Sometime during the mid-50s I said, 'I am an artist.' Before that, for many years,

I had said, 'I'm going to be an artist.' Then I went through a change of mind and a change of heart. What made 'going to be an artist' into 'being an artist', was, in part, a spiritual change. Jasper Johns

Some people just get what they want in the world. Paul Graham

There is nothing as sweet as a comeback, when you are down and out, about to lose, and out of time. Anne Lamott

People do not retire. They are retired by others. Duke Ellington

Whatever their motivations, lawmakers on both side of the aisle have certainly discovered that immigration is one of those issues that resonate strongly with the public. Gwen Ifill

This is my job and I respect it enough to concentrate on it. Andrew Bogut

There is no true gracefulness which is not epitomized goodness. Samuel Butler

Cancer is such a ruthless adversary because it behaves as if it has its own fiendishly cunning agenda. Paul Davies

It's no secret that I've been reluctant to use my name for things. Sally Ride

There's more to life than football, right? Fabrice Muamba

Gemeoss

I knew that people were going to talk about it, I knew it was embarrassing,

and I knew it was a big deal. But did I think that it was going to be this thing that followed me for, you know, the next years to come? I guarantee you, 25 years from now, I'll be known as the girl that lip synced on 'SNL.' But, you know, it was a weird thing. Not fun. Ashlee Simpson Even if your job is a professional singer, we still dork out at home. Sheena Easton Laughter is the best medicine - unless you're diabetic, then insulin comes pretty high on the list. Jasper Carrott I think people who write for kids, we have that ability to go back into our own lives. Judy Blume Science fiction, outside of poetry, is the only literary field which has no limits, no parameters whatsoever. Theodore Sturgeon Al Jolson was one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived. Desi Arnaz If you're going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy. Charles Manson Cinema is so slow and boring compared to television. Steven Moffat You cannot furth...

It's like that Simpsons joke - they're filming a cow in a movie and they

go, 'OK, we'll tape a bunch of cats together to make a cow', and it's like, 'Why don't you just use a cow?'. For some reason that is novel - like, 'Oh, my guitar sounds like a piano and now if I can just get my piano to sound like my guitar'. Ian Williams Macbeth is a very popular play with audiences. If you want to sell out a theater, just mount a production of Macbeth. It's a short play, it's an exciting play, it's easy to understand, and it attracts great acting. Ian Mckellen This is just the United States. All the rest of the countries, all over the world, are proud of Michael. It's here we have the most trouble out of them. Joseph Jackson In my Gau, as far as I know, only Communists who had actually worked against the State were arrested. Fritz Sauckel I know sometimes I can come off like a lonely spinster in a tower. That's not me at all. Daphne Guinness And remember, where you have a concentration of power in...

There is constant talk about the intermarriage crisis: who is a Jew and how

we define a Jew. That doesn't go over well with young Jews trying to figure out whether they want to be a part of this thing or not. Tahl Raz I've been studying voice for quite a while, especially opera, for at least seven or eight years. Shelly Burch Like anything, I remember who I work for. You work for the people who sent you to office. Darryl Glenn For the bourgeoisie, the main danger against which it had to be protected, that which had to be avoided at all costs, was armed uprising, was the armed people, was the workers taking to the streets in an assault against the government. Michel Foucault My grandmother is a huge part of my life. She's just a great woman: a woman of the church. Chance The Rapper I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords. Matthew Desmond One of my best friends since I was eleven years old is a gay man, and I knew his struggle. It was a tough life, you ...

When I read the pilot 'for Married with Children', it just reminded me of my

Uncle Joe... just a self-deprecating kind of guy. He'd come home from work, and the wife would maybe say 'I ran over the dog this morning in the driveway'. And he would say 'Fine, what's for dinner? Ed O'Neill I graduated from high school early so I could move to New York to do 'A Little Night Music' out of the New York City Opera. Anna Kendrick I feel a bit awkward playing in a red shirt out at Wimbledon. But I don't dislike it. Roger Federer I loved working with Valerie. That was the most wonderful revelation to find that when we are on a set and we're playing our roles, we're like separated twins. We can almost finish each other's dialogue. Mary Tyler Moore To flatter and follow others, without being flattered and followed in turn, is but a state of half enjoyment. Jane Austen Giving builds loyal customers and turns those customers into supporters... You can find passion and profit and meaning all at once, right now. Bl...

Tough times have always lent themselves to nativist sentiments and closed-door policies. But in the

case of highly skilled immigrants, these policies are a recipe for stagnation. James Surowiecki I use that as my responsibility on the show, to be the pragmatist. Fisher Stevens I don't have to put on shoulder pads and run out there and let somebody hit on me a little bit. Emmitt Smith Nothing scares me but God. Lil Wayne Not to like ice cream is to show oneself uninterested in food. Joseph Epstein One's life has many compartments. Harold Pinter Government just simply can't do everything for everyone. Jan Brewer I now walk into the wild. Christopher McCandless No, I'm not a scientologist. Katharine McPhee I always look for reality. I look for plain truthful roles. Jim Caviezel

My father's encouragement is what has brought me this far, because when I grew up

I wanted to be like him, and I knew I had that ability to become an athlete. Being an Olympian is one of the greatest things, and being an Olympic gold medallist is one of the most prestigious titles in the world. David Rudisha The 'American Idol' and 'X Factor' shows, they're great shows. But I think I need to make a show like that, directed straight to the hood, to the artists that don't get the attention, that don't have the money to make themselves representable. Snoop Dogg So just as I want pilots on the planes that I fly, when it comes to monetary policy, I want to think that there is someone with sound judgement at the controls. Martin Feldstein Me and my sisters all have such different body types. Kim Kardashian Don't you find that work, if you love it, is actually really invigorating? Cate Blanchett Boston is safe. And we're going to keep it safe. Thomas Menino I think people know that I've got a good heart. David Hass...

Yeah, it's odd when you look back at your own work. Some filmmakers don't look

back at their work at all. I look at my work a lot, actually. I feel like I learned something while looking at stuff I've done in terms of what I'm going to do in the future, mistakes I've made and things at work or what have you. Christopher Nolan People aren't always themselves. They're always holding back something. Garth Brooks No one ever pretended that shopping for anything is a rational experience. If it were, would there be Fluffernutter? Laceless sneakers? Porkpie hats? Would the Chia Pet even exist? Jeffrey Kluger That's possible, and in fact the legislation, the politics should graduate the advantages towards those who have children and give less to those who don't have children. Rocco Buttiglione Inspired by the purse rather than the soul, the mercenary side fairly screams in many of the works put out by every day American publishers. Alma Gluck I am alone; I am always alone no matter what. Marilyn Monroe Clearly a big challenge...

Fantasy is my favorite genre for reading and writing. We have more options than anyone

else, and the best props and special effects. That means if you want to write a fantasy story with Norse gods, sentient robots, and telepathic dinosaurs, you can do just that. Want to throw in a vampire and a lesbian unicorn while you're at it? Go ahead. Patrick Rothfuss And there should not be a limit on the creation of new public schools. We ought to expand choices for parents. John Engler I think that where I've watched a movie go wrong, it's usually because the dread committee has been interfering with it. John le Carre Nothing is less predictable than the development of an active scientific field. Charles Francis Richter You've got to guard against speaking more clearly than you think. Howard Baker Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up. Mahatma Gandhi Four personalities are bound to clash. John Deacon I was a small kid from Huntington, Long Island. I n...

I am politically pro-choice, but personally pro-life. I have my faith but refuse to force

it on the world at large - especially this world, so brutal and unjust. I cannot make these wrenching personal life and death decisions for others - nor do I believe they should be made by a church run by childless men. Julianna Baggott The elusive truth is that there is nothing stress-producing in the physical world. Things simply are. Molecules move. Light and sound appear. Andrew J. Bernstein I love being domestic: making coffee, just putting on a record, and just sitting, not doing anything. It's so great. Sharon Van Etten On the Internet, information from Indiana and India is equally cheap and easy to access. Ethan Zuckerman The soul has many motions, body one. Theodore Roethke I did think there were one or two referees who had a personal thing against me. It wasn't them versus Celtic - it was them against me! I just think they wanted to take me on. Gordon Strachan The first job of a writer is to be honest. Irvine Welsh I love to doubt as well as know....

You know, when you really connect with the instrument and everything just comes out on

an emotional level very naturally through your playing. That's, you know, a great night. And I think the reason I love touring so much is you're chasing that high around all the time, trying to have another good night. Slash There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion. Charles de Montesquieu To me, there was nothing greater than to play for an audience and to entertain people and that has stayed with me all these years. Bobby Vinton Teach us that wealth is not elegance, that profusion is not magnificence, that splendor is not beauty. Benjamin Disraeli The words walked right out of my mouth. James Brady I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories. George Carlin We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart. Blaise Pascal I won't be happy until we have every boy...