Survival is triumph enough.

I think all of us are looking for that which does not admit of bullshit . . . If you tell me you can bench press 450, hell, we'll load up the bar and put you under it. Either you can do it or you can't do it—you can't bullshit. Ultimately, sports are just about as close to what one would call the truth as it is possible to get in this world.

There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.

Teaching, real teaching, is -- or ought to be -- a messy business.

I like the acting in it. . . . Paul - I call him Paul Spaghetti because I can't pronounce his last name - he's talented. . . . I think he's one hell of an actor. I don't think that picture necessarily shows all his strengths. I thought the girl did a really good job.

I agree with the people who think it's slow. I wish to God they would have let me write the screenplay. But the worst person to ask about a film that's made from a book is the guy who wrote the book. He's always going to have bitches. . . . But I'm not bitching. . . . I'm glad they made it.