I am always driven by the terror of humiliation.
I still feel like a weird kid who is about to take a punch in the face. So, I think it’s permanent.
Nowadays, when kids decide they like an artist, they’ll absorb everything that artist has ever done in a single night.
I try to just save a fresh, clear head for whoever I’m working with, so hopefully it’s helpful that there’s someone who doesn’t have to sit in the editing room for 12 hours a day, and who’s blinded by the massive footage and options that they have.
If I’ve learned anything – anything – getting older, it’s the value of moment-to-moment enjoyment.
Life is ridiculous, so why not be a good guy?” That may be the only religion I have to this day.
Mel, if you’re going to go up to the bell, ring it.
Judd: I like to be here until people really want to leave. But that’s kind of how I am as a person. That’s why my movies are too long. That’s why I eat too much.
Jerry: If you always want less, in words as well as things, you’ll do well as a writer.
There’s very little work where the work and the reward are simultaneous, and comedy is that.
That’s the greatest thing about comedy. If you’ve got talent, it’s unmistakable. No one misses it and you don’t have to wait around for a break. It’s very easy to get a break. It’s very hard to be good enough.
Cocky nerds. My wife and I always talk about it. It’s people who think they don’t think ill of themselves – they actually think that there’s something special about themselves but no one’s noticed it... And that’s what makes them interesting. They have an air of superiority as they’re getting pummeled.
Harold: Serenity is an illusion, but if anything is possible and I can do anything, then there’s a limitless capacity to do good.
Marc: Why are we so afraid of joy? Judd: That’s the question. And I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think it’s because we think right behind joy is a knife that will cut our throat if we really feel it. It’s almost like a laugh – your chin goes up and your throat is exposed. If I laugh too loud, someone will slit my throat. That’s the terror of joy.
Sarah: I can be cynical. But I don’t think of myself, at my core, as cynical. So much of it is location. Like, who is Muslim? Who is a Jew? Who is a Catholic? Who is a Christian? Who’s Buddhist? Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of it is where you happen to be born. So how can one be right and another be wrong? It seems pretty clear to me that it’s a coping mechanism for people who cannot handle the not knowing of things. I am okay knowing I will never be able to comprehend the world.
Sometimes I actually have a phobia of feeling good.
No one really knows anything about comedy. We know a little bit about what we’re doing, but as far as the industry – the exec branch – they don’t know how it happens.
Amy: I still think that all the time. It’s not that I feel like what I’m doing is so amazing, but it’s pretty good compared to what other people are doing.
As Nora Ephron said once: “Well, I feel terrible about the metaphor, but what can I do? It’s like the whale, you know?” And.
I’m sure my brain is all screwed up because it’s always trying to think about how to look at something in a funny way.
If life only has the meaning you bring to it, we have the opportunity to bring rich meaning to our lives by the service we do for others. It’s a positive thing.