Book excerpt: From Esquire's popular "What I've Learned" column comes a stunning, all-new collection of candid interviews with 65 actors, athletes, directors, musicians, writers, comedians, politicians, and other legendary figures. Every one of the impressive figures profiled here offers insights that reveal the humanity behind the famous face. The lessons these larger-than-life personalities convey are funny, inspirational, very down-to-earth--and always captivating. The profiles include: 50 Cent, Tim Allen, Woody Allen, André 3000, Kevin Bacon, Tony Bennett, Joe Biden, David Blaine, Albert Brooks, James L. Brooks, Jim Brown, James Lee Burke, Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton, George H. W. Bush (with Barbara Bush), Michael Caine, Chevy Chase, Chris Christie, Francis Ford Coppola, Kevin Costner, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Daniels, Ted Danson, Robert DeNiro, Bruce Dern, Danny DeVito, Robert Duvall, Art Garfunkel, Ricky Gervais, Phillip Glass, Elliott Gould, Kelsey Grammer, Robert Haas, Jim Harrison, Kevin Hart, Ethan Hawke, Jesse Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Joan Jett, Larry King, Padma Lakshmi, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lyle Lovett, James Meredith, Helen Mirren, Keith Olbermann, Gary Oldman, Yoko Ono, Mary-Louise Parker, Pelé, Sean Penn, Robert Redford, Lionel Richie, Amy Schumer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Slash, Aaron Sorkin, Harry Dean Stanton, Sting, Donald Sutherland, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Walken, Sigourney Weaver, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and Thom Yorke.