'Lean on Pete' is the story of a boy and his horse, but it is

never heart-warming - it ranges in tone from desperate to merely painful - and, while fascinating, it is never entertaining or redemptive. But if you want an unadorned portrait of American life (at least in some places) at the beginning of the 21st century, this is the book for you. Jane Smiley

If you aren't having fun, if you aren't anxious to find out what happens next as you write, then not only will you run out of steam on the story, but you won't be able to entertain anyone else, either. Tamora Pierce

There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude. Friedrich Nietzsche

Leadership - leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses. Mitt Romney

If I have the TV on, it's either a Mets game or 'SportsCenter.' Eddie Kaye Thomas

Everybody thinks making films back to back is a big deal but they did it all the time in the old days. Clint Eastwood

Whenever something good comes up that sounds like I could be part of the project, my manager and my agents send me in on it. Tyler Posey

Young people are just as attracted to the truth as they are convenience and expediency. Pope Francis

It is from a weakness and smallness of mind that men are opinionated; and we are very loath to believe what we are not able to comprehend. Francois de La Rochefoucauld

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For those who are able to work, work has to be seen as the best

route out of poverty. For work is not just about more money - it is transformative. It's about taking responsibility for yourself and your family. Iain Duncan Smith I like making songs up. Whether or not they're great songs or good songs, whatever. It's something I've always done, and I definitely feel like I've gotten better at it. Jeff Tweedy It's interesting that so many books now are published as the first in a series. It never occurred to me. Although 'The Giver' does have an ambiguous ending. I've heard about that from readers over the years. Lois Lowry I no longer buy papers or tabloids or magazines or read blogs. I used to. But it was just filling up my day with hatred. Adele When I get dolled up to go out, men turn their heads and I'm used to it. But I think all women are sexy and should embrace that side of themselves. Malin Akerman With fitness, I do Bikrams hot yoga. The gym that I have in my building is amazing. I love...

The public is upset. If they haven't lost their job, they know somebody that has.

If they haven't lost their house, they know somebody that has. What do you do? When something's wrong, it's government's job to fix it, it must be government that's responsible for causing it. Michael Bloomberg People who are pierced should not be snickered at, should not become the object of ridicule, should not be singled out for special and uneven and unequal treatment. They should be respected just like everybody else. Gloria Allred Usually when I'm making a movie, what I have in mind first, for the visuals, is how we can stage the scenes to bring them more to life in the most interesting way, and then how we can make a world for the story that the audience hasn't quite been in before. Wes Anderson Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence. When the mind has settled, we are established in our essential nature, which is unbounded Consciousness. Our essential nature is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind. Patanjali You can rest...

One of the things I try to do with my writing is try to evoke

the spirit of the place. I think these things imprint on the landscape and the culture. Sarah Hall I'm not the kind of filmmaker who's going to go from one thing to the next. I often wish I was that filmmaker, but I'm just not. Jonathan Glazer Once I'm on stage, there's just no time for a sip of water - I've always got my hands in puppets! My voice is raw by the time I finish. Nina Conti When the Mets were on their run in the 1980s, Gary Carter was often seen hugging somebody. It was easy to joke about that. The best hug of all was with Jesse Orosco at the end of the 1986 World Series. George Vecsey I do love the evolution of people in general. I think it's a beautiful thing when someone progresses and evolves in life. Khloe Kardashian There are over 50 brilliant scientists working at my lab, and being sensitive to their needs is among the top skill sets that scientists like me have to learn. Peter Agre I am well aware that there are prison...

No one wants to see a person on TV who's super-ultra-cool. That's Superman, that's a

thing of the past. Heroes are now flawed, and have terrible tempers, you know? They're real people. Nathan Fillion The book is a dialogue between The Dalai Lama and a group of scientists about how we can better handle our destructive emotions and how to overcome them. Daniel Goleman Third, we could, while denouncing them both as illegal, have acquiesced in them both and thus remained neutral with both sides, although not agreeing with either as to the righteousness of their respective orders. George William Norris If a D.C. event doesn't have crab cakes, it's low-rent and you need to flee. Tony Hale As someone who has lived the nightmare of losing a child, I know that the enormous hole left behind remains forever. Ann Hood What is the system? It revolves around the banks, the system is built on the power of the banks, so it can be destroyed through the banks. Eric Cantona It's interesting as one grows older to keep in touch with the cutting edge. Faye...

The strategy of my coach and me was that we looked at pictures

of all the best pole vaulters from around the world, and we took the best parts from them, and we created a person that had never existed. We then started to work toward being such a person. Sergei Bubka I have a completely addictive personality. Diet Coke is my last - God, I know people counting days off Diet Coke; I'm such a Diet Cokehead. Now I won't let myself buy it. Mary Karr Take a random selection of photographs of America in 2012 and 2002 and 1992 and, except for the skinny jeans and the porkpie hats, you'll be hard-pressed to tell the years in which the pictures were taken. Graydon Carter Trust me, I did not set out to establish three pen names and, for the record, I do not recommend it as a career strategy. The idea back at the start was that I would stick with the name that proved most successful. Jayne Ann Krentz I remember when I thought of singing as the bit that went between the guitar playing - something I couldn't wait to get out of the way...

My father was like the Old Testament. I am the New Testament. I am part

of a new generation. In time, people will realize this. Ziggy Marley The best world is one in which all countries cooperate with one another to kind of meet each other's needs and be partners in the process. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Imagine you're doing your thing, and somebody comes up to you and just kills your mojo. Just tell them, 'No flex zone!' Swae Lee The last thing the devil wants you to do is be an obedient Christian. Joyce Meyer Recreating the experience of, say, bereavement in my own head is pretty rough. I was used to switching off from emotions every day of my working life as a journalist, but in fiction, you have to feel it 100%, or else it's a flat experience for the reader. Karen Traviss I think that to acknowledge a new generation is to acknowledge some degree of obsolescence in yourself, and that is very hard to do and often comes with undeniable anger. Douglas Coupland It took me three weeks to write the 'Rhapsody in Blue.' I...

What formed me as a musician, a songwriter, the sound and personality of

my band, a whole lot of that happened well before 1991. Chris Cornell For me, integrity is the consistency of words and actions. Part of the way that you do that is to ask people questions on some of the most difficult issues that you confront. 'Take me through where you felt you had to compromise your values.' Kenneth Chenault He who improves an opportunity sows a seed which will yield fruit in opportunity for himself and others. Orison Swett Marden I have been doing this since I was 10 years old. It wasn't like I was an overnight hit. I think when that happens to some actors - they just don't know what to do with themselves. You don't know how to cope with friends and all of a sudden not being able to go out. It's such a shock to your system. Eliza Dushku One of the reasons that I take such joy in being a trustee of the New York Public Library is the love of reading that I found as a child in the Saturday morning library events for preschoolers and...

You know, I am mainstream America, and it really doesn't matter what party you're in.

When you call your children and you say 'How are you?' - and what you are really asking is, 'Do you still have your job? And are you able to make the mortgage payment?', That resonates across the state, not across party lines. Sharron Angle We played all of the songs on the first Johnny Winter AND every day before we recorded them, so that when we got in the studio, it was totally easy, as we knew exactly what we wanted to do. Rick Derringer Even as our economy starts to pick up, and new jobs are created, there is a risk that young people in Britain won't get the chances they deserve because businesses will continue to look elsewhere. Iain Duncan Smith I am a United States citizen and I vote. Martha Plimpton I'm still driving a Prius, yeah. Larry David So get accomplished what you want to get accomplished in your life. And in the intervals, do what you can to help other people. Sean Hayes When the good lord calls you home, the government ought ...

When a crime is committed, only the victim and the victim's close circle experience the

event as pain, terror, death. To people hearing or reading about it, crime is a metaphor, a symbol of the ancient battles fought every day: evil versus good, chaos versus order. S. J. Rozan All art stems from a place of alienation. Intimate and alone. Most people are oppressed by the opinion of others, but I was not that way. I was afraid of the repercussions of not doing what I was told to do, what I was called to do by a creator. CeeLo Green I've had the school of hard knocks, and I've worked my way up to be the governor of this great state of Connecticut. William O'Neill Under Armour is new, aggressive, slick, classic but athletic - kind of how I always wanted to be perceived. Jordan Spieth I'm always interested in the spooky repurposing of everyday things. William Gibson Most of the producers don't know what they do. The misconception of the producers' function is really not a misconception. Most producers don't do a very good job. Irwin ...

The more living patterns there are in a place - a room, a building, or

a town - the more it comes to life as an entirety, the more it glows, the more it has that self-maintaining fire which is the quality without a name. Christopher Alexander As far as loneliness, I feel Los Angeles and its layout, having to drive everywhere - it is a lonely place. It's an isolated city in that respect because you're driving to places alone listening to the radio. Jason Schwartzman I mean, people who say that the Tea Party isn't a grassroots movement, I think, are incorrect. I think in some respects, it is a grassroots movement. Matt Taibbi I see couples fighting about the stupidest things. You just have to rise above everything. Sammy Hagar Making choices that improve things for all of us on the planet is an act of compassion, a simple act we can do any time we go shopping. Daniel Goleman I can't stand the kind of paralysis that some people fall into because they're not happy with the choices they've made. Hillary Clinton As a ki...