To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts.

My newspaper job … is my identity.

I think we have to get beyond the idea that we have to categorize people.

One sign of a great actor is when he can be alone by himself on the screen, doing almost nothing, and producing one of a film's defining moments.

When I write a political column for the Chicago Sun-Times, when liberals disagree with me, they send in long, logical e-mails explaining all my errors. I hardly ever get well-reasoned articles from the right. People just tell me to shut up. That's the message: "Shut up. Don't write anymore about this. Who do you think you are?"

Dogs remember every favor you ever do for them and store those events in a memory bank titled Why My Human Is A God.

What I believe is that all clear-minded people should remain two things throughout their lifetimes: Curious and teachable.