It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.

The most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work.

We're Jews, my family, and Jews break down into two distinct subcultures: book Jews and money Jews. We were money Jews.

Not enough gets said about the importance of abandoning crap.

You can criticize yourself to a point to do something better, or you criticize yourself to a point where you inhibit yourself.

Great stories happen to those who can tell them.

We live in a world where joy and empathy and pleasure are all around us, there for the noticing.

It takes a while. It's gonna take you a while. It's normal to take a while. You just have to fight your way through that.

You'd think that radio was around long enough that someone would have coined a word for staring into space.

It's not a terribly original thing to say, but I love Raymond Carver. For one thing, he's fun to read out loud.

I cannot stress enough that the answer to a lot of your life's questions is often in someone else's face. Try putting your iPhones down every once in a while and look at people's faces.

All good fortune is a gift of the gods and ... you don't win the favor of the ancient gods by being good but by being bold.

Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars.

I get to cry to Barbara Walters, when things don't go my way. I'll get community service no matter which laws I break.

American citizens have been killed abroad by drones with no due process, no accountability, no judicial review.

Every winning streak will have to end sometime.

The worst thing one can do is not to try, to be aware of what one wants and not give in to it, to spend years in silent hurt wondering if something could have materialized - never knowing.

I write about what interests me. It's very dangerous when you try to satisfy an audience.

It's important to not be afraid of failure and to push yourself to try things and jump in the cold water. There are incredible, beautiful opportunities out there.

I don't stream or buy CDs pretty much everything I buy, I do it on iTunes.

I like to keep my private stuff pretty vague.