What I Have Learned

I’ve learned that money means nothing to a person unless they have Time. At the end of every day Time is what people wish for. At the end of every life too.  There was a line I heard once spoken by a character on ER who was dying. “Be generous with your time.” Time is what you give to people you love.

Expensive toilet paper is madness. I buy cheap toilet paper, cleaning products and towels. None of these things are important to me. But I also buy expensive groceries from a natural food store, expensive toothpaste and excellent moisturizer.

Marriage is harder than it looks. If you take everything you know about love before being married and multiply that information by 100, you are still dumb as a pet rock when it comes to love if you have not been married.

Intuition is underrated. If I could live my life over, I would follow my gut more. 

I define great entertainment by the effect the flick, music, piece or performance has on me three years later. If I am thinking of it in three years, I will be thinking of it in ten years too; and I have likely incorporated it into my daily life. Ten years ago I saw a play called the Metaphor. My friend Craig had the staring role. Every time someone mentions the theater, I think of his performance and I wish I could see it again.

I believe in cause and effect. But I do not believe life is fair on any individual scale. When I do good, I create a ripple, but it would be silly to believe my ripple will come back to me, or that if it does, I will recognize it.

America is not a melting pot. It is a lovely stew. Every person adds flavor. But when you bite into a tomato, you know it’s a tomato.  When you meet an Italian, you know he’s Italian. Why people would want to shed their culture is beyond me.

My best assets in business have always been three things:

honesty, subtlety, and the knowledge that great success usually involves great risk. 

The best places to have conversations are tents on summer nights with crickets in the background, small coffee shops on Sunday mornings and the floor of a stage between sound-check and dinner. 

Out of every quality to expect, search for and hope for in a friend, lover or family member, Integrity should always be at the top of the list.

Alcohol is a stupid man’s hobby.

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they drink their coffee.