In my stories, I controlled what happened in a way I couldn't in real life.

My characters lived through the horror and degradation of the cruelty of others and they not only survived, they thrived. They gave me hope and laughter, and they kept me going in spite of everything else. They were my heroes.
Sherrilyn Kenyon

I have as much chance of becoming Prime Minister as of being decapitated by a frisbee or of finding Elvis.
Boris Johnson

No harm comes to man from outside alone: dumbness is the objective spirit.
Theodor Adorno

I'm good at everything.
Brett Hull

We are adhering to life now with our last muscle - the heart.
Djuna Barnes

Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.
Roy L. Smith

Can't really despise people you don't know.
Richard D. James

We do what we want. We don't care what anyone else thinks.
Cliff Burton

The characters are trapped within the lifestyle. It's about what goes on before the movie starts.
Sam Mendes

Gemeoss

When I was 17, I worked in a mentoring program in Harlem designed to improve

the community. That's when I first gained an appreciation of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African-Americans rose to prominence in American culture. For the first time, they were taken seriously as artists, musicians, writers, athletes, and as political thinkers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar I only make movies that are interesting to me. Brian Grazer I wouldn't say I was organised at all. I just have to prioritise. Is it more important for them to be organised, or to have their dinner, do you know what I mean? Jo Brand The courage in journalism is sticking up for the unpopular, not the popular. Geraldo Rivera A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. Bertrand Russell I think Mick Jagger would be astounded and amazed if he realized that to many people he is not a sex symbol, but a mother image. David Bowie I enjoy my job as long as I can create a character, otherwise it's boring. Jav...

All I've been a part of has been thanks to the Disney company: the job,

experience, travel, opportunities have come thanks to Disney. Working for Disney was not part of my original plan, but it was part of God's, and it shows that God is still moving. Jodi Benson It almost goes without saying that when you are a startup, one of the first things you do is you start setting aside money to defend yourself from patent lawsuits, because any successful company, even moderately successful, is going to get hit by a patent lawsuit from someone who's just trying to look for a payout. Charles Duhigg People always ask me about 'Girls' with this kind of hesitation. What do I think of it? I love it. It's awesome. I get a lot of Where do you come down on this? I come down on the side of 'Yay, Lena Dunham. Congratulations. I'm jealous.' She's doing something so fantastic. Maybe it's not for everybody, but it certainly is for me. Callie Khouri I've never really understood the term 'Post-Impressionism' as more tha...

Given Pounds and five years, and an ordinary man can in the ordinary course, without

any undue haste or putting any pressure upon his taste, surround himself with books, all in his own language, and thence forward have at least one place in the world. Augustine Birrell Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud, and that the major cancer research organizations are derelict in their duties to the people who support them. Linus Pauling A Bush Administration will, I believe, enjoy a better relationship with the new Congress, although President-elect Bush will be faced with real challenges in getting along with the Congress. Richard V. Allen I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for to believe the white man any more. Black Kettle When you finish a poem, it clicks shut like the top of a jewel box, but prose is endless. I haven't experienced an awful lot of clicking shut! Kenneth Koch I thin...

As a Midlander and a big walker, I'd always loved ridge and furrow

fields, the plough-marked land as it was when it was enclosed. It is the landscape giving you a story of lives that ended with the arrival of sheep. Jim Crace I think it's really rare to see women on television who are brilliant, selfish, vain, fallible - and I feel like I have all those capacities in myself, so it's good to see people in the media representing all of those things. Kerry Bishe I never went after fame. It fell into my lap. Caitlyn Jenner My mom and dad were actors when they were younger and had a horrible experience of it. My dad became a literary agent and my mom a casting director. Daniel Radcliffe I have this idea of trying to catalog all the genes on the planet. Craig Venter The wind from the Kingdom of Heaven has blown all over the world, and shall blow for centuries yet. George William Russell I always said if I played a drag queen, I'd want to create a template with the realness they talk about in 'Paris Is Burning.' Billy P...

I feel pain everywhere. A lot of guys in chairs do feel their legs. But

if you don't, there's a thing called disreflex, so you know if something happens, say, you can't feel your foot or your leg and your body reacts. You know something's not right and you survey what's going on. Mark Zupan If women had never been given the right to vote, then Labour would have won every election after the war. Ken Livingstone I know George Burns was a very happy man. Marlo Thomas I have that thing in my stomach where I just need to keep striving for things. In my mind, I want the fairy tale. January Jones I think vampires are a timeless powerful archetype that can tap into people's psyches. Alan Ball It wasn't until I let go of the idea of the brass ring that it showed up, and fortunately for me, it coincided with getting clean. Samuel L. Jackson There are certain actors you watch in a movie, and you think, 'Wow, that guy is very skilled.' Bradley Cooper On paper, it looks rough, but I had a great childhood. Samant...

I quite like the idea of family. That's probably the greatest achievement in the world.

I've got a lot to achieve workwise - I'd love to direct - but family would be good. Matt Smith Even in the hardest circumstances, dreams can give you the courage to live, and I hope I can share that message with children in need. Kim Yuna Outlets are turning away from phone polling, which can be problematic. For example, we did a poll for NBC around the Ebola crisis; we provided results in 24 hours. Their traditional phone poll would have taken a week to turn around. We're showing people we can do high-quality work: we've proved that with the work we do with the media. Dave Goldberg I wanted more control of my life. I wanted work to fit in, not to dominate; to support, not to lead the pattern of my life. Tim O'Reilly I was terrified the first time that I had a big problem in my business. I was obviously terrified when they diagnosed me with cancer in 1994. I was terrified when my son used to drive too fast. But I do believe in the fact that fear is not a...

There is nothing on earth so easy as to forget, if a person chooses to

set about it. I'm sure I have as much forgot your poor, dear uncle, as if he had never existed; and I thought it my duty to do so. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Regaining the Champions Cup is not going to be easy. Luis Figo I think anyone would want to see their favorite band in a small club over a large stadium. Bill Wyman I'm told leather drives men up the wall. I like wearing it because it because it feels nice. Honor Blackman There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds. Alfred Lord Tennyson The trouble with baseball is that it is not played the year round. Gaylord Perry The luxury of our position now is that we can almost assemble any team to address any issue. Rem Koolhaas

I teach in M.F.A. programs now, and I think that's a great way to become

a novelist, but I mourn that Pete Dexter and Joan Didion's route is maybe less likely because there are fewer of those jobs. I always liken it to playing piano in some great dive jazz bar. You didn't pick the songs, you played what people asked for, but you got your chops. Jess Walter And then fourth, we have that essential group of people who track programs and budgets to ensure that they align with the needs of preparation and warning, counterintelligence and support to the operational war fighter. Stephen Cambone I don't feel like I'm very pop-star lame, but I'm definitely not hipster-cool. Katy Perry Life is a game and true love is a trophy. Rufus Wainwright Nature was here a series of wonders, and a fund of delight. Daniel Boone In the best of all worlds everyone in the Embassy is doing something to assist U.S. exports. Lawrence Eagleburger All of us in the Ball family in South Carolina, from the time we're children, hear stories about our...

Perhaps one reason for the falling-off of belief in a continuance of conscious existence is

to be found in the quality of life that most of us lead. There is not much in it with which, in any kind of reason, one can associate the idea of immortality. Albert J. Nock I got interested in the emotions after studying patients who had lost the ability to emote and feel under certain circumstances. Many of those patients also had major impairments in their ability to make decisions. Antonio Damasio You can talk about what you see from the outside; it's hard to tell me who I am when you're just looking at me with a football uniform on. That's a totally different person. That's my job, that's it. Ray Lewis Carrying out the thing, getting it to the point when one might say: There, now it is good - that point is hard to reach. Often, one sets very high goals for oneself. Perhaps too high. Arne Jacobsen To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in, and scramble through as well a...

I was a public affairs officer. I worked with the media, but I didn't just

stay at my desk. I assisted in military duties, travelled around Anbar province, hung out with a wide variety of Marines. Phil Klay Anyone with the right mix of parental paranoia and entrepreneurial moxie can make a fortune by selling parents the equipment we think will keep us one step ahead of our kids. Nancy Gibbs My favorite job is the next one. It's such a gratifying experience getting to creatively keep trying something new and push things in a different direction. Roger Craig Smith The lens is the actor's best critic... showing his mind more clearly than on the stage. You can get wonderful cooperation out of the lens if you are true, but God help you if you are not. Sydney Greenstreet One thing that makes me very happy is to have a complicated idea and to feel that I've expressed myself clearly. I remember writing the ending to 'Happier at Home.' I wrote the entire book to build to that ending 'now is now,' and what I had to say was very a...