Whatever our bedtime was as kids, we could stay up an extra half hour if

we were reading. My parents didn't care as long as I was under the spell of a Stephen King or a Douglas Adams. Now I read in bed. I read at work. I read standing in line. It's like, 'Hello, my name is Nathan and I am a reader.'
Nathan Fillion

The great city is that which has the greatest man or woman: if it be a few ragged huts, it is still the greatest city in the whole world.
Walt Whitman

No evil propensity of the human heart is so powerful that it may not be subdued by discipline.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Despite all odds we have emerged as one people and one country.
Yahya Jammeh

And now oddly I'm getting sexier parts than I've ever gotten.
Patricia Clarkson

I've signed on for four movies, and I'll do four. That's easy. No complications there.
Robbie Coltrane

Politics is gut; commercials are gut.
Frank Luntz

Total absence of humor renders life impossible.
Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

For three days after death, hair and fingernails continue to grow but phone calls taper off.
Johnny Carson

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...

It had to happen to me sometime: sooner or later, I would have to lose

sight of the cutting edge. That moment every technical person fears - the fall into knowledge exhaustion, obsolescence, techno-fuddy-duddyism - there was no reason to think I could escape it forever. Ellen Ullman Innovation and its allure can be dangerous. It can draw you away from the user, from the intended outcome, and may be the ultimate demise of otherwise great intentions. Mark Brand My voice is different, but I don't think I'm the only one with a different take on pop music. Charli XCX In South Africa, we drive on the left-hand side, and most of the cars are standard, so I learned with a full-gear transmission with a clutch and hill starts. I've never driven an automatic until I came to Canada. Jodi Balfour Mexico has 44 treaties with other countries that make it very advantageous to do international shipping from Mexico rather than from the United States. Wilbur Ross Winning HOYS set me up for the future and prepared me for riding in front of lots of ...

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 left Mainz after 18 years and thought, 'Next time, I will work with a

little less of my heart.' I said that because we all cried for a week. The city gave us a goodbye party, and it lasted a week. Jurgen Klopp When I'm in sneakers, it changes my body carriage. I feel more in my own skin. Justin Peck Making a film - particularly what I think is a good film - is the result of a team of people, and the end result has many, many hands on it. Haskell Wexler People call me Swimone more than Simone now.... Not quite used to that yet! Simone Manuel I have an Indian father, and when you grow up in a house with an Indian father, culturally, that's what becomes dominant in the house. So that's the tradition we grew up with. Sarita Choudhury Phryne Fisher could walk down the red carpet; Essie Davis is something else. Essie Davis Sexual orientation, color, background - that's what I want people to take away: Anyone can be anything. Ashley Thomas A lot of times, if you stay in the present and focus on getting the most out of yo...

I was really interested in the way in which poverty and economic stagnation were

transforming and corrupting the American narrative. Lynn Nottage Different cultures produce a different 'cool.' And your perception of 'cool' changes depending on where you are. Labrinth I am trying every genre. Nawazuddin Siddiqui I want to expand jazz; I don't want to keep the audience limited. I want to reach people who have never come to a jazz concert before. One way to do that is by making records that have a lot of different kinds of music on them. Charlie Haden The first year I started liking the Dolphins was Super Bowl VI, which they lost to the Cowboys. I was 5. My whole family was pulling for the Cowboys, so I rooted for the Dolphins. They lost, and I cried. Darius Rucker I will work for Tina Fey forever. Tituss Burgess As a single guy, the baseline of what I needed was so low. I just needed an air mattress, food, and rent money. Hasan Minhaj I'm a small dog guy. I don't want to be pattin' with the big Rottweiler or Great Dane. I like those ...

This is what I've always wanted to do ever since I was a little girl.

Coming from dance and theater and what was accessible to me in my hometown, it was all I did after school and on the weekends. The idea of making my hobby into my job was the ultimate quest. Gugu Mbatha-Raw I'd occasionally do some exercises at home, but I never cared for gyms. Roger Moore Henderson had a thousand times more to do with the discovery of insulin than had Macleod. In the first place, he knew more about it. In the second place, he was consulted before every series of experiments, and he advised, criticized, or commended. Frederick Banting I've been writing big stories of history, but there are a lot of fascinating little stories. H. W. Brands Everyone's been through hell to get where they are, and I'm not gonna let anybody talk down on what I've done just cause I didn't do what Daniel Bryan or your other favorite wrestlers did. Don't mean I didn't earn my spot. Roman Reigns We got bigger, much scarier competitors. We ended up ...

I like characters like Ignatius Reilly in 'A Confederacy of Dunces' and Ricky Gervais's character

in 'The Office.' They think one thing about themselves, but the truth is as far from that as it can be. So I began to think about how to put that kind of character in a book for kids. Stephan Pastis Our Father and Our God, unto thee, O Lord we lift our souls. William Pennington A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting. Abraham Maslow Achievements, seldom credited to their source, are the result of unspeakable drudgery and worries. Richard Wagner I have always said and felt that true enjoyment can not be described. Jean-Jacques Rousseau Designs in connection with postage stamps and coinage may be described, I think, as the silent ambassadors on national taste. William Butler Yeats I'm an expert at kissing girls necks, they love it. Girls say I'm quite sensitive, but I'm hyperactive too. Lee Ryan Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Barry Goldwater There is ...

I think we make too many records. One record a year is crazy to me.

But some people have to sell tickets. The label has to meet their quarterly number: 'We need a record a year.' All of a sudden, the tail's wagging the dog. It's not the music; it's everything else making the music. That's just backwards. It's wrong. Eric Church I always wanted to meet Nelson Mandela, and I have friends who knew him, but I didn't get to meet Mandela. I always thought he was a spectacular character. Steve Wynn The thing that people have said over and over again, especially people who don't cook, is, 'I watch your show, the food makes me hungry, and I think I can make that.' That's exciting because we've heard that a lot of people watch cooking shows but don't make the food. Trisha Yearwood If you grow up in a place, and you're small, even if the place is itself also small, it's huge to you. It's what's out there: it's the world outside of your door. Jhumpa Lahiri Latecomers to industr...