Instead of being a page-turner, 'Moby-Dick' is a repository of American history and culture and

the essentials of Western literature. The book is so encyclopedic that space aliens could use it to re-create the whale fishery as it once existed on the planet Earth in the midst of the 19th century.
Nathaniel Philbrick

American Idol transcends age, gender, ethnicity, everything.
Carrie Underwood

He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sun rise.
William Blake

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.
Robert Frost

When it is not in our power to follow what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable.
Rene Descartes

It's possible to love a human being if you don't know them too well.
Charles Bukowski

If you're a champion, you have to have it in your heart.
Chris Evert

For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a professional hockey player.
Mario Lemieux

Happy is the son whose faith in his mother remains unchallenged.
Louisa May Alcott

Gemeoss

If you... scaled down human beings, scaled down society, if you land with a group

of little boys, they are more like a scaled-down version of society than a group of little girls would be. William Golding I've been performing since I was a child; my mother would have to pull me aside and tell me that I wasn't onstage. I was a cheerleader, president of choir, and in the school play. Aja Naomi King I am a very strong supporter of our government's view that it is important to engage with all countries around the world - very much including Russia. Chrystia Freeland I was wrapping up my stint on 'Daredevil' co-writing with Andy Diggle during the Shadowland story, when Marvel asked if I was interested in doing something else with DD but a bit different. When they explained the purpose of the 'Season One' books, I was intrigued - I'm a big advocate of books for people new to the medium - and said yes. Antony Johnston Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw ...

We underestimate children and the people who work with them. I swear - so often, I tell

people I am a children's author, and it's like they want to pat me on the head: 'Aw, isn't that sweet.' Kathi Appelt There is a disconnect in education and work. And corporates don't do a great job of skilling. In future, corporates and educational institutions will work closely. Shiv Nadar I played semi-professionally for a season, and there's an element of performance to being a footballer, stepping onto the pitch: you feel like a gladiator walking into a colosseum. Callum Turner We used to indulge hopelessly as a family at Christmas. When the children were little, I dressed up as Father Christmas. They knew it was a gag, but they loved it. I remember stealing into their bedrooms at 1 A.M. and filling the stockings up at the end of the bed. Richard Attenborough What we, as black people, need to do is we need to worry about our education. Charles Barkley I was never the person who came up with a boom somehow. I worked slowly and consistently, making my wa...

The casualties in the Civil War amount to more than all other wars - all

other American wars combined. More people died in that war than World War II, World War I, Vietnam, etc. And that was a war for white supremacy. It was a war to erect a state in which the basis of it was the enslavement of black people.Ta-Nehisi Coates It is the forces of the universe that make human beings fall ill. Having learnt to recognize how sun qualities and moon qualities live in plants, animals and minerals, we discover how we can find counterforces and also individual natural forces that point us towards medicines for specific internal illnesses.Rudolf Steiner Girls are socialised in ways that are harmful to their sense of self - to reduce themselves, to cater to the egos of men, to think of their bodies as repositories of shame. As adult women, many struggle to overcome, to unlearn, much of that social conditioning.Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 'They' are the people that don't believe in you, that say that you won't succeed. We stay away from 'They....

I like George W. At a time when this country was hit hard, he

stood up for America. He's been the leader of the free world during the hardest time America's ever had. Johnny Van Zant In the 21st century, our adversaries will continue to use cyberattacks against us. We need to be prepared to defend our networks against this growing threat to our democracy, especially the most fundamental part of our political system: our elections. Amy Klobuchar I grew up in a lot of different places, mostly in Kansas, I really started thinking seriously about acting in high school; I just did it better than most of the other activities in school. Paul Rudd I thought, 'Nobody wants this book, and I'm an idiot for having worked on it so hard.' But to succeed in writing, you must be willing to look stupid for a long time. 'Pachinko' took so long because I got it wrong so many times. Min Jin Lee The most calmest place I can be is the studio. And like, I stay in there 'cause I know, when I come out, it...

I try to surround myself with the people who genuinely believe in changing things, that are

angry about it and want to make changes and want to make a change and are willing. Lauren Southern Each holiday season, as family members arrive and couches are unfolded, my household settles into a palpable nostalgia. Poorly designed photo albums are pulled from the shelves. Home videos of prepubescent siblings in matching pajamas dance across the television screen. Clint Smith I think movies are overdeveloped in Hollywood. There's a big benefit to not overdeveloping and not being so precious about what you're doing. I think you lose a kind of vitality if you develop something into the ground. Jason Blum I like mash-ups, taking contemporary songs and making them old... old songs, making them new. Bria Skonberg Living in L.A. keeps me in my car a lot, and I'm constantly flipping back and forth between the following Sirius/XM Radio stations: NFL Radio, MLB Radio, POTUS, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. R. J. Cutler We're part of creating this world in which we live, but we...

I have always maintained that it's not the quantity of work, but the quality that

should speak. I have maintained the same for my music albums, too. I have always released them after a gap of two to three years.Adnan Sami In all my days of schooling, from preschool all the way up to 12th grade, there was not one white person in my class. Literally zero.Kendrick Lamar The truth is that searching for our commonality instead of our differences could transform our dysfunctional politics.Raja Krishnamoorthi It came down to the AHCA or the continued disaster of Obamacare, which was an easy choice. The AHCA is a major improvement, because a federal one-size-fits-all approach to health care isn't the answer.Cathy McMorris Rodgers I'm really glad I had the chance to live in Jensen Beach and Stuart before everything exploded. I'm always going to be fond of that area. For me, it was a sleepy little fishing town, and it kind of represents what Florida was before the development explosion.Judge Reinhold Space is much stiffer than you imagine; it's ...

The genre has moved into this commercial aspect of itself, and ignored this extraordinarily rich

literature that's filed everywhere else except under travel. Robyn Davidson What the French want is coherence, stability and justice. If I am in a favorable position today, it's because my fellow citizens want to make the effort to straighten out the country, and at the same time they want it to be just and equitable. Francois Hollande When we shoot 24, there are so many things I have to worry about, from the script to technical things to my performance, that I don't have a second to be bored or take anything for granted. We produce 24 hours of film a season, which is like making 12 movies. Kiefer Sutherland It is what it is, and it ain't nothin' else... Everything is clearly, openly, plainly delivered. Dan Flavin Ever since I was a kid, whatever situation I was presented with, I always made the most of it. Daley Thompson The tongue may be employed about, and made to serve all the purposes of vice, in tempting and deceiving, in perjury and injustice. ...

I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to

advance policies that level the playing field for American workers and incentivize investing in jobs here at home.Elizabeth Esty Every woman needs a private pin money stash. That is her own personal stash of cash to do with whatever she wants. It gives a woman freedom even if she doesn't spend it - especially if she doesn't spend it.Sarah Ban Breathnach For each project I do, I try to surprise myself, do the unexpected, and change my own status quo. From the One Laptop Per Child, the Herman Miller Sayl, or the latest Movado watch collection, there is always an insecurity about being able to do something important. I think each of those projects makes me feel like we have progressed.Yves Behar If you're going to be a big tent party as we are, and you're going to help elect democrats who have generated support in their communities... the will of those voters is the will that we must respect.Tom Perez There is an obvious truth here that must be spoken. The trut...

I was a tomboy. In my clubbing days, my friend Lucy Davies-Hunt - half-Iranian, looked

like Yasmin Le Bon - could wear catsuits, while I was the one in the sweatshirt, jeans, and Fila boots. Maxine Peake My roots are documentaries. David L. Wolper Paolo Maldini never won, but he was the best defender in the world. Gianluigi Buffon never won; he was the best goalkeeper in the world for many years. But this is the story of the Ballon d'Or. Antonio Conte Young entrepreneurs, in general, feel they're too busy running their companies, which I think is a mistake. But once they're older, you see much more of a propensity to be involved in philanthropy. Jeffrey Skoll I thought there was a glitch when they told me that in two or three weeks 'My Church' hit a million streams. Maren Morris The key is that I'm trying to keep growing and trying to keep learning and deepen my connection in every way, in my life, in my work. That's what I do when I look at a role. Forest Whitaker It strikes me as pretty interesting and cool how girls support each other in t...

The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. If I were

an atheist, and believed blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations. John Adams The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights. Giotto di Bondone I kind of have a rededication in my life now to acting because I'm very fond of being in this movie. Thomas Haden Church I've had this sneaking feeling throughout the game that it's there to be won. Ron Atkinson A friendship that like love is warm; A love like friendship, steady. Thomas Moore There is a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn't there. Thomas Hardy You don't realize how easy this game is until you get up in that broadcasting booth. Mickey Mantle