Dick Cavett

If your parents never had children, chances are you won’t, either.

It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.

I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t true.

I notice in some of the newspapers that they have taken a bit of an interest in me. According to one headline Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the prospect of an asteroid wiping out humanity. Asteroids are pretty controversial and it is not the kind of thing I would want to rule out… without a full debate at conference and a review so can we have the debate later in the week.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, I don’t enjoy doing press. I’ve been asked the same questions a million times now, and I don’t particularly like talking about my personal life.

I think the 24-hour news cycle has helped exaggerate the differences between the parties. You can always find someone on TV somewhere carping about something. That didn’t happen 20 years ago.

One thing I’ve learned about the press is that they’re always hungry for a good story, and the more sensational the better. It’s in the nature of the job, and I understand that. The point is that if you are a little different, or a little outrageous.

[The New York Times] don’t write good. They have people over there, like Maggie Haberman and others, they don’t – they don’t write good. They don’t know how to write good.

We want someone to bring us the news.

My people keep telling me I shouldn’t write letters like this to critics. The way I see it, critics get to say what they want to about my work, so why shouldn’t I be able to say what I want to about theirs?

You can’t interview my brother!… We can call this thing off – right now!

I’ve met some great people that deal with me in the press. I’ve also met some people that were very dishonorable, frankly.

If you are a little different, or a little outrageous, or if you do things that are bold or controversial, the press is going to write about you.

My Twitter has become so powerful that I can actually make my enemies tell the truth.

It seems not more reasonable to leave the right of printing unrestrained, because writers may be afterwards censured, than it would be to sleep with doors unbolted, because by our laws we can hang a thief.

You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.

What I try to keep in mind is that there are going to be a lot of articles that are going to be misrepresentative of what I’m about as a person and as a writer.