When the Internet first came into public use, it was hailed as a liberation from

conformity, a floating world ruled by passion, creativity, innovation and freedom of information. When it was hijacked first by advertising and then by commerce, it seemed like it had been fully co-opted and brought into line with human greed and ambition. Neil Strauss

I don't mock things, which makes me more vulnerable to mockery myself. If you're cynical, you're protected from mockery. But I have to be nice. I don't think I have irony. A sense of humour, yes, but not irony. Michel Gondry

I certainly want campaign finance reform. I just wish this would do it in a way that would stand up to a constitutional challenge. Ben Nelson

If the audience is made to do not enough work, they resent it without knowing it. Too much and they get lost. There's a perfect pace to be found. And a perfect place that is different for every line of the play. Tom Stoppard

What is necessary is possible, what we want is expensive. What is unnecessary is unlikely. Robert Fripp

I'm a lot older than my little brothers and sister, so I think I grew up babysitting them. Josh Hartnett

It doesn't matter who gets what. It's just a matter of doing what it takes to win. Pau Gasol

If there were rankings for press conferences, I wouldn't have to worry about dropping out of the top five, I hope. Andy Roddick

People can be great competitors on Sunday and mates on Monday. Casey Stoner

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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...

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...

The natural movement of one's soul is upwards. But just as any object is dragged

down when a heavy weight is tied to it, the burden of the body drags down the soul. Vinoba Bhave It is funny the two things most men are proudest of is the thing that any man can do and doing does in the same way, that is being drunk and being the father of their son. Gertrude Stein Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day one should meditate on being carried away by surging waves, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease. Yamamoto Tsunetomo The awards world can be ridiculous, but I'm not one to bash it. I love awards! When I've been nominated for Emmys and when I won my DGA Award, I couldn't have been happier. I always liked getting a gold star in class. Paul Feig But in another, I think a woman's going to go into a shop to find a coat or a jacket and I just don't think she's not going to go into a shop because of a bad review she probably didn't even read. Marc Jacobs Baking is how you start kids at cook...

One of the most painful things in the Western States and Territories is the extinction

of childhood. I have never seen any children - only debased imitations of men and women, cankered by greed and selfishness, and asserting and gaining complete independence of their parents at ten years old. Isabella Bird What I would say to young entrepreneurs is there's so many moments in your life where you have these dreams, and people are trying to protect you, and they say, perhaps, friends, family, parents sometimes, they don't agree with it, they think, 'This is just too high of a hurdle.' And I don't agree with that. Howard Schultz Being shoved into the top-40 scene was an unusual experience. It was great I'd become accessible to a huge audience but not terribly fulfilling. David Bowie There is no shame in my saying that we all want to be loved by someone. As I look back over my life in romance, I don't feel I've ever had that. Sean Penn I like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Common. But I like the underground stuff like Young Jeezy, Black Rob and...

It's nice coming to Nashville, and we have four-bedroom house and a dog, and we

go swimming a lot. We get down here and spread out a lot, and I miss my sweet tea and my cornbread and my good southern cooking - but I'm down here eating pretty for two weeks and I'm ready to go back to New York City. Justin Townes Earle I hope everybody will go back to the negotiating table. I've always said this is the only way forward. Mohamed ElBaradei I'm the type of artist who touches people, that's the type of artist that I am. Jacob Lusk Writing is a fine therapy for people who are perpetually scared of nameless threats... for jittery people. William Styron Comedy wasn't something I chose - it chose me. Pauly Shore When I heard Aretha, I could feel her emotional delivery so clearly. It came from down deep within. That's what I wanted to do. Whitney Houston When I see old photos of me on the beach I don't look too bad... but it's hard trying to breathe in for such a long time when I spot the photographers! Gary Lineker St...

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...

I don't spend my time pontificating about high-concept things; I spend my time solving engineering

and manufacturing problems. Elon Musk Years ago, when I first started wearing hair extensions, I would get mail from young girls, or young girls would come up to me and they would say, 'Tyra you have the most beautiful hair, like I could never grow hair like that!' And I would say 'Child, this is a weave!' Tyra Banks I'm from the generation that had the boys' door and the girls' door when you went to school, and you got in big trouble if you went in the wrong one. Margaret Atwood I'm somebody who finds adversity is almost as good as encouragement. It's almost like, you close the door, and I'll find ten ways to kick it in and go around it or dig under it or something. Diane Warren Anger is wonderful. It keeps you going. I'm angry about bankers. About the government. Terry Pratchett There's a national ambition, a collective, in a sense, political ambition, which I think is the thing we see from far away. That's the fact t...

Most books on management are written by management consultants, and they study successful companies after

they've succeeded, so they only hear winning stories. Ben Horowitz I find it very hard to take myself seriously. Max von Sydow Dickinson is my hero because she was a joker, because she would never explain, because as a poet she confronted pain, dread and death, and because she was capable of speaking of those matters with both levity and seriousness. She's my hero because she was a metaphysical adventurer. Helen Oyeyemi Working with Dav Pilkey was a dream come true. Dav is incredibly funny, and he's been a hero of mine for a long time. It was great bringing the 'Wimpy Kid' and 'Captain Underpants' worlds together! Jeff Kinney I spent some time, six months or so, ruminating about the characters before I sat down to write 'Faith'. Jennifer Haigh I was 11 years old and horse-obsessed. New York City was an unfortunate place for a girl like me to be growing up. Jean Hanff Korelitz I went to a regular school... education kept me sane. Ro...

I guess telling stories is an art. I never looked at it that way. I

just started talking, and everyone started laughing. So I kept talking, and they kept laughing. Art Donovan Someone who knew me when I was 14 said I was the oldest 14-year-old on the planet. Now I'm a 14-year-old who is 60. Pat Metheny Cars bring me sheer joy. Evan Spiegel My parents were intelligent and encouraging, but at the same time, they were displeased at me becoming a wandering troubadour and wire walker. Philippe Petit I used to do all my programming on a BBC computer. It was limited to 16 tracks, and you used the keyboard, not a mouse, to input, but I was using it so long, I got quite fast at it. Vince Clarke I believe the life of every person is worthy of scrutiny, containing its own secrets and dramas. Krzysztof Kieslowski I got to make 'Trishakti' with Arshad Warsi, who was a newcomer at that time. The movie took three years to complete and became dated by the time it was released. The movie did not even get a proper release and bombed at the ...

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...