I think he [President Clinton] was probably the brightest President of the 20th century.

One of my favorite episodes in West Wing was the homeless man that died and they found, in the overcoat he was wearing, a card of the speechwriter, Toby. He had given that coat to the Goodwill and this guy had ended up wearing it, died in it and Toby went to his funeral. He turned out to be a Korean war veteran. It was our first Christmas episode and that was a true story - a member of the staff had done exactly that. So many of these stories were far better than any fiction.

We have to fight for something. It has to cost us. Our lives, our faith, have to cost us something; otherwise we're left to question its value.

I just think that the only way we come to ourselves is through each other.

The key word about The West Wing is show. It is not a reality show. It has nothing to do with reality.

I was a celebrity. This is not what I do for a living - politics. I play politicians, as well as working class or clergy or whatever, and you mustn't be confused by what you're seeing on television because that's not who I am. So I always ended it.

I'm one of those cliff-hanging Catholics. I don't believe in God, but I do believe that Mary was his mother.