I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.

My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening.

I've always believed in the adage that the secret of eternal youth is arrested development.

If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.

You can't make a souffle rise twice.

Dorothy is the only woman in history who has had her menopause in public and made it pay.

He looks as though he's been weaned on a pickle.

I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.

The secret of eternal youth is arrested development.

To be a successful father... there's one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don't look at it for the first two years.

All of our affairs, since the union of crowns, have been managed by the advice of English ministers, and the principal offices of the kingdom filled with such men, as the court of England knew would be subservient to their designs.

Anytime you work with materials that are deep parts of yourself, you feel revulsion at showing things about yourself that you don't want people to know.

What is needed is the intelligent management of Earth's resources. If we really wish to put an end to our ongoing international and social problems, we must eventually declare Earth and all of its resources as the common heritage of all the world's people.

My voice is an instrument.

Democracy cannot be a plaything for the capital cities. It has to infiltrate every nook and cranny in the country, including the village.

Sometimes you just make a contact, and it feels right, but you don't know why. But down the road, something will happen that will make it clear why that connection had to be made at the point it was made.

The first and most fundamental rule is: Consider social facts as things.

I've been playing since I was 5, but I wouldn't say that I'm serious about the piano.

A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.

If Satan ever laughs it must be at hypocrites they are the greatest dupes he has they serve him better than any others and receive no wages.

I was an English major at the University of Minnesota, and I was very shy, which many people misinterpreted as intelligence. On the basis of that wrong impression, I became the editor of the campus literary magazine.

One day, I'm designing a candy product; the next day, I'm going to a candy factory. The day after that, I might be traveling to Los Angeles to look at a possible location for another store.

Hold it right there. The only agreement we ever had was that you intended to make me as miserable as possible, and I intended to courageously make the best of an intolerable situation like valiant southern women have always done.

Karl Malden was quite a mentor. He taught me things he had learned from being in front of a camera so long.

My happiest hours are spent in school, surrounded by those I hope to benefit.

A nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse

I built Kosovo for 10 years.

Screenwriting is like ironing. You move forward a little bit and go back and smooth things out.

I don't want to play myself up as a hero, because it would make me unbelievable. I'd rather settle for people thinking that I'm a bum, but digging my stories, than liking me and not being able to believe in my stories. That's one reason I've been hard on myself, because I want my stuff to be believable.

How can you think and hit at the same time?

When I have to play the same role every day, I have the flexibility to play the character in so many different ways. It's almost like playing five different roles.

I'm no diva but I can be annoying in a recording studio. Of course I try to be a diva in terms of confidence of performance and owning a song but I've never behaved like one in terms of the negative connotations of the word.

Growing up with my family gave me some of my best memories. I'd like to have a family of my own - slip away for a bit and do nothing but spend those early years with my children.