No one wants to know how clever you are. They don't want an insight into your mind, thrilling as it might be. They want an insight into their own.

I have very fond memories of swimming in Walden Pond when we lived in Boston. You'd swim past a log and see all these turtles sunning themselves. Slightly disturbing if you thought about how many more were swimming around your toes, but also rather wonderful.

Bore children, and they stop reading. There's no room for self-indulgence or showing off or setting the scene.

Madness doesn't happen to someone alone. Very few people have experiences that are theirs alone.

I have a no-apology policy. No apologies for jokes. I apologize in my real life all the time. I say ridiculous things, I make mistakes constantly. But when I'm on stage, I'm at a microphone... it's a joke!

They are just really stupid people in Hollywood. You write them a script, and they say they love it, they absolutely love it. Then they say, 'But doesn't it need a small dog, and an Eskimo, and shouldn't it be set in New Guinea?' And you say, 'But it is a sophisticated romantic comedy set in Paris.'

There are just certain things that turn my head. It may be a girl's sense of humor, it may be her wit, or her belief system; it could be a lot of different things.

And one who is just of his own free will shall not lack for happiness; and he will never come to utter ruin.