No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you.

Do my worst, eh? Smithers, release the robotic Richard Simmons." --Mr. Burns

When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.

'The Simpsons' from the very beginning was based on our memories of brash '60s sitcoms - you had a main title theme that was bombastic and grabbed your attention - and when you look at TV shows of the 1970s and '80s, things got very mild and toned down and... obsequious.

Ned, have you considered any of the other major religions? They're all pretty much the same.

Our solution on 'The Simpsons' is to do jokes that people who have an education, or some frame of reference, can get. And for the ones who don't, it doesn't matter, because we have Homer banging his head and saying, 'D'oh!'

The writers led by Mike Scully are fantastic. And they're creating original stories that not only don't repeat what we've already done, they also don't repeat anything I've seen on television.