Quotes from Mike White

I grew up in a religious family, and we weren't allowed to listen to rock music.

You come to a point where you realize your work doesn't save you.

Sometimes when you write something on the page, it can seem very funny, but when you act it out - and this happens to me a lot, actually - the melancholy of the situation becomes more front and center.

I think there are certain ways that people are always themselves, but I do think people change.

To be perfectly honest, I'm competitive.

To me, I definitely stand in the corner of wanting to give voice to the bullied, and not the bully.

What I find frustrating about scripted television is that it's rare that you are surprised by how you feel about the character, or how you feel about the show.

I feel like I know how to write plot.

I want to have compassion for my characters - I feel like I am the characters when I'm writing them.

I'm not looking to be the King of Comedy, or the King of Hollywood. I just want to be able to keep making stuff that I'm into and have the opportunity to challenge myself with, wearing different hats.

I'm attracted to polarizing characters who upend the civility of life.

As a director or writer, you have to be so controlling.

The things that drive me crazy are coming from this place of people suffering because of people polluting into rivers or whatever. It's not simply just about systems; it's an emotional reaction to seeing animals or people suffering.

I'm a weird guy. I'm practically albino. What about me isn't weird?

I started as a writer; I started writing when I was little. The acting and directing was an outgrowth of my desire to tell stories.

There are life lessons that can be derived from reality television.

My first job was with 'Dawson's Creek' where everybody looked good and they spoke better than you. It was kind of a wish fulfillment, fantasy-type show.

From my experience, meditating can bring up the most stressful thoughts.

I don't feel the breath of a thousand people over my shoulder.

My whole life I've been a seeker, searching for something.

If I have a male protagonist, it's a studio movie, and if it's a female protagonist, it's an indie movie. That's just how it is. It's not about the studios. It's about America and who goes to see movies. Women are interested in men and women, and men aren't interested in the woman's story. They just aren't.

I used to go online all the time, and then I had to stop myself... because I'm a writer, and it's like: to have a procrastination tool, like, within my computer... it was just getting too hairy.

A flower doesn't love you or hate you, it just exists.

I think I'm more of an absurdist than a satirist. I think I'm more of a - humanist? I hate to say it!