I got the nickname 'Deacon' because I didn't swear, didn't drink, went to church, and did quite a bit of speaking in other churches, youth groups, and so forth.

Some people are so busy learning the tricks of the trade that they never learn the trade.

You sign a contract, and you abide by the contract. And sometimes my turn would come around on Sunday. Even though I didn't like to play baseball on Sunday, it was my job.

We played on a sandlot all summer. There was no little league back then.

I think some people watch 'Raging Bull,' or they watch 'The Piano Teacher,' and I think they're more, maybe, able to process an antihero in a dramatic context, where people more want comedy to take care of them. But that's not really taking care of people. That's just providing escape, which sometimes is necessary.

If I survive, I will spend my whole life at the oven door seeing that no one is denied bread and, so as to give a lesson of charity, especially those who did not bring flour.

I learned one thing from De Niro: He taught me to listen. Nobody says anything strictly from the script. It's improvised. It was the best piece of advice I have ever gotten in my life. It has helped me through the past thirty years.

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.