WHEN YOU'RE TRYING SOMETHING NEW, YOU'RE TORN BETWEEN ANTICIPATING A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE AND THINKING YOU'RE A FOOL TO IGNORE WHAT YOU KNOW YOU LIKE.

IT CAN BE HELPFUL TO THINK OF THEM EATING YOUR FAVORITE FOODS AND OCCASIONALLY THROWING UP AND GETTING BITS STUCK IN THEIR NOSES.

IF THE HOUSE IS BITTER COLD, ALL THE FLUIDS THEREIN, IF NOT FROZEN, ARE STIFF AND SLOW.

THE IMPULSE IS TO SQUEEZE AND FONDLE BABY WILD ANIMALS BUT THEN THEY'D BE BROKEN AND WHAT GOOD WOULD THEY BE?

WITH BLEEDING INSIDE THE HEAD THERE IS A METALLIC TASTE AT THE BACK OF THE THROAT.

HOW CONCISE THAT YOU CAN CRY FROM AWFUL WOUNDS, DESERTION, HAPPINESS, MEMORIES, HUMILIATION, DISAPPOINTMENT OR GRANDEUR.

IT'S NO FUN WATCHING PEOPLE WOUND THEMSELVES SO THAT THEY CAN HOLE UP, NURSE THEMSELVES BACK TO HEALTH, AND REPEAT THE CYCLE. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO.

Someone else's body is a place for your mind to go.

THE FOND OLD COUPLE WAS DISAPPEARING TOGETHER THROUGH SUCCESSIVE AMPUTATIONS.

MORE THAN ONCE I'VE AWAKENED WITH TEARS RUNNING DOWN MY CHEEKS. I HAVE HAD TO THINK WHETHER I WAS CRYING OR WHETHER IT IS INVOLUNTARY, LIKE DROOLING.

Faithfulness is a social not a biological law.

IT CAN BE STARTLING TO SEE SOMEONE�S BREATH, LET ALONE THE BREATHING OF A CROWD. YOU USUALLY DON�T BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE EXTEND THAT FAR.

"The true logic of this world is in the calculus of probabilities."

"When I come up against a director who has a concept that I don't agree with, or maybe I just haven't thought of it or whatever, I'd be more prone to go with them than my own because I want to be out of control as an actor, I want them to have the control, otherwise it's going to become predictably my work, and that's not fun."

"I think that's what distinguishes Schmidt, really. In the movies now, so much of what is appealing to an audience is the dramatic or has to do with science fiction, and Schmidt is simply human. There's no melodrama; there's no device, It's just about a human being."

"I worry from the moment I take a job. I worry about how I'm going to do it, if I can do it... Then I walk on set and the director says, 'Roll', and all of a sudden, all of it disappears and it's all happening, and I relax, and I'm doing what I do, and I'm not even thinking about it."

"I always knew there wasn't going to be anybody to help me and emotionally support me, that whatever I did I'd have to do on my own."

"I don't want people to know what I'm actually like. It's not good for an actor."

"Because you know, down deep in my heart, when all is said and done, I still live under the illusion that basically people think of me as an up-and-coming young actor."

"I have a lot of vanity."

"I know I can act. There aren't too many other jobs I know how to do."

"I never had a policy about marriage. I got married very young in life and I always think in all relationships, I've always thought that it's counterproductive to have a theory on that."

"I'll tell you one thing: Don't ever give anybody your best advice, because they're not going to follow it."

"When I was in high school, I earned the pimple award and every other gross-out award."