I've made enough jokes about Iran's leadership that I'm sure if I showed up that I would get a nice escort - to the main prison - and then I could do a show there.

Americans don't know a lot about the Middle East - [they] don't know we laugh.

When I told my parents I wanted to be an actor, my mom was, like, I think I heard you say lawyer.

You know, funny can be universal.

If you do finish the book and are still scared of me and people of my ilk, then I recommend you schedule an appointment with a therapist. Either that, or try writing your own book

Follow your heart. Do what you love. Because I was constantly struggling with that. If it's in your heart, go for it. Don't listen to other people.

One thing about D.C. that's funny to me is that you end up running into famous political figures who you've seen on television who you think are not real until you see them.

I remembered, like, when 'Not When My Daughter' came out, I'm serious, I think dating for Iranian men became a lot harder. Dude's name, Shahrokh - became Tony. Mehsud became Mike.

I think comedy is a good way to help people change their minds. I think that if you're laughing and getting a message across, it's a lot easier than when somebody is screaming in your face.

The power of a soul is the strength of being.

Total freedom from your past

To walk through the ruined cities of Germany is to feel an actual doubt about the continuity of civilization.

I believe that everyone deserves love, and sometimes looking outside your own culture is a good way to find it.

The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band

All the concepts, all knowings, all truths, all religous systems, all beliefs, fall away in the white light of eternity.

The best fights are the ones you don't have", a wise man once said to me.

It is essential that justice be done, and it is equally vital that justice not be confused with revenge, for the two are wholly different.

We must not enable anyone to impose his personal view regarding religion on others by force, oppression, or pressure.