There was a time before I felt I was a real writer, when I was

a yarn spinner and I just wanted to tell story until it was over. But then there came a time where I was like, 'No, I want to understand something through writing this that I might have not understood before. I want people to come away with something to think about.' Joss Whedon

Too little is it considered, while we gaze on aristocratic beauty, how much good food, soft lying, warm wrapping, ease of mind, have to do with the attractions which command our admiration. Samuel Lover

I am a sucker for jackets! Anna Torv

Like most women, I hate when a guy tries to pick me up by saying, You are the hottest girl I've ever seen. It's totally unrealistic. There are beautiful women everywhere. Karen McDougal

How seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves. Thomas a Kempis

If you don't interfere with me, I'll always do something really good. John Malkovich

To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It's freedom. Patti Smith

Schools used to fund-raise for luxuries, like a trip to the water slides. Now, we fund-raise for things we have to have. Kirk Gibson

MoMA is doubling its space, and I decided to raise the money for it. David Rockefeller

Popularity is very inconsistent. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. It usually just comes in waves. Mia Wasikowska

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Remember the rights of the savage, as we call him. Remember that the happiness of

his humble home, remember that the sanctity of life in the hill villages of Afghanistan, among the winter snows, is as inviolable in the eye of Almighty God, as can be your own. William E. Gladstone It's nice to have a lot of people in the field. Independent, third party, Libertarian, Reform and other party candidates can do what they want to do. I welcome them to the race. John Murray To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good but that most people can't eat it. Leo Tolstoy We're aligning ourselves with Kerry. Our allegiance will be for peace, against war, no more deaths for oil, and for a dialogue between the government of Spain and the new Kerry administration. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero I endeavor to be wise when I cannot be merry, easy when I cannot be glad, content with what cannot be mended and patient when there be no redress. Elizabeth Montagu Someti...

I can play guitar - but I can't really. I wouldn't say I'm talented at

it. I just kind of watch videos on YouTube, and I follow the instructions... OK, yeah, my hidden talent: I'm good at following instructions!Chloe Kim I change my beauty routine every six months, but I make sure to use products that are light and gentle.Chiara Ferragni I loved playing with a doll as a youngster. I liked dressing her up and combing her hair. This one doll had a really big face and hair and earrings. I had her for a long time and only got rid of her when I was at high school.Michelle Carter In 2008, Senator John McCain forbid his staff from using an ad that referred to his opponent Barack Obama's inflammatory former pastor Jeremiah Wright or from raising that issue in any other way. He believed it was a sneaky way to use Obama's race against him.John Dickerson Nom is a place for food lovers.Steve Chen I thank Secretary Clinton and her team for recommending me to serve as the permanent chair of the 2016 Democratic National Convention. It is an ho...

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...

You have to remember what a super PAC is: a bunch of wealthy donors who

want to send a message traditionally other campaigns don't do. This is the problem with the dark money that's involved in politics right now. Corey Lewandowski I really never thought about the way I looked until boys came into the picture. Then it starts to be like, 'Am I wearing the right outfit? I have to do my makeup for school!' Georgia May Jagger My first job was working at Benihana as kitchen help. In college, I was a telemarketer for a company at the same time I was a bike messenger for this greasy fast-food place. Steve Aoki Despite the growing evidence of health benefits associated with coffee consumption, I still don't recommend my patients drink it - not because it's not healthy, but because there are even healthier choices. Michael Greger I was a little chubby, rosy-cheeked kid. Brad Goreski If you've had something for more than six months, and it's still not repaired, it's clutter. Gretchen Rubin I never wanted to be th...

I'm into something that definitely does require your attention, and with that, you're not going

to run out of things to do. You're never going to be the master of music. Roscoe Mitchell I am introverted and a complete klutz. Amy Gerstler I carry out my full duties as Deputy First Minister and accept I have tinnitus but appreciate the hearing that I do have and that it does not limit me in a professional or personal capacity. Martin McGuinness I'm not sure what it means fully to be a parent. Brie Larson I'm an old, white-haired guy. If I'm not recognized, I'm treated pretty much like every other elderly. But if people recognize me, it's a whole different thing. Dick Van Dyke I like to do things that I want to see myself. With 'Defending Your Life,' I wanted to see some aspect of death other than angels and the thing that 'Ghost' was about, because that didn't make any sense to me. So that's the reason: it fills a hole. Albert Brooks At high school, instead of the weekly essay, I would write a poem, and the teacher a...

Right now, there is no way that the federal government can prevent someone who's on

the terror watch list from buying a gun - none. Ted Deutch Of course we want to pocket Fisker. But we will bid rationally. Whatever the result, nothing can stop us from making electric cars. Lu Guanqiu Next to religion, baseball has had a greater impact on our American way of life than any other American institution. Herbert Hoover One of the favorite conservative themes is that the cure for poverty is more marriage and earlier marriage. We hear that all the time; there have been billions of dollars now, between the Bush administration and the Obama administration, which has continued the marriage education program, on trying to get more people to get married. Rebecca Traister It's troubling that by eliminating weekend voting hours, the state of Ohio specifically banned a popular voting time of choice for minorities. In Cuyahoga County, which I represent, 56 percent of weekend voters in 2008 were African American while adult African Americans comprise 28 percent of the ...

Marriage of attraction is a gamble anyway, so you might as well marry into a

family that is similar to your own, and make that much less of an adjustment. But the 'love marriage', as it is called, is equally common in India now. But it would be interesting to do a comparison of what would work better. Marriage is hard work, and it is a gamble. Mira Nair Democracy fascinates me. Lee H. Hamilton What is human warfare but just this; an effort to make the laws of God and nature take sides with one party. Henry David Thoreau A lifetime of training for just ten seconds. Jesse Owens I think one ages and one dates. I tend to have a good deal of difficulty in liking some of the new poets. James Laughlin I also write poems, so that is something that I really enjoy. Billy Sherwood This principle is old, but true as fate, Kings may love treason, but the traitor hate. Thomas Dekker It becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realize that the only vehicle for change are these people who have lost their personality. Steven Biko T...

Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds,

there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God. Pope Francis Somebody captures an incredible video, shares it online, and inspires millions of other people to go and do the same with their GoPros, and then it happens again and again - and what you've got is this incredible snowball of stoked customers capturing and creating rad content with their GoPros. Nick Woodman In my life, I'm just looking for that life of integrity that my father had. I have a good heart; I'm not a heartbreaker. Johnathon Schaech 'Titanic' made me want to tell stories... To have all these characters and costumes and have ambition and think big and have dreams... It came at a very troubled period of my life. Xavier Dolan We had a great dramatics department in school, so I did a lot of plays and theatre there. Later, when I was the captain of our student's ward, I figured out that if you find something you really love to do, you don't have to ...

The negative effects of combat were nightmares, and I'd get jumpy around certain noises and

stuff, but you'd have that after a car accident or a bad divorce. Life's filled with trauma. You don't need to go to war to find it; it's going to find you. We all deal with it, and the effects go away after awhile. At least they did for me. Sebastian Junger Kids are falling through the cracks and nobody notices it. That to me is what's wrong with the school system. Melinda Gates Of course in the first matches you are more careful, perhaps more careful than you should be. Diego Maradona The songs were really complicated. I used to meet people in bar bands who were trying to play our songs and they were really struggling with it. Technically it was really difficult stuff. Kip Winger We all have sadness in our life and things that we can draw upon. Sherilyn Fenn My greatest life lesson has been that life can change in a second. This is why it's important to always live your best possible life and to do what you can for others. Niki Taylor When I ...

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...