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With spectacular events taking up so much of the available anxiety quotient, we need to

be constantly reminded of the more workaday threats to our mortality - threats that, while they may also be functions of human error, have become so ubiquitous that we've begun to apprehend them as natural phenomena.
Will Self

Food still isn't my thing, but I've learned to respect its power and significance.
J. R. Moehringer

When I do film, I really take on roles and I take on characters.
Meat Loaf

Never cut corners, or accept anything that's second-rate.
Bruce Oldfield

I had been an eyewitness to a truly historic moment in American pop culture.
Jean Shepherd

I was born in very sorry circumstances. Both of my parents were very sorry.
Norman Wisdom

You are exposing yourself all the time as an actor. There's the risk of being thought of as bad or boring or unattractive.
Emily Mortimer

I take the subway to work. I love mass transportation.
Shepard Smith

But from what I can see all around me today, that America is fading fast, if it's not already gone.
John Ratzenberger

Gemeoss

I would say that it's mainly about the director. It's a hard quality to find,

but I always know whether I want to do something or not. The character is important to me, as is getting to work with people that I feel like I can learn from and make a great movie with. Alden Ehrenreich Viewers make online requests to their favorite video-making whisperers to do the things that trigger their head tingles. Everyone's needs are different. It's like an interactive choose-your-own-adventure. Andrea Seigel As you know, I was a solo singer, something I just got very much used to. Turns out I'm quite enjoying being in a band! Gareth Gates When you're six years old, you do not appreciate that you're living in the Alps. My sisters and I, all we wanted was to go to Disneyland. Ahna O'Reilly I don't think Beethoven expresses religious truth. He expresses a human truth. John Tavener In the suffragist and abolitionist era, there were a lot of white women and some black men and women who argued for the old hierarchy and against universal ...

I remember looking out into the sea of phone lights as Chris Martin belted 'Yellow' on the

  piano and deciding that that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Daya Shopping for an annuity with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake can be daunting, even for an economist. Richard Thaler I wanted to do journalism, as I was an idealist. Then, in my second year of journalism, I realized that in real life, things don't work the way you expect them to. I realized that I could express my ideas better through films. Nithya Menen If your aim is to attack the United States, it is hard to imagine a more difficult way of getting here than by posing as a refugee. Samantha Power A lot of the O'Hare Modernization Plan may have been a mistake. Mike Quigley When someone shouts 'Skins' at you, its funny the first time. But after a hundred times, you think, 'I do have a name.' Kaya Scodelario There is no upside for the U.K. in Brexit. Only costs that can be avoided and advantages to be seized by remaining in Europe. No one should have to pay the Brexit ta...

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 ...

I remember I was unsure about doing 'Shameless.' I'd never acted in anything so commercial.

I read the script in the garden with my mum, Mary. She said it's filthy dirty, but she said these people have love and sex and nothing else. That made me take the role. Anne-Marie Duff When you're mid-season, in very intense situations, it's hard not to take that home with you. Especially when you're sleeping, you can't control what you dream about. And it sneaks into the unconscious. Aaron Paul Millennials regularly draw ire for their cell phone usage. They're mobile natives, having come of age when landlines were well on their way out and payphones had gone the way of dinosaurs. Because of their native fluency, Millennials recognize mobile phones can do a whole lot more than make calls, enable texting between friends or tweeting. Chelsea Clinton 'Saw VI' has a really interesting theme about the ripple effect. Everything you do affects the guy next to you, which affects the guy next to him, which affects her over here. And you might think that ...

Persuasiveness is really just about getting your ideas across without being forceful.

  It's a skill that can be learned and is useful for anyone who works in a team environment. Amanda de Cadenet I was an extra in a Tia Carrere music video. Adam Scott When people start to think they're figuring out 'The Vampire Diaries,' it switches on you. Kat Graham It's a huge blessing to know you've done something that has affected people the way 'The Matrix' has. It's like, there's 'Star Wars,' and then there's 'The Matrix.' It's cool to be a part of that. Laurence Fishburne Voters aren't asking to be pandered to and aren't asking to be tricked. Jason Kander I'm a pretty controlled and disciplined person, but my real vice is buying plants and food shopping. Zac Posen Barack Obama was a president who understood not only how technology could transform the way government services worked but also technology itself. He got it. Steven Levy Positivity, confidence, and persistence are key in life, so never give up...

I can only speak for myself and my own music, because that is what I

am most familiar with, and I write about things that I am living or experiencing. Laura Bell Bundy I studied history when I was at school, at A-level, actually. I wouldn't profess to being very knowledgeable though, no. Kit Harington A band is like a marriage - you don't know why it works, but when it does, everything feels right. Nuno Bettencourt Pictures can be devastating. Who allowed John Kerry to get himself photographed windsurfing in a flowered swimsuit? Anyone in the real world in that operation? Jack Germond I play guitar quite a bit, because I'm always in search of something. I don't play to jam, but because I'm fishing. I'm looking for something, that I hope you can never find. If I do find it, I'm afraid I won't have a need to do this any more. Robbie Robertson A good engineering interview will include some set of difficult problems to solve. It might even require that the candidate write a short program. In addition, it will t...

I like the constant rise and fall of the British film industry. But

above all, I like the workhorses who kept going no matter what. Peter Capaldi A spiritual 'spurter' is one who is given to short bursts of spectacular effort followed by frequent and lengthy periods of rest. David A. Bednar As a writer, the best mindset is to be unafraid. Malcolm Gladwell When you're doing a film called 'Interstellar,' at some point - the idea was to be grounded in the science as much as possible - but with a name like 'Interstellar,' you had better go somewhere big and bold. Jonathan Nolan I think politics is like an X-ray machine: Everything is found out eventually. Nicolle Wallace My mom sees her sons as baby boys. Well, I stopped being her baby boy a long time ago. Bryant Gumbel I like really uberfeminine, classic-looking things mixed with something rougher around the edges. I've been looking at Rihanna a lot, checking her out. She's got something going on that I am sort of craving a little bit. Jessica Biel ...

Songwriters aren't always performers, and even performing songwriters aren't always the kind of show-biz performers

you think they'd be. Lyle Lovett I need to eat a lot; otherwise, I feel faint. I get in the worst moods if I don't eat. Cara Delevingne I want a girl who lets me do my own thing, but who is going to be by my side the whole time, because I know I'd be supportive of her. And kissing is a big thing for me! You have to be a good kisser. Daren Kagasoff A lot of times, I go and face the top receiver, and that's a task... it comes with the territory, and I never back down from that challenge. Johnathan Joseph You want your lady to be a contortionist. What man wouldn't want a lady who's a contortionist? J. B. Smoove The kids today, they think they can dance with their faces. Ginger Rogers Each piece of jewellery tells a story of my life. Picking one particular piece as a favorite would be like taking a chapter out of a book. Erin Wasson One of my earliest memories is walking up a muddy road into the mountains. It was raining. Behind me, my village w...

Publishing, legacy or indie, is a vehicle, and you can't opine about whether someone has

chosen the right vehicle if you don't know where she intends to drive it. Barry Eisler Being a conglomerate, each of our businesses has a different challenge; business landscape is different for each business. It makes it challenging as well as exciting. Kumar Mangalam Birla When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions become necessary, when they aren't camp, that, to me, is magic. I've done musical comedies and enjoyed them, but subject matter that's deeper and more realistic is always what's appealed to me most. Kelli O'Hara I've written poetry since I was a kid. As the years went on, I got into writing stories and screenplays, but I always, always kept up with poetry as well. Blake Jenner Life smacks Tracy Morgan in the face, and I don't mean to talk in third party, but no, it doesn't stop raining when I come outside, no, absolutely not. I'm very in touch. Tracy ...

To a poet, it's quite ruinous to have a poem distorted, out of shape, or

squeezed, shall we say, into this tiny screen. But I'm not sure big digital companies are sensitive to the needs of poets. Billy Collins Theater owners are exerting a lot of power over the studios to withhold access to content that people want to see. That's bad for consumers, that's bad for studios, and ultimately, I think it will be bad for theaters. Ted Sarandos I think it's important to view the issues on the broadest possible reference plane. In fact, if you firmly believe in any issue, I urge you to read the opposite of it. Most of the time, it'll merely reinforce your original beliefs, but on the rare occasion, it might change your mind. Michael Ramirez I never, ever, restrict food, and I will never go on a diet ever again. Portia de Rossi I love acting and I have a need to do it, even when the business is down. Nadine Velazquez All art is a confession. Gaston Lachaise It's weird because before a race, I always want something sweet, like...