I can tell you that standard D.O.J. protocol is that you let official acts speak for themselves. You don't go and spin your action. For example, when I ran the Solicitor General's office, there would be all sorts of times when the litigants would make something up, and we would just never comment to the press. It is not what we do.

The No. 1 quote critics give me is, 'Thom, your work is irrelevant.' Now, that's a fascinating, fascinating comment. Yes, irrelevant to the little subculture, this microculture, of modern art. But here's the point: My art is relevant because it's relevant to 10 million people. That makes me the most relevant artist in this culture.

I wrote an episode for 'thirtysomething,' and a producer said, 'That's really good, but what is it about? What does it say about you? What questions are you asking yourself?' I had never thought about that. This comment changed who I was, because it made me look at my own soul, the dark corners in my soul, and accept that dark side.

In the early days of the Russian Revolution in 1917, I was completely in sympathy with it. I felt that it established a new era in the history of the modern world. I was so overwhelmed by it that, if people made any unfriendly comment, I would vigorously defend it. If people condemned the Communist party, I would speak in its defense.

It's always the girl comedy and the guy comedy. It bums me out. You'd think there'd be a progression, from James L. Brooks and Nora Ephron into more subtle humor and behavior and psychology. All these interesting things people can learn about themselves by watching talented writers comment intelligently on someone else's emotional life.

If anybody's feeling a little down because of a comment or whatnot we're always there to remind each other that we're all trying our best and it doesn't really matter about one performance or one mistake we've made, it's more of the overall outcome that we're striving for. Being supportive is the best way to kind of get through those times.

If someone hurts me on social media, I want to tell them that they've hurt me. I believe you should say what you're feeling. We should all do that, but what I've also realized is that even a negative comment is from a person who is trying to reach out. When I reply, maybe I'm reminding them that there's a deeper meaning to what they're doing.

I made one contribution to a film about the 11th of September: there were 11 directors and everyone had a different take on that. Some I thought were valid and some less so, but there was a substantial point that knitted all the films together - a comment on the bombing of the World Trade Center - so there was something to get your teeth into.

We never deal with propaganda. We never deal with politics. We never deal with newspaper headlines. We deal with the harsh realities of our lives. We will only comment when there is more bread to eat, more space in which to move, time in which to open your mouth and sing. As long as these things have not happened, we do not talk about politics.

Let's be honest here - 99 percent of MMA fans haven't got a clue what's going on. They don't understand the game enough to comment on any of that. They don't know how easy it is to have an impressive record. I could have 10 guys in my gym tomorrow, beat them all up, and there's 10 wins for my record. It is that easy. It is that easy to be 10-0.

At the breakfast table we are footnoting everything that we read. We don't recognise it as such but we encounter an article in the newspaper and then suddenly we recall that a friend had a certain comment on that particular story, a certain bit of news that we saw on the television applies to that and we immediately assemble an idea of a story.

People can say what they want about Eric Bischoff, and I've heard a lot of people make negative comments about him. I'll comment on his booking. His booking is not what I look for in wrestling, but that said, I will always be appreciative and thankful to Eric Bischoff for offering me the contract he did, when did because it saved my financial life.

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