Zero-sum thinking is an obsession of mine, but mostly in economics.

I couldn't have gotten into Harvard with a crowbar.

Gossip is what you say about the objects of flattery when they aren't present.

This country is so urbanized we think low-fat milk comes from cows on Nutri/System weight-loss plans.

Journalists are notoriously easy to kid. All you have to do is speak to a journalist in a very serious tone of voice, and he will be certain that you are either telling the truth or a big, important lie.

When a private entity does not produce the desired results, it is (certain body parts excepted) done away with. But a public entity gets bigger.

I like the fact that they still run substantive pieces. I'm not sure I like the pieces, but it's nice that they do that. Anyway, it was always sort of ridiculous, me having anything to do with the youth culture, but now that I'm in my 50s, it's extra-double-ridiculous. They were losing interest in me, and I was losing interest in them. When I went to renegotiate my contract at Rolling Stone, I kind of halfheartedly asked if I could do half the work for half the money, and they asked if I could do two-thirds of the work for half the money. I ran that by my agent, since he can do math.