Idealism is based on big ideas. And, as anybody who has ever been asked "What's the big idea?" knows, most big ideas are bad ones.

We also have a lot of the same influences - we both read a lot of the beatniks. And yet what we actually do is almost exactly the opposite. His [ Hunter S. Thompson] political stuff is just wonderful, but basically nothing happens.

My wife and I both come from Irish families. There are two kinds of Irish families: the hitting kind and the kidding kind. If you're fortunate - and both of us are - you come from the kidding kind of Irish family.

Los Angeles is many places in one place.

Thanksgiving is so called because we are all so thankful that it only comes once a year.

A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.

I spent almost 25 years as a foreign correspondent, and the world's primary problem is poverty.