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

It seems to me that more and more we've come to expect less and less from each other, and I think that should change.

Trying to guess what the (mass) audience wants and then trying to satisfy that is usually a bad recipe for getting something good.

Rule of storytelling: When a character is shoved against a wall, shove them against a wall harder.

To use a basketball metaphor, West Wing cast was a group that liked to pass as much as they liked to shoot.

As a dramatist, you're looking for points of friction.

Pretty much up until The West Wing, our leaders had always been portrayed in popular culture as either Machiavellian or dolts. But I thought, "What if we show a group of people who are highly competent, they're going to lose as much as they win, but we're going to understand that they wake up every morning wanting to do good?" That was really the spirit behind The West Wing.