Let our New Year's resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity in the finest sense of the word.

It doesn't matter who my father was it matters who I remember he was.

Every Christmas now for years I have found myself wondering about the point of the celebration. As the holiday has become more ecumenical and secular it has lost much of the magic that I remember so fondly from childhood.

From the time that I can remember I worked to make money - either baby-sitting or one year wrapping gifts at a department store at Christmas so I could have my own money.

I love the excess of Christmas. The shopping season that begins in September the bad pop star recordings of Christmas carols the decorations that don't know when to come down.

The denominational world tries to pressure its members to focus on the birth of Christ but in doing so layers of guilt are imposed and competition gets complicated as one Christmas program tries to outdo the other.

I'm sure most of us remember being a kid and you have all of this endless time where two weeks before Christmas feels like ten years. I used to go to bed to try and go to sleep to try and make it go faster.

I'm bad on Valentine's Day but even worse on Christmas. I go shopping at nine o'clock on December 24th every year. Nobody else is there. I'm in Toys'R'Us all by myself. I get there five minutes before closing.

I remember wishing there was snow in L.A. And how jealous we used to get of those Christmas specials with kids playing in the snow.

My favorite traditional Christmas movie that I like to watch is All Quiet on the Western Front. It's just not December without that movie in my house.

My wife whenever I'd go off to work and I'd be kind of anxious she'll say 'Remember have fun.' Oh I forgot thanks for the reminder. Because sometimes we do forget. We take it all too seriously and there's a lot of joy to be had wherever you are.

The strongest influences in my life and my work are always whomever I love. Whomever I love and am with most of the time or whomever I remember most vividly. I think that's true of everyone don't you?

It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance and that in the end progress is accomplished by the man who does things.

Remembering is painful it's difficult but it can be inspiring and it can give wisdom.

But I do think it's important to remember that writers do not have a monopoly of wisdom on their books. They can be wrong about their own books they can often learn about their own books.

After a gig I always head back to the hotel remembering granny's words of wisdom. I cancel the late-night pizza and watch the Jonathan Ross show instead.

Focus on the mind and the soul. Read. Study. Enrol in a course of lectures. Pray. Become a member of a religious congregation. Study the Bible or other ancient works of wisdom.

When planning your wedding you make so many decisions: 'Do I want this fork or that fork?' But in the end people aren't going to remember what napkin holder you choose.

I try to remember as I hear about friends getting engaged that it's not about the ring and it's not about the wedding. It's a grave thing getting married. And it's easy to get swept up in the wrong things.

I remember when I was in school they would ask 'What are you going to be when you grow up?' and then you'd have to draw a picture of it. I drew a picture of myself as a bride.

I remember how being young and black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of it was fine feeling I had the truth and the light and the key but a lot of it was purely hell.

Always tell the truth - it's the easiest thing to remember.

Remember as long as you live that nothing but strict truth can carry you through the world with either your conscience or your honor unwounded.

If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.