If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it is defined.

Your mind is for having ideas, not for holding them.

Pretend your brain is a white board. Is it covered with to-do lists and “DO NOT ERASE”? Is there space for drawing and combining ideas?

If we don’t appropriately manage the ‘open loops’ in our life, our attention will get pulled.

Overwhelm comes from not clarifying what your intended outcome is, not deciding what the very next action is, and not reminding yourself of your intended outcome and action.

You need to transform all the ‘stuff’ you attract and accumulate into a clear inventory of meaningful actions, projects, and usable information.

Getting things done requires defining what “done” means and what “doing” looks like.

Mastering your workflow involves capturing what has your attention, clarifying what it means, putting it where it belongs, reviewing it frequently and engaging with it.

Anxiety and guilt don’t come from having too much to do; it comes from breaking agreements with yourself.

I've sort of become the poster boy for quitting your job and following your dreams.

I like the mentality of the Americans. It's like when you talk about money.

If you can beat New Zealand, then you're probably going to win the World Cup.

Traditionally, Medicare's assurance has been that for the elderly and persons with disabilities that they will not be alone when confronted with the full burden of their health care costs.

The black characters on TV are the sidekicks, or they're insignificant. You could put all the black sidekicks on one show, and it would be the most boring, one-dimensional show ever. Even look at the black women on 'Community' and 'Parks and Recreation' - they are the archetype of the large black women on television. Snide and sassy.

I'm very influenced by landscapes, not so much the way places look as the way the names sound. In this country we've got so many cultures, and the place names - the Spanish names and the Indian names, which are so incredibly musical.

Virtue is more to be feared than vice because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.

It's much harder to get a job if nobody wants you around.

Shallow understanding accompanies poor compassion; great understanding goes with great compassion

My work is made on lines similar to those of a film production. A lot of my work is kind of bureaucratic, endlessly phoning up people, trying to find the cameraman and the lighting man, because I am a total technology-phobe, quite helpless with equipment.

Neil Young does throw in a major seven chord here and there, so if you're a new guitar player learning Neil Young songs, you'll learn some seven chords, and some different positions. Nothing too complicated, just enough to kind of open up your knowledge a little bit.

What moves me in art is how we question who we are as people.

There is a wonder in reading Braille that the sighted will never know: to touch words and have them touch you back.

Mum was the matriarch and the patriarch of the family.

As much as we'd like to believe that our work is great and that we're infallible, we're not. Hollywood movies are made for the audience. These are not small European art films we're making.

Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.

The public is strongly in favor of the Kyoto Protocols, so strongly in favor that a majority of Bush voters thought that he was in favor of it. They are simply unaware.

Life's a journey, not a destination.

A U.S. dollar is an IOU from the Federal Reserve Bank. It's a promissory note that doesn't actually promise anything. It's not backed by gold or silver.

It was my effort, in depicting the West, to depict it as it was.

I had the pleasure, as Robin said, to live a childhood dream as many young Americans and Puerto Rican children live that play youth baseball. And I feel honored and very thankful for that opportunity.

I love a ghost story. I think they affect me more than other people that are much more skeptical than I am. I think that it's good that I do buy into them to some degree.

One has to pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive.

Marriage isn't always cupcakes and Jesus juice, but it's important to show each other your marriage is a priority and that you still love them.