I don't really manage my time. I really just wait until I'm inspired to do something. And when I'm inspired to do something, it just happens.

I try not to think about legacy because it is all ­folly. If you study history, even recent history, you'll find many people who were quite significant in their time but are completely forgotten.

Deeply funny musings and adventures elevate Paul Rudnick to the highest level of American comedy writing.

...it is not the big events that hurt the most but rather the smallest questionable shift in tone at the end of a spoken word that can plow most deeply into the heart.

I really enjoy finding the right word, creating a good, flowing sentence. I enjoy the rhythm of the words.

Anyone who's ever worked with Meryl Streep always says the same thing: can that woman act! And what's with all the Hitler memorabilia?

I don't think anyone is ever writing so that you can throw it away. You're always writing it to be something. Later, you decide whether it'll ever see the light of day. But at the moment of its writing, it's always meant to be something. So, to me, there's no practicing; there's only editing and publishing or not publishing.