Ordinary people are capable of doing extraordinary things, and that's what it's all about. They must count.

It is still the arena of those who dream of the City of Man and those who envision a City of Things. The battle appears to be forever joined. The armies, ignorant and enlightened, clash by day as well as night. Chicago is America's dream, writ large. And flamboyantly.

Most of us, like the assembly line worker, have jobs that are too small for our spirit. Jobs are not big enough for people.

A guy I interviewed for Hard Times says, "What do I remember about the Great Depression? That I was hungry, that's all." Elemental things.

Something was still there, that something that distinguishes an artist from a performer: the revealing of self. Here I be. Not forlong, but here I be. In sensing her mortality, we sensed our own.

People are hungry for stories. It's part of our very being.

We hear the term independent contractors in Iraq. Independent contractors? Mercenaries!