[But we are borne back to the father-son chat at the dinner table.] Was I a good father? ... You have ultimately been a great father. But fatherhood would not have been one of the highest parts of your résumé early on.

Good wombs have borne bad sons.

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.

No love is greater than that of a father for His son.

God bless Dad, he came to every one of my shows. I was bad, and I had horrible stage fright. My dad was so relieved - he'd say, 'You were terrible; this kid is not going to be an actor.' Finally, I did a play and he said, 'Son - you were really good.'

I had the good fortune to spend hours with my parents around the dinner table having debates on politics and economics.