I don't think I handle the notes much differently from other pianists. But the pauses between the notes - ah, there is where the artistry lies!!

I don't think I handle the notes much differently from other pianists. But the pauses between the notes - ah, there is where the artistry lies!!

I am the only person here who is enjoying this, and I get the money; they pay and have to suffer.

The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes ah, that is where the art resides.

I know two kinds of audiences only - one coughing, and one not coughing.

When a piece gets difficult, make faces.

People appreciate it when you take some time to think about who will be listening to your jokes.

'Smallville' was my first love and it is always close to my heart.

I went on a Buddha jag. I read 'Confession of a Buddhist Atheist' by Stephen Batchelor and Karen Armstrong's biography of Buddha, which is a great book.

People ask whether I put the politics first, journalism first or the comedy first; it doesn't really matter. I'm just playing with the cards that I have been dealt because I really love doing what I do.

The laughter of the aphorism is sometimes triumphant but seldom carefree.

I've never outgrown my childhood.

Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.

I said I thought female labour of the sort exacted from these slaves, and corporal chastisement such as they endure, must be abhorrent to any manly or humane man.

I'm literally driving in the middle of the night, and my phone rings, and my manager says, 'How would you like to be the host of the 'Daily Show?'' I get out the car, and I didn't have legs. You know in those movies where there's an explosion? But instead of the sound of the explosion, you hear the silence. That's literally what happened.

Fame comes and fame goes, but you have to be able to laugh about yourself and to take it with a grain of salt.

And we lost a lot because of that, and I think this is future gymnastics to separate ages. Because kids can do it more than adult. A woman and adult woman can show more than the small kids.

Economy is the art of making the most of life. The love of economy is the root of all virtue.

If the arts are held up solely as a means of social insight, fantasy is denied the chance to be commonplace and reality the chance to be exotic.

For me, I was given a great gift by my father and my mother in that I was never told any idea was bad. I was told I could explore any thought as long as I wasn't hurting someone else.

In the process of telling the truth about what you feel or what you see, each of us has to get in touch with himself or herself in a really deep, serious way.

As I toiled up the Mount of Olives, in the very footsteps of Christ, panting with the heat and the difficult ascent, I found it utterly impossible to conceive that the Deity, in human form, had walked there before me.

Some people when they get older are so firm in their beliefs that you'll never move them.

I've always been told I was extremely well-behaved as a kid.

We run away all the time to avoid coming face to face with ourselves.

Presidents have the right to nominate their own cabinet secretaries. But their nominees don't have a right to confirmation. Senators have a constitutional duty to advise and consent to the appointment of all Cabinet officials. They should take that duty seriously.

It’s not bragging if you can back it up.

If I'm in an unusual or extreme social environment, I always want to know what it's like to grow up there and experience it as normal, everyday life. And I want to know what sort of adults these children are going to turn into.

Confidence doesn't come out of nowhere. It's a result of something... hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication.

Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.