Books like The O'Reilly Factor

So let’s take that beautiful idea to its logical conclusion and not only leave the past behind but deny the past ever happened. Like this: America is not a land of immigrants. There. Was that so hard to say? It makes sense if you think about it. It feels like we’ve been here forever, doesn’t it? Let’s just assume we have been.

Most people are surprised by the way I work. I play it very loose. I don’t carry a briefcase. I try not to schedule too many meetings. I leave my door open. You can’t be imaginative or entrepreneurial if you’ve got too much structure. I prefer to come to work each day and just see what develops.

I was furious the situation had reached this point. A relatively small group of people—many on Wall Street, some not—had gambled that the housing market would keep booming forever. It didn’t. In a normal environment, the free market would render its judgment and they could fail.

When you follow the straight and narrow, I tell you truth, it’s the greatest high there is... When you have a mind that takes you in a thousand directions every minute. Where do you think Shakespeare got all of his characters from? ... Sanity – is to bridle all those horses and hitch them to one wagon, and then you lead those horses; you don’t let them pull you in every direction. And that’s why you shouldn’t use marijuana... Marijuana was the most destructive element in my life... Marijuana is the most dangerous of all drugs. Having said that, maybe there are some medical conditions where one of the active principles... marinol or others, could be used to alleviate pain – good, get the medication... And the reason society is pushing you into getting high is to make certain that you don’t know what the politicians are doing to you...

Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame.

I’ve learned from these events that self-esteem plays as much a part in the destiny of nations as it does in the lives of individuals; that self-hatred leads to the need either to dominate or to be dominated; that citizens who refuse to obey anything but their own conscience can transform their countries; in short, that self-esteem is the basis of any real democracy.