“And when I declared that I wasn’t going to try out for the team again, my parents and my older brothers and sisters all flipped out, "No, you have to play sports. What are you going to do?" And I said, "I'm going to get into politics." They're like, "That's even worse." And I just started volunteering on campaigns.”

“I got so animated in my story-telling, I knocked the bottle of wine all over the table, and here's what she says was the difference maker that distinguished me from other guys out there — anyone else she says would've been mortified, but I kept talking. She later asked, "Why did you keep talking?" I said, "Well, I was mid-story. You never stop mid-story.”

“I think they were concerned about sending my brother and I to public school and that we would be indoctrinated or just face peer pressure and social trends that you have to navigate. But I also think it was a chicken-and-egg thing — I was a very awkward kid.”

“I find it remarkable that today there are very few frum Jews going to academia. In my generation, there were many more there. Today it is rare. It's not on many yeshiva boys’ checklist of possibilities.”

“It is a thing that happens when you talk to people, as I'm sure you've experienced, you just get premise rejectors. And it is annoying. So I apologize if I'm annoying.”

“I'm playing for the spirits every night, man. Every night Bird walks across the stage, every night Miles walks across the stage. Every night my son wants to hear this music, he walks across the stage. Everyone. All my fans who are no longer here, they want to hear this music.”

“I think I still play a role. I play a role in holding a banner of what once was and could be again.”

“I don't believe a work of art is complete until the viewer sees it.”

“Everyone leaves me alone in the bathtub. My phone's definitely not going to be in there with me. It's a great place to just isolate and think.”

“Believe it or not, I get a lot of people who just feel like outsiders, and that can include anybody.”

“I remember all my dreams…every night is another CinemaScope adventure.”

“…That was my John Kennedy story.”

“But I do want to emphasize — if I said in an interview that I'm a cultural Anglican, a cultural Christian, it means absolutely nothing as far as religious belief is concerned.”

“Oylem Habe iz a gute zakh/Lernen Toyre iz a beser zakh/Varf avek yeder yokh/Lern Toyre nokh un nokh/Oylem Habe iz a gute zakh.”

"There are lots of incredible people in the industry who aren’t often, if ever, on the public stage. They’re more my black swans than white whales."

“I'd rather drive for you than Lady Gaga."

And I said, "Really?"

"That's like asking: if you're stupid, are you happier? Maybe, but I'm not stupid."

“A fingertip feel for understanding how to appeal to the electorate in the most winning way.“

“I was in my early 30s when 9/11 happened. That's an old guy with his first hit song. But I was still this new kid on the block who had just got used to hearing my song on the radio suddenly performing at MSG with all the living icons of the world.”

“I like what I do. I like the classroom, I like the writing, I like the independence of it, and I like the advocacy role.”