even if you're doing the national insurance awards, there's still that excitement when you wonder who is going to win, er, best premiums.
My greatest achievement so far is that I've been able to continue with my normal life. I love what I do, but more so, I'm glad to have people who care about me close by.
I think everything worked out the way it was supposed to. Mark's happier. I'm sober. There are still phone calls to be made, people I need to say something to. But everyone from Creed who I've offended or hurt, I ask for their forgiveness.
I'm world famous, everywhere I go there are people who love me because of I've been able to bring them some joy from the movies I've made.
I am falsely accused, without proof, of using my position for personal profit. Many who accuse me have lifestyles and spending habits that make them walking proofs of that crime.
I've been lucky to work consistently on women who I think are interesting, fleshed out, and strong and active participants in their destiny.
Those who tell you that the territorial question is an abstraction, that you can never colonize another territory without the African slavetrade, are both deaf and blind to the history of the last sixty years.
CNN is getting smarter, and you can feel it in the stories, you can feel it in the depth with which they're covered, the kinds of people in terms of guests who are brought on air, the way in which issues are discussed.
A poet is a man who manages, in a lifetime of standing out in thunderstorms, to be struck by lightning five or six times.
When we cut the price for bananas by 1 ruble, we sell 100 tons a day more... There are people who live within their budget.
Sidney Poitier, who is class personified, said: 'Lou, you're a leading man because you're a good actor.' Brought tears to my eyes.
Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
If I look at it and feel there is someone who can do it better, I won't do it. Whether it's 'Party Down' or 'Piranha 3-D,' I'm going to bring something to it to make it special.
I had innumerable analysts who came to me in apology that the world that we were finding was not the world that they had thought existed and that they had estimated. Reality on the ground differed in advance.
I try to keep each different book different from the last. So 'Sag Harbor' is very different from 'Apex Hides the Hurt;' 'The Intuitionist,' which is kind of a detective novel, is very different from 'John Henry Days.' I'm just trying to keep things rich for me creatively and for the readers who follow me.
The endless teen franchises that come out of Hollywood... more often than not, the central character doesn't have any discernible character traits. They're just the young, good-looking guy who goes on this journey. They're always played by fantastic young actors, but ultimately, they're not very interesting characters.
If I have any appeal at all, it's to the fellow who takes out the garbage.
The man who has experienced shipwreck shudders even at a calm sea.
I was raised in Harlem. I never found a book that took place in Harlem. I never had a church like mine in a book. I never had people like the people I knew. People who could not find their lives in books and celebrated felt bad about themselves. I needed to write to include the lives of these young people.
I admire the work of brilliant actresses such as Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Helen Mirren, who have had such varied careers. They have never stopped working, and they are as great today as they ever were.
I want to play Martin Luther King. That is absolutely a role and a character who is important to the landscape of the world that I really want to play.
No one can harm the man who does himself no wrong.
