Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.

This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.

Music from my fourth year began to be the first of my youthful occupations. Thus early acquainted with the gracious muse who tuned my soul to pure harmonies, I became fond of her, and, as it often seemed to me, she of me.

Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine.

The appeal of comedy is that you're not going to look your best. Dressing up or dressing down is something I love and feel very comfortable doing. I feel at my least comfortable when I have to look at my best.

My experience is at The Groundlings Theater, where we created different characters and did sketch comedy. And sometimes the characters were outrageous, but they always came from a real place. So even working there, we had to create characters from the people that we knew.

My way of dealing with not really fitting in at my very crappy New England high school and junior high was to write sketch comedy and satirical takedowns of the social hierarchies. At the same time, I was developing a love for movies at the height of the '90s New York indie movie explosion: everything from 'Rushmore' to Nicole Holofcener movies.

I think my sense of humor is Jewish. I'm smarter than most white people, which is kind of a Jewish thing, too.