“A company that was I think the one I learned the most from in Wall Street 2, just in terms of my own character in and the kind of firm he worked in, was John Thomas Financial. There it's like warriors in an arena getting ready for battle. Thomas Belesis just fires these guys up like there is no tomorrow, and I absolutely got addicted to that optimism and adrenaline and that "We're going to do it, we're going to do it, buddy" kind of attitude that he had.” ThinkingKindCharacterGuyTermAttitudeWallTomorrowBattleOptimismFinancialWarriorFirmBuddyAdrenaline Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I mean I think one of the larger problems going on right now is, debate has replaced discussion. As I say you can't lump Wall Street into one category. That doesn't mean anything. Every firm has a different attitude and does different things and puts their cherries in certain places and their money in others. Some are vicious, nasty, I will cut you down at all costs to make a buck, some have a much higher moral standard.” ThinkingMeanDifferentProblemAttitudeMoralCuttingWallDebateFirmDiscussionReplacedNasty Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I grew up in an artistic family where everyone was doing something in one field of the arts or another. I was I think 12 years old when I did my first acting at the Actor's Studio and James Dean once said that the only reason to become and actor is because you have to. I think that you know from a young age if that is a certain rush that you're going to need to satisfy you and to make you feel fulfilled - and if you don't then you shouldn't do it. It's just too brutal of a business most of the time.” ThinkingArtReasonAgeActingArtisticBrutal Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“It's a certain kind of human compact that obviously you lose as soon as there is a screen and a camera there, so I think we'll always have theater. I think theater will always be a powerful force because we need that human touch, particularly as we spend more and more time with machines, cell phones, computers we start to lose our humanity.” ThinkingKindHumanityPowerfulComputerCell Phone Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I mean the price of our technology may very well end up being our humanity, so I think you got to have that balance. Personally I try to do one for one if I can. Do a movie, do a play, do a movie, do a play - while at the same time writing and being in that cycle.” ThinkingWritingTryingMeanHumanityTechnologyBalance Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I think about the college graduating classes and high school classes that are coming up now they're in a unique position. I mean they're entering one of the toughest economies of all time. At the same time if they're willing to work really hard the ability they have to learn something much faster than we ever did before is there and it's really a question of are you willing to put in the effort and go that extra mile. Because if you are I think there's actually more opportunities out there.” ThinkingMeanSchoolOpportunityAbilityEffortEconomyCollegeUniqueHigh SchoolAll TimeExtrasGraduates Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“My father, Norman Mailer, expected a lot from us and he really pushed us and you know one of his favorite lines was, "If you think I'm being hard on you, wait until life hits you because life is a hell of a lot tougher than I am." And I took everything he said to heart. He taught me how to write, which was scary and intimidating and hard, but ultimately one of the biggest gifts I could have ever asked for.” ThinkingWritingHeartFatherWaitingHellScaryIntimidating Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I was about 20 when my mom got sick with cancer and it was bad. It was very scary and at the time I was doing my first screenplay and I was on deadline and was alone with my father in Massachusetts. I said, "Pop, you know, I don't how I'm going to work. I don't know how I can get this done. You know, I got to hand this script in and I can't think about anything but Mom." He said, "Well, you know, now is the time when you're going to learn what it means to compartmentalize." And those words really had an impact on me.” ThinkingMeanDoneFatherMomSickCancerScaryMy MomGoing To WorkDeadline Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“What it means to be a man is to take on all the emotional pain and work through what you got to work through with the people you love while at the same time getting your business done. And it's tough. I think that most children when they grow up they kind of realize that the things they didn't like about their parents or didn't understand about them they get now and that you know every year you get more responsibilities. You get more overhead. You get more things you got to take care off.” PeopleThinkingMenKindMeanChildrenDoneCarePainParentRealizingResponsibilityGrowing UpEmotionalToughTake CareEmotional Pain Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“My father probably taught me everything I know, aside from dialogue, which I think I get from my mom a lot more. He certainly didn't teach me everything he knew, but you know he has got this book out called "The Spooky Art," which is essentially an advanced book on writing and it's not... You know it's not ABC, but it's for people who feel that bug and know that they're writers and are willing to put in that time alone. Pretty much the vast majority of what he taught me you can find in that book.” PeopleThinkingWritingArtBookFatherTeachMomMy MomDialogueMe Alone Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“There were so many different factions and that's I think what my father was taking issue with was the idea of, look, you can't go from male dominance to female dominance and expect anything to be better. We're all shits, ultimately, and we've got to do the best we can together.” ThinkingDifferentTogetherFatherFemale Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“That was my dad's sense of, you know, laughing at himself, laughing at existence, the universe, all of it and not being too serious about what we do with because at the end of the day if you're here it's a blessing. It's you know life is hard. Life is hard for everybody at some point, but it's those who are able to laugh at it and laugh with it and roll with it that ultimately I think live the fulfilling lives that we're all trying to do. You know, and big step there is to not take yourself too seriously from the start.” ThinkingTryingUniverseExistenceLaughingSeriousBlessingFulfillingLife Is HardHard Life Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I would say the only one person I know of who kind of combines the elements that my father brought to the table in terms of affecting the public discourse would be Oliver Stone. His combination of academic brilliance and real life experience and just understanding people I think is what makes him such a great storyteller, but also he cares. He is interested. He meets somebody and he listens to them. He has some questions. He wants to know what they're about. And as a result I think his worldview is much more complex and whole and most of the other.” PeopleThinkingKindRealCareFatherUnderstandingTermReal LifeAcademicLife ExperienceStorytellerWorldviewBrilliance Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I think that Anderson Cooper does a great job of staying with stories and pushing them. New Orleans he really... He was there and he pushed it past the point where his producers were saying, "Listen, you've got to stop because people are tuning out now. You know, we're on to another disaster." You know, what do you worry about, Haiti, Chile, Turkey? What? You know where do you put your attention and your focus? So for one person to really be able to cover all that ground would be tough.” PeopleThinkingPastAttentionWorryFocusToughDisasterProducersGreat Job Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I think that you know you have experts in fields who spend their life studying one thing. When an event goes on that chances are they're going to want that specific expert who has done it to be on the show talking about it, not a writer or an artist of any sort, which I think is a mistake because you know we don't have... I mean we have them, but there is certainly not you know in strong force public philosophers anymore.” ThinkingMeanDoneArtistStrongChanceMistakeStudyPhilosopher Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I think that one of the things that my dad was grappling with towards the end was how that shift had happened now and he would go on a book tour and do his shows and it would be you know fulfilling and good, but he wouldn't have the same impact that he used to and it wasn't because people were less interested. It's just because people are distracted by the million different sources of entertainment and information in front of them at any given time.” PeopleThinkingBookDifferentDadMy DadFulfillingDistracted Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“Having a mother who has had cancer and fought through it and at times used cannabis to you know fight off nausea and whatnot. I mean it's not really her thing, but there were times when she needed it and the idea that you can't have it because it's an illegal drug, but OxyContin is legal. That's you know that's just insane to a level that I think most people understand.” PeopleThinkingMeanMotherFightingDrugCancerInsane Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I think that if you look at places like Amsterdam and places where pot is very legal they do well with it. There is nothing taken away from it and crime is very low and all that.” ThinkingTakenCrimePot Author:John Buffalo Mailer
“I think that ultimately when life is not tragedy it should be a party and if you've faced the real stuff, if you've faced the ones closest to you being at death's door, passing on, you know, not to let the small stuff really harsh your mellow, as you put it.” ThinkingRealPartyTragedyHarshMellow Author:John Buffalo Mailer