Even the cleanest air, at the centre of the South Pacific or somewhere over Antarctica,

has two hundred thousand assorted bits and pieces in every lungful. And this count rises to two million or more in the thick of the Serengeti migration, or over a six-lane highway during rush hour in downtown Los Angeles. Lyall Watson

I don't want my reputation to take me over, I just want to be judged on my songs. I want people to come and see me because they want to, not because fashion dictates it. Jeff Buckley

I feel comfortable here primarily because I think Los Angeles is made up of people who don't come from here, so you can find kindred spirits very easily. It's a town of gypsies. Matthew Rhys

Another thing I learned is that novels, even those from apparently distant times and places, remain current and enlightening, and also comforting. Jane Smiley

A lot of times when people are on campaigns, it can be like a movie set. Doris Kearns Goodwin

God knows, I haven't always been successful. Daniel Day-Lewis

My first job after my retirement from baseball was as a narrator for the Eastman Philharmonica. Willie Stargell

Ballet is sort of a mystery to me. And I don't want to unravel that mystery. Robert Caro

Dr. David Livingstone left the Island of Zanzibar in March, 1866. Henry Morton Stanley

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Remember that just because major publishing is having trouble, that doesn't mean people

have stopped reading books. Printed books won't go away, but ebooks won't go away, either. David Morrell The thing about HD-DVD that is attractive to Microsoft is that it's very pro-consumer in letting you copy all movies up onto the hard disk. Bill Gates My individual power is limited. I want to use my high-profile way to wake people up to take action together to do good things. I can only awake them with my performance art and creativity. Chen Guangbiao Your conscious brain cannot multitask. If I'm speaking to you and checking my I-Phone at the same time, I'm doing neither. This is why our society is frazzled; this misconception that we can consciously do more than one thing at a time effectively. Deepak Chopra When I'm not acting, I'm at the beach. I like to spend a lot of time in the water, surfing. Brenton Thwaites While the sciences are hugely important, let us not leave behind a child's imagination. Kevin Spacey Shorts wager on p...

The reaction to 'Aftermath' has been far worse than to 'A Life's Work,' yet I

find I'm perhaps a little less touched by it. In both cases, I've coped artistically by believing the criticisms weren't right. They upset me, but they didn't challenge my understanding of how to write, nor of how morality functions in literature. Rachel Cusk I'm not one to take revenge. If someone does something wrong to me I leave it in the hands of the universe to take care of that person. Lana Parrilla At the end of the day, I think that I'm making music for me as that 12-year-old kid in front of my boombox every day. I try to think about, if I'm that little kid, what would he like? Danny Brown I can't see where there is anywhere left to move. If you don't have a recount it's hard to receive any more votes. Robert Torricelli I have no friends and no enemies - only competitors. Aristotle Onassis I don't know anyone who enjoys going to the hospital. To help remedy this, I got an idea to create what a Laugh Room in the pediatr...

Throughout its history, the members of Shearith Israel have observed Thanksgiving by reciting in synagogue

the same psalms of praise and gratitude sung by Jews all over the world on festive days like Hanukkah. Meir Soloveichik A sequel is such a daunting thing, because you don't want to lose the magic and the charm of the first one. Sandra Bullock Having a loving relationship with our spouse or with our children is what leads to the long-term happiness we all seek. Clayton Christensen My finding of myself as an artist, which I think in itself helped me to find just who I am and how I want to express myself, is entirely - in conjunction, of course, with my family, particularly my mom - founded on teachers. Uzo Aduba Agatha Christie never wrote books that just started with a dead body, and a 'Let's find out who the murderer is', which is kind of mysterious but not that mysterious. She always started with, 'How can this thing be happening; isn't it strange?' Sophie Hannah I very much want to do things my way, and I want to control the result. Hiam Ab...

Remember that we can only in our forebrains handle 5-7 items. Our backbrains can handle

massive amounts. So when you're given a problem, think about it before you go sleep, and chances are you can solve it by the next morning. Nolan Bushnell I got one letter at the very beginning, like, in the first season, saying - from a woman who was very religious, very Christian, saying how wrong she thought the show was, but she thinks it's the funniest show on television. Sean Hayes The way I look at - speaking as a woman - I understand what it means to be a daughter, and to be a wife, and to be a mother, and also to be a career woman. The multiple roles that women can play in a society if given the opportunity is really a tremendous asset. Margaret Chan Being chronically shy I needed to create a persona for myself and be involved with a band where I could be ruler of my own kingdom. Then Pulp became hugely popular and I lost control of it, which is when it all went wrong. Jarvis Cocker The advanced levels which the democratic world has attained at the end of le...

While the past asks only to be remembered, a woman's memory alters on her behalf

and in her best interests. Memory - the vain old biddy - cannot resist penciling a few slight, cosmetic revisions in the margins of the past.Sarah Ban Breathnach Between 1958 and 1963, I sold about 40 million records - to the shock of my mother and father because I was always playing Beethoven. But I bought my mother a mink stole. She was very happy, and she said, 'I think this is better than Beethoven.'Neil Sedaka I am a huge advocate for anti-bullying in our youth. What I have seen with the rise of social media is that children are not facing bullying on a playground, they are facing it on their cell phones.Whitney Wolfe Herd I enjoy fighting. It's one of my favorite things to do in the world, so I'm just enjoying every minute of it.Donald Cerrone No American should have to live in constant fear that their employer can fire them just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.Jared Polis There's a lot of stuff out there that government s...

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, the United States would enter, in

a formal way, what had been up to that date strictly a European conflict. Marcus Garvey's prophecy about the European scramble to maintain dominance over the whole world was now a reality. John Henrik Clarke I'm always mystified by the day-to-day workings of entities like Twitter that provide framework but not content, but I suppose it could be compared to the U.S. Postal Service, which manages to keep a lot of people employed doing lots of stuff other than writing letters. Susan Orlean I don't inflict horrors on readers. In my research, I've uncovered truly terrible documentations of cruelty and torture, but I leave that offstage. I always pull back and let the reader imagine the details. We all know to one degree or another the horrors of war. Alan Furst My nutritionist has done a great job in changing my diet after we established I am allergic to things like gluten - I can't eat pizza, pasta and bread. I have lost some weight, but my movement is sharper ...

I'm running because it is past time that Tennessee's 4th Congressional District be represented by

someone who is a true conservative and who represents who we are in the Volunteer State. Scott DesJarlais On the whole, a director who make the set a comfortable place to work is really important, whether it's a comedy or drama. Jason Bateman Everyone talks about how, in your 30s, all of these growing pains transition into wisdom and you feel more self-assured and confident, but I think I had a bit of a jump-start on that at 27. Solange Knowles My take is that A.I. is taking over. A few humans might still be 'in charge,' but less and less so. Sebastian Thrun The one year the Lord took my greatest physical gift, he gave me the greatest gift you could have in children. So that was a real equalizer. And I would take that trade any day of the week. Peyton Manning It even sounds stupid to hear myself say the first costume designer I worked with was Catherine Martin, and she won an Oscar for it, but that was just my very lucky draw of roll of the dice. Elizabeth D...

It seems to me that most things that are being made are designed for young

people. There aren't that many depictions of melancholic older people, even though they form a growing proportion of the population. Peter Capaldi Too much research can be the writer's enemy. You can spend days on end in the British Library or prowling the streets with a Dictaphone, and it's easy to convince yourself that you're working hard. Often, it can be an excuse not to work; a classic displacement activity. Mark Billingham I always tell students that you've got to be practical. You do not need a dream. You need a purpose, something you can wake up to in the morning when the dream is dissipated. Twyla Tharp I'd end all of the wars. I'd bring all of the troops home and make sure that they're taken care of for life - for what they did protecting our country. Warren G I work out six days a week. Usually 45 minutes of running, then swimming and weightlifting. Garrett Neff For me, it's always been very essential to work on projects th...

Being a teen idol or being a heartthrob on all the magazines, with Shaun Cassidy,

Leif Garrett, and Scott Baio - it was embarrassing! I never understood it. I mean, why me? I never really got it. Willie Aames Meeting with the director is an audition. Chandler Massey As an artist, you want to make good stories and create good art; as a businessman, you want to make money and make sure the investors are happy. The two will always clash, unfortunately. Neil Jackson As an actor, I'm very much a company person. And this also goes through my life: I have a dread of responsibility. I like someone else to be in charge. Ian Holm You have to find ways to relate to the characters you get to play. Put it in terms and in a context that speaks to you. Randy Couture I grew up in the golden age of Flash Gordon and sci-fi. Margaret Atwood The only way to improve the GOP brand and make good public policy is to fix the process. This requires transforming the way Congress does business. Dan Webster I didn't disappear; I started writing songs and worked behi...

I do think I learned to accept myself through the eyes of others when I

was young because I wasn't brought up to think that I was beautiful or told I was beautiful. Marisa Berenson To wake up in England and have the newspaper on your front door with a headline that says, 'Ozzie's Beach Whale of a Daughter,' doesn't really do much for your self-esteem at all. Kelly Osbourne We have a positive vision of the future founded on the belief that the gap between the promise and reality of America can one day be finally closed. We believe that. Barbara Jordan My dream is to live a good life and be loving, be close to God and be a good human being and bring peace to people. Ziggy Marley I don't take myself too seriously. I think that's something so many actors and people in general tend to do. Skylar Astin Typically, there's a drive in science to do something just to say you've done it. Hendrik Poinar The stick-thin thing, I'm kind of just like, 'Not gonna do it' and 'I couldn't.' Jordin ...