Launching a new TV show is probably one of the most difficult things that a writer can do.

Experience as much as you can and absorb a lot of reality. Otherwise, your writing will have the force of a Wiffle ball.

If there's reason for hope, it lies in man's occasional binges of cooperation. To save our planet, we'll need that kind of heroic effort, in which all types of people join forces for the common good

I have nothing but respect for the purist who won't work for the pharaoh. But I'm not that strong.

There's a built-up tension in religion, and if you can release it, you'll get a huge and satisfying laugh.

Every joke can't be dazzling. And if you think you spotted an inconsistency, you did!

I was brought up Catholic and, of course, I strayed and repudiated it. That's a painful thing to go through, because you have to look back and realize that you wasted a gigantic chunk of your life.

I have a deep suspicion of social institutions and tradition in general.

There's absolutely no way that something I do on my own is going to be seen in Malaysia.

I resisted parenthood for a long, long time. But having a daughter has given me a sense of hopefulness that I didn't have before.

Clever is the eunuch version of funny.

Smartass Disciple: Master, I don’t need a fairytale.I need you to tell me the truth. Master of Stupidity: It is not funny if you just found it. No drama if no lost at first.

The best teacher kindles the fire of knowledge with appreciation and love of students whose hearts so eagerly desire to learn.

To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.

So now, when I look back, all I see is who we used to be and who we are now. And I wonder how anybody can recognize anyone at all.

Think rich, look poor.

Sometimes the best way to be useful is to get out of somebody's way.

The absolute as the idea is neither subjective nor objective; it is the intellectual structure under which they are subsumed.

As early as when I was five or six I wanted to perform.

Some people say they want things, but when push comes to shove they don't do what is necessary to achieve it.

The tradition you have at the University of Texas is like no other.