“When I finally did stop and look at my life, I realized that I had done what I’d set out to do. In my pitiful little way, I had climbed the mountain I had chosen. And there I was, on top.”

When I read that, I burst into tears. It was so generous and so basic. Not fluffy. I can’t understand why we scrimp on education and shortchange our kids. Why would the citizenry do that to the people who are going to inherit its republic?

hen you’re in your third adulthood, the one that leads to the grave, and you ask yourself, “What will I do between now and then?” Instead of thinking in terms of glamour, you start thinking in terms of reform – your contribution to the world.

I’m not interested in perfection. The universe is perfect, and there are some works of art that we see as perfect, but human beings aren’t perfect.

Image is everything, and the voice or the idea or the song is hardly anything at all. Half the time the person isn’t even doing the singing. I’m a bit cynical about this [music] business.

I never know how much of what I say is true.

We’re all divine, but I was the only one who had the nerve to call myself that.

Sold my soul. Bought these devil chains.

I want it all – and I would like it delivered.

It’s important that you all agree on what the parameters are and what you can accomplish – and not get pissed off or beat yourself up for what you can’t accomplish.

Me, I’m just a hack. I’m just a schlep-per. I just do what I can do.

You can’t just have a clean public space – you also have to have people willing to use it, and something that will draw them in.

I think the essence of humor has not changed. It’s all about surprise, facilitating follows. But the context of humor has changed.

The Internet has changed everything. People will be discovered online. People buy music online. It’s a completely different way to get entertainment.

Self-esteem is something you have to earn! The only way to achieve self-esteem is to work hard. People have an obligation to live up to their potential.

I’d make a wonderful Lady Macbeth. I’ll wear a pair of platform shoes or something.

I think most of us are torn. We have at least two people at war in our body. One person wants to retire and grow fabulous tomatoes, and the other wants to stand up on a pedestal and be worshipped and get bigger and bigger and bigger until she explodes.

That hat looks ridiculous.” “Fortunately, I can change hats,” Wayne said, “while you, sir, are stuck with that face.

Jessica Alba to me is on the top of the food chain. She’s gorgeous, she’s smart, and she really takes care of herself.

Beethoven had a great look. It was very much about the drama of appearance.

You don’t have to look a certain way to have a hit record.

An awful lot of England is slowly eroding, in ways that I find really distressing, and an awful lot of it is the hedgerows…

I was wiser at 30 than I am now. My judgment was better at 12. If you look out the windshield of a Hyundai or a Bentley, you see the same road.

If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

So I look at a lot of stuff now that I did and some of it looks tame to me, but my interest in terms of what I want to say with it is a little different