"I may not be the most famous songwriter in the world, but you know a David Friedman song when you hear it. It took me a long time to appreciate that."

"I don't like to produce albums. I hate producing albums, as a matter of fact, because I'm an obsessed mixer and I can't leave it alone."

"The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations."

"I have a musical called Goodbye and Good Luck, based on a Grace Paley short story. I also have King Island Christmas, and there are 20 different productions of it this year."

"I still don't have all the answers. I'm more interested in what I can do next than what I did last."

"The trouble with anyone when they're unhappy or in a relationship they recognize is not working but don't know what to do about is that they can't see farther out than that. If the relationship is not working, if what was there isn't there anymore, you have to do something about it."

"I make really good chicken soup, sort of from scratch. I don't make my own stock. I just use a base like a chicken stock, but everything else, all the ingredients, I do on my own."

"I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening."