“The first thing the federal government can do to help is get out of the way.”

The Iraq war was fought by one-half of one percent of us. And unless we were part of that small group or had a relative who was, we went about our lives as usual most of the time: no draft, no new taxes, no changes. Not so for the small group who fought the war and their families.

Somehow, stars have a lot of class if they are done right; they never have a shelf life.

They’ve asked me to do this temporarily. I don’t know what temporarily means. Life is temporary.

If you listen to really deep ambient records that don’t move too much, very still records, long after those records are finished, you might find yourself listening for hours to the sound of the room.

Once you realize there is life after mistakes, you gain a self-confidence that never goes away.

The only people helped by the death tax are lawyers, accountants, and IRS agents.

We are all drifting reefwards now, and faith is our only anchor.

Know that it is good to work. Work with love, and think of liking it when you do it. It is easy and interesting. It is a privilege. There is nothing hard about it but your anxious vanity and fear of failure.

My dad was a dentist but I wasn’t a hygienist. I assisted my dad.

There’s fierce competition between all the networks to get the guest who can bring the most pertinent information about whatever the story of the moment happens to be.

The revolution has been dubbed “The Orange Revolution,” orange being the campaign color of Viktor Yushchenko. The demonstrators say they are tired of living under a corrupt government…

I would love to see the French spending money to restore Iraq.

The government’s view is that the best time to announce bad news, news that it doesn’t want the public to dwell on is late on a Friday, when it will wind up in the Saturday papers, which if you were readers, then the week day editions. A holiday weekend is even better.

Nowadays I’m not even sure if newspapers take into account whether a person is a good writer.

The truth is the Super Bowl long ago became more than just a football game. It’s part of our culture, like turkey at Thanksgiving and lights at Christmas, and like those holidays – beyond their meaning – a factor in our economy.

The recent history of Ukraine is replete with dead journalists, beaten journalists, news agencies being shut down, and politicians being injured or killed. Most are killed in mysterious auto accidents.

It is unbelievably sad and ironic that the first victims of global warming are almost all going to come from places that are producing virtually none of the problem.

The first Broadway show I ever heard was the recording of ‘Carousel’, and it was a very vivid experience.

And let them first pray together, that so they may associate in peace.

To people who want to be rich and famous, I’d say, “Get rich first and see if that doesn’t cover it.”

The music comes first. When Geoff has made something the inspiration comes automatically. His music is very expressive. But still is is a very difficult process: I have to add something to his music, not push it away. It has to be equal, and I find that very difficult.

For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington.

I sometimes wonder what would have happened if the first book had not sold… doesn’t bear thinking about, but I suppose we’d have made it work somehow.

It is impossible for a man to be made happy by putting him in a happy place, unless he be first in a happy state.