If I write scripts that nobody likes, I don't think we'll be doing 'True Detective.'

I find the constraints of drama actually freeing: It brings everything down to character and action.

I don't think you can create effectively toward expectation. I'm not in the service business.

I made True Detective like it was going to be the only thing I ever made for television. So put in everything and the kitchen sink. Everything.

The Atlantic really gave me my writing career - even just the conviction to be a writer.

I've found that all weak people share a basic obsession - they fixate on the idea of satisfaction. Anywhere you go men and women are like crows drawn by shiny objects. For some folks, the shiny objects are other people, and you'd be better off developing a drug habit.

I knew the past wasn't real. It was only an idea, and the thing I'd wanted to touch, to brush against, the feeling I couldn't name - it just didn't exist. It was only an idea, too.