Toby: All right. It couldn't have gone far, right? Sam: No. Toby: Somewhere in this building...is our talent.

I'd been concerned all along that the character of the president in the West Wing pilot would throw the ensemble out of whack, that that character would simply take up all the oxygen in a room. I wanted to hold off bringing this character in until the last possible moment.

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.

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

The downside to series television is that the schedule is ferocious. It constantly feels like you have a midterm due that you haven't started yet.

I think that if I couldn't write, I would be unemployable.