My aunt is a famous L.A. chef, Susan Feniger, and she's got Street and Border Grill. So a fun night out for me is to go to my aunt's restaurants.

Fundamentals are right down to earth. And one fundamental is: You have to make calls. Nothing happens until you make a call. It’s that fundamental!

Every man has problems that only life insurance can solve. In the young man’s case, the problem is to create cash; for the older man, to conserve it.

If you look at the history of advertising, most of them were Jews, so it was only a matter of time before 'Mad Men' explored that area of advertising.

If people understood what life insurance does, we wouldn't need salesmen to sell it. People would come knocking on the door. But they don't understand.

I'm a lot happier in people's living rooms weekly than I think I would be if I was really, really relying on a movie career to keep me fulfilled and excited.

The institution of marriage has been something that - we have a very temperamental relationship, marriage and I. I've seen a lot of not great examples of it.

It's funny: I don't get to play characters where I wear what I want to wear. With 'Mad Men,' if Janie Bryant doesn't laugh at me, then that outfit doesn't make it to air.

I think anybody's who's ever traveled to Paris or any sort of older European city will get caught up in the romance of the history and the ghosts you're surrounded by every day.

Usually, if I'm yelling at the TV, I'm in a bar. If I'm by myself, and it's not a game, I often find myself scolding reality stars that can't hear me through the television set.

I certainly don't know a lot of anti-Semitic people, but I've got plenty of friends that have a whole bunch of Jew jokes up their sleeve, and every time it's relevant, it will come up.

Read! Study never stops because publications never stop coming in. It's read and study. And think about what you're studying. Take it apart and put it together. Ask 'why?' And know the answers.

Goals aren't enough. You need goals plus deadlines: goals big enough to get excited about and deadline to make you run. One isn't much good without the other, but together they can be tremendous.

I would say what Mad Men has taught me has been a super elevated evaluation of text in general, and understanding subtext, and understanding where a character comes from - what he means by this or by that.

We are all the same. Some people wear vests and live in Missouri, and some people wear tuxes and live in Hollywood. But we all talk about what's going on in the news. We have relationships. We make mistakes.

I think I'm the funniest guy in a room full of unfunny people. Unfortunately, my career is increasingly leading me into rooms where everybody is funny. I'm the least funny person in a room full of funny people.

Here's the thing about Jews in Hollywood. Not to stereotype, but the Jews I know here are the funniest, most self-deprecating people I know. And it's rare to find a Jew that is actually offended by comedy about them.

My first job ever was at Baskin-Robbins when I was 14, which is probably the closest I'll ever come to having a corporate job like the one I play on TV - although I do work for Universal, so I suppose that's corporate.

If you're starting to lose your faith in the general intelligence of the American populous, there's nothing like them mistaking pop culture for Van Gogh as a sign that people still read their history books and care about art.

I don't like horror, which is ridiculous because I've been in three horror movies, but when I see those things, I see camera tricks and fake blood and actors screaming and I don't know understand why other actors don't see that.

I meet people and a lot of times, instead of saying, "Are you from the East Coast?" people just go, "you're from the East Coast, right?", having no reason to have known that. I don't know what that is. Maybe it's just that I'm Jewish.

When you realize the writers start writing to who you are, you're basically reading reviews of yourself. And then it becomes this cyclical nightmare where I feel like I need to play into it, then I find myself acting like the character in real life.

My dad told me at the very beginning of my career, basically, "If you're gonna have a megaphone, you're gonna need to use it to do some kind of good." He has always been aggravated by any kind of celebrities that don't have any charities or love or passion or something they're trying to help.

I get up in the morning and I put on makeup and then I say somebody else's words in someone else's clothes, and then I go home and watch TV, have a glass of whisky and go to bed. And I'm overcompensated for that. So it's insane to not use that pedestal to try and at least help someone or something that's in need.

When you audition for shows in Hollywood, you go in, you do your scene, maybe you get an adjustment. It's sort of easy, and a lot of times it just feels sort of rote and simple. Whereas when you go to New York and you audition for plays, you walk out sweaty and intimidated and nervous and doubting yourself as an actor.

I rarely use the telephone because he may not want to see me. I have a better chance of seeing the man I want to see if I do go. Besides, switchboard girls and secretaries have become very good. They've learned to take you apart. 'Who? Why? What for? What company?' You don't always get by. I seldom call on the phone. I'd rather go.

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