A hero would die for his country, but he'd much rather live for it.

Film doesn't have to worry. Movies are awesome. There's no war going on, theaters aren't going to lose.

Only criminals and adulterers should have to hide who they are.

It's nice that HBO is in business with the audience and not with the advertisers. There's a difference.

I would love for people to think that I am as quick, clever, smart and heroic as the characters that I write, but those characters are characters.

I love writing but hate starting. The page is awfully white and it says, "You may have fooled some of the people some of the time but those days are over, giftless. I'm not your agent and I'm not your mommy, I'm a white piece of paper, you wanna dance with me?" and I really, really don't. I'll go peaceable-like.

I wrote the show West Wing for the two years before and the two years after 9/11. Suddenly everyone in the world had been through something that our characters had not been through; the whole trajectory of the world had changed. Yet our show took place in a parallel universe. I wasn't really sure what to do about this. In no one's wildest dreams did it occur that an event like this could possibly happen.