“When I feel that something I’m writing is going well, everything in my life is good and the things in my life that aren’t good are completely manageable. If it’s not going well, Miss America could be standing there in a swimsuit handing me a nobel price and I wouldn’t be happy about it”

There are no Asian movie stars

The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one – America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

Never argue with a drunk or a fool.

Roxy Sorkin, your father just won the Academy Award. I’m going to have to insist on some respect from your guinea pig.

My resting pulse as a writer is writing idealistically and romantically; aspirationally. My taste lies in quixotic heroes.

Decisions are made by those who show up. Don’t ever forget that you’re a citizen of this world.

Decisions are made by those who show up. Don’t ever forget that you’re a citizen of this world.

With a television series, there’s a hard deadline, and so you have to write even when you’re not writing well.

I’ll get cast occasionally as sort of the jerk version of myself, and I have fun doing that. But it’s really better for everyone if I stay behind the camera.

I’ve never met anyone who has said, “My goal is to make America mediocre.” That’s a kind of hard-right conservative fallacy.

A news organization has a much different responsibility. I might not be telling you the whole story. I might not be telling you a story in a manner that is properly sophisticated.

My preference would have been to not go back on the air after 911, at all until the time felt right but that wasn’t an option.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an actor. I was acting in all the school plays. I went to school for acting. I was really sure that that’s what I wanted to do.

She’s a person; the doctor pronounces her dead, not the news.

I’ve never met anyone who has said, “My goal is to make America mediocre.” That’s a kind of hard-right conservative fallacy.

I’m a playwright. All I care about is the play being good.