John Quotes

Writing and directing just sort of fell into my lap.

All I've ever wanted to do was be a great dad, and yet there's no stopping this existential mirror that's held up to yourself when you're about to have a kid.

I don't want my kids to ever think that I am choosing my job over them.

People have a sense of humor, even if it's not a good one, and everybody has stakes.

I think it's a big chance to take to make a movie that's about as something as pure and honest and something people can relate to everyday.

Imagination is the most powerful tool you have. You learn it from all the greats. The Star Wars films are secretive. Anything J.J. Abrams does is secretive. Those guys haven't done too poorly.

James Cagney as a baby is not my ideal thing.

You should know the ins and outs [of the marriage]. So it was nice to see a little bit of background.

I usually save these answers [on the institution of marriage] for my Barbara Walters Special, but she didn't call so I've never been engaged, despite popular belief.

I'm not gonna be one of those actors who's like, "It's such a drag to not see your kids." Of course it is, but that's the compromise that you're making.

Richard Jenkins read the script [The Hollars] and really liked it, but he said, 'If you can get Margo Martindale, I'll do it. Otherwise, good luck.

To me, television is one of the most exciting things going on right now, as far as content goes. Some of these shows that are on television are better than any of the movies out there.

I'm a sap, I'll cry at anything. But I don't cry when I feel manipulated, or when there's a music cue telling me to.

All the cliches are true about parenting. All I've ever wanted to do is be a father, but there's this existential mirror that's held up when you have a kid.

I related so much to the responsibility of being a parent, the responsibility of "did you screw your kid up," the responsibility of letting your own parents down.

Now all of us in our thirties are the first generation that get to say, "I don't know how I feel about that system, I don't know if I want kids, I don't know if I want to get married."

I think one of the coolest things for my daughters is that they'll get to see their mom being a working mom. It's one of the things I'll be most proud of.

The only reason why I acted in school was because of the community, like I was in the chorus of every play, I was never really the lead.

I love this script [The Hollars] because I'm lucky enough to come from a really tightknit family.

Keeping it real is the key and I don't know how they've done that week after week. I think the key is that everybody can sort of empathize with [The Office].

A lot of times in movies, you see the "small town" people, being bowled over by this creative entity or this corporate ideal, and it's not true, at all.

That was okay [ working with George Clooney]. One of these days I'll work with a good director.

Ninety percent of your job is done if you find the right cast.

I'm happy to announce to the world that I'm a crier. It doesn't take a lot for me to cry at stuff.

There are always roles that seem enticing that you can't do because of scheduling.

We have the best writers in the business [on The Office].

After three takes, [George Clooney] is like, 'We got it,' and I'm still thinking, 'I'm just getting used to this. I shouldn't have done it in a Russian accent.' No, he's great. He's a good guy.

The first time I ever cried in a movie was in Dead Poet's Society.

There's not swelling music and emotional scenes in life, and there's not long pauses when you tell a joke for everybody to laugh. That's not how it goes. Life just sort of happens to you.

I am in that everything [ David Foster Wallace] writes is pretty much the best stuff I've read, so that makes me a fan I guess.

Let's be honest, there are a lot of family movies; I like some of them, I don't like other ones.

[George Clooney] knows exactly what he wants and so he knows that you've done a good job before you do.

The one-liner of this movie [ The Hollars], you've probably heard before: 'A guy goes home to his family and finds out about himself.

To be that big of a star and that grounded and that classy, I'm mean [ George Clooney] was a true mentor for me and, as a director, he's incredible.

You can make jokes but [ George Clooney] is everything that anyone's ever said about him.

I think we owe absolutely everything to the fans.

Truly, when I say the show has given me everything, it's given me everything.

I didn't go to the special screening on a spaceship where everybody goes to have their special screenings...Everybody knows that's what happens in Hollywood.

The funniest comedians are in touch with their emotional level.

Do what is right, and the reward will be immediate and multitudinous. Think what is right, and your authority will grow.

How much power is there in a thousand noisy engines? I tell you, there is more power in a single blade of grass.

The best use anyone can make of any day is to enjoy it - and then spread that joy to others.

You can sell a lot more books if you work with other authors than if you try to do everything all by yourself.

Do something every day to market each of your books for three years.

Not all cartoon humor is just about having bugged-out eyes and tongues flying out of people's heads.

If you're reading a comic strip, you can read it at any speed you want. But with film and music, the audience has to take it the way the composer gives it.

Drawing a funny animal, you don't need a lot of detail to make it work. But to draw a sexy girl, there's certain things you can't leave out.

There are artists who are writers, but there was no such thing as cartoons that were written by somebody who couldn't draw.

The storyboard department doesn't talk to the layout department, which doesn't talk to the writing department. They're all jealous of each other.

Modern animated movies are the products not of anyone’s individual vision, but rather a scattered accumulation of compromises made out of fear by members of large committees.