David Geffen

I just needed a job. Before being hired as an usher at the CBS Theater, I didn’t even know there was a show business.

[On Lou Adler] Lou really had a production deal called a label, whereas we had a real label. We had a great many artists, whereas he had very few. Lou also produced most of the stuff that came out on Ode. We were not producers.

This Velvet Mafia thing is just another homophobic, nasty kind of thing that jealous queens make up.

Oh please. A Gay Mafia? This is so crazy. This is insane. I think he needs a psychiatrist. It’s so paranoid, and so crazy, and so irresponsible, and makes him look like such a nut. It’s beyond crazy. On a scale of 1 to 10 crazy, it’s 11… He’s made a fool of himself, and he’s made a huge failure of his life. To say you’ve been brought down by the Gay Mafia and its allies is as crazy as anything I’ve ever heard in my life… Did I mention his extraordinary homophobia?

The opportunity for an entrepreneur to start a company from scratch today is abysmal.

That had her lip-syncing to a record… There was no protection for her as a person or as an artist…

I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.

Do any of us really have a clue? We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Or what word will come up in a conversation that will change our lives. You can be in the shower and scrubbing under your arm and find a lump that wasn’t there yesterday. I’m doing things here and now. Life is evolving. Every day life evolves.

There are ships sailing to my ports, but not a single one goes where life is not painful.

At this very moment, you may be saying to yourself that you have any number of admirable qualities. You are a loyal friend, a caring person, someone who is smart, dependable, fun to be around. That’s wonderful, and I’m happy for you, but let me ask you this: are you being any of those things to yourself?

The partnership of mind and matter is one which has existed since the beginning of time and cannot be dissolved.

Do it! People who succeed don’t just sit and think about what they want to do. They take meaningful, purposeful, directional action consistently and persistently. Every step they take puts them toward the outcome they’re looking for.

You don’t need a pack of wild horses to learn how to make a sandwich.

Everyone faces the challenge of finding meaning to their suffering.

Opportunities are usually disguised by hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.

Not everything I write will be a masterpiece; I know that. It is a process selecting words to convey feelings never meant to be spoken. So maybe I’ve been searching for what’s already been said and this is the finest way I can say it. I love you, in everything I am, I love you.

A person who trusts no one can’t be trusted.

The people change, the common denominator is you.

This morning I woke with my ear pressed between shoulder blades. Every inhale, every drum, every pump, thump of your heartbeat said one thing – home, home, home.

In life you have three options with any situation that is a challenge. Remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it.

When you have the right script for your life, you will always be the star of the show.