The comic novels I did when I was in my 20s had a harder edge - less sympathy for people. Or a sympathy that was harder to detect: Characters' foibles and obsessive bents were unrelenting, like caricatures.
I cannot imagine a worse job than being president of these Untied States in these most trying of times. President Barack Obama has been under siege from every side for the entirety of his time in office.
I've been pilloried so many times that I begin to expect it now.
I'm kind of an insecure artist. I hop from piece to piece. I always think my life depends on every painting. Every painting is my first painting.
It is hardly possible to believe that one is not the greatest scoundrel on earth, when one is assured of it on all sides on such excellent authority.
Reacting to his then current low popularity:
Mothers are great. They outlast everything. But when they're bad, they're the worst thing that can happen.
I can never tell if anything I do is really good. I'm always just slightly chagrined.
Bollywood is a tough place to be in and survival isn't easy.
Hollywood can be a very stinging town. They say it's a forgiving business. It's not that forgiving.
I am never sure that anything's good enough. Something that is good today will not be good tomorrow.
Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There's nothing to do but stand there and take it.
My head spins. One moment I'm told I'm too edgy, then people say I'm too angry, then that I show too much passion... make your minds up.
It's hard to play with any kind of confidence when you feel like if you miss one shot, if you make one mistake, you're getting pulled.
We Americans are hard on almost everything. We are hard on our vehicles, our marriages and our heroes. Mostly, however, we are hard on ourselves.
There is no more steely barb than that of the Infinite.
But I always feel that whatever I do, I could do better. I suppose it is perfectionism.
One of the things that, on one hand, I love and, on the other hand, that troubles me tremendously about not only our fanbase but about the gaming community at large is that, whenever you share information, the perspective is, 'Thank you, but I want more.' 'Thank you, but give me more.' I mean, it is insatiable.
I'm usually a fairly harsh critic. It depends. I tend to really not watch my work, because I just feel uncomfortable, and I can be highly critical.
Faultless to a fault.
It is dangerous for mortal beauty, or terrestrial virtue, to be examined by too strong a light. The torch of Truth shows much that we cannot, and all that we would not, see.
I'm constantly dogged with a feeling of fraudulence, so if somebody tells me they like what I've written, then I immediately begin to think it's rubbish.
There can be an extremist idea of purity. It's so easy to fall afoul of the ridiculously high standard set there.
It was a mixed blessing to have famous parents. It was tough to go to auditions and be bad, since I couldn't be anonymous.
There's nobody tougher on the players than me. Nobody.
I can be pretty harsh and judgmental. I'm a very harsh and judgmental person. I like morals, right and wrong. I like to see things in black-and-white when I can, so I will hold a lot of guys to an impossible standard.
