Make no mistake about it, you are dumb. You’re a group of incredibly well-educated dumb people. I was there. We all were there. You’re barely functional. There are some screw-ups headed your way. I wish I could tell you that there was a trick to avoiding the screw-ups, but the screw-ups, they’re a-coming for ya. It’s a combination of life being unpredictable, and you being super dumb.

Stupid people surround themselves with smart people. Smart people surround themselves with smart people who disagree with them.

You can only write, 'Somebody wants something, something else is in their way of getting it.'

Any time you get two people in a room who disagree about anything, the time of day, there is a scene to be written. That's what I look for.

If I get an idea for a series that I really like, I'm sure I won't be able to resist coming back and doing it.

There's a great tradition in storytelling that's thousands of years old, telling stories about kings and their palaces, and that's really what I wanted to do.

Conflict, when used as a device, makes for good television and bad journalism.