The guy who wins the Oscar for Best Actor has a much higher bar to clear than the woman who wins best actress.

Develop your own compass, and trust it. Take risks, dare to fail, remember the first person through the wall always gets hurt.

I'm not interested in the difference between good and bad, I'm interested in the differences between good and great.

It was hard saying goodbye to the character and harder saying goodbye to the actor. When rumours started going around that Rob Lowe might be leaving I got an email from Josh Malina asking if I'd be interested in an actor who was cheaper and not as good looking. I wrote back, "Always", and that was that.

The Monica Lewinsky scandal was happening at the very time I was writing the West Wing pilot and it was hard, at least for Americans, to look at the White House and think of anything but a punch line. Plus a show about politics, a show that took place in Washington, had just never worked before in American television. So the show was delayed for a year.

It's a combination of life being unpredictable, and you being super dumb.

Tell me what you think and then tell me what the really smart person in the room who disagrees with you thinks.