Pumpkin pie is a living symbol of mediocrity. The best pumpkin pie you ever ate wasn't all that much different from the worst pumpkin pie you ever ate.

Give up your good 'Christian' life and follow Jesus

Humor has to surprise us; otherwise, it isn't funny. It's a death knell for a writer to be labeled a humorist because then it's not a surprise anymore.

Being Lutheran, Mother believed that self-pity is a deadly sin and so is nostalgia, and she had no time for either

A compassionate conservative is someone who electrocutes juveniles but lets them have a last 'make a wish'.

It was a pleasure to have somebody else be the boss. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun any other way. He's been around and made a lot of movies and he's a great straightforward person to work for. And it was a pleasure to see other people to pick up characters that you've sketched out loosely on paper and make them into something fascinating.

Intelligence is like four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.