I was very small, about 3 or 4 I think, and just wanted to be

the people on telly telling these wonderful stories. Obviously the idea grew and matured with me but I can't ever remember wanting to do anything else. I've just sort of taken it for granted all my life that that was what I would do.
David Tennant

A friend of mine, now retired, was then a major exec at a major bank, and one of her jobs, the last four years, was the farewell interview.
Donald E. Westlake

No philosopher understands his predecessors until he has re-thought their thought in his own contemporary terms.
P. F. Strawson

I'm an accidental writer.
William P. Young

I can say with full sincerity that I am happy. I'm happy because I'm doing what I love and I'm not selling out.
Columbus Short

I was a nerd growing up, and I'm a little antisocial and awkward.
Louis C. K.

Who is the ideal reader? God only knows.
John Barton

I love religion and have contemplated going back to school to get a world religion degree.
Jada Pinkett Smith

Eliminating the piano means that I've always worked closer with the bass than most players.
Gerry Mulligan

Gemeoss

A lot of technologies in the world were unusual in the beginning, and became standard.

That's the beauty of bottom-up entrepreneurship and innovations. Iqbal Quadir When I was in primary school, my best friend was a boy and we always goofed around, climbed trees, got holes in my trousers and muddied all my tops and things like that; a complete nightmare for the washing, but great fun. Maisie Williams But I certainly made mistakes, for which I regret, I think most human beings in their lifetime make mistakes, mine ended up in two years prison - two very remarkable years from which I learnt a lot. Jeffrey Archer If you have a beautiful story, it has to have conflict. If you don't have conflict, it can't be a good story. Donald Miller I don't want the money. I don't want the drama. I just want to do my show. I want to have fun again. Dave Chappelle As a child of West Texas, I identify with Hispanic culture every bit as much as I do North American culture. Tommy Lee Jones You ask people, 'should we go back to square one?' People

Art is built on the deepest themes of human meaning: good and evil, beauty and

ugliness, life and death, love and hate. No other story has incarnated those themes more than the story of Jesus. John Ortberg Acting is not a mystery. There's nothing that I know that other actors don't know. We all act, we're all actors, we all know the same thing. The only thing that separates us is experience. Vincent D'Onofrio Surely, it's one of terrorism's intended effects, to literally stun our morale, to blow up strength and will along with buildings, and the reaction is hard to counter. Caroline Knapp The Internet empowers individuals to play a more active role in the political process, as Obama's campaign has manifested. Al Gore Nixon's full term was one of the most successful in U.S. history, which is why he was re-elected by the largest plurality in the country's history. Conrad Black I know so many people who actually just watch television on their computers now and don't even really watch their TV anymore. Busy Phil

That's one of the things I like best about folk music is the beautiful melodies

- and the harmonies - that exist in it. And of course, some of the stories, the story songs. Roger McGuinn Every once in a while, we have some sort of movement in music that everyone suddenly wants to work in, like grunge or rap or disco or some other musical phase, and then suddenly, that'll be the thing to do. Todd Rundgren We're passionate musicians, but we felt classical concerts were more like a funeral because nobody talked and everybody was dressed so conservatively. We thought that's kind of strange, because music is full of life! We thought we could break through that barrier with theater and comedy elements. Aleksey Igudesman Whales are killed today to supply the limited demand for whale meat or to be used in pet foods or as fodder for fur-bearing animals used in the fur trade. Paul Watson Import and substituting imports with domestic production are a big opportunity. With a devaluation of the rupee, imports get expensive, and for Indian manufacturers,

I think we all get into situations where we don't know how to proceed, and

those are really the scariest moments that we have, but that's also what makes us 'grow up' and learn a lot about each other. John Krasinski I'm a good girl because I really believe in love, integrity, and respect. I'm a bad girl because I like to tease. Katy Perry My most vivid memory - it's actually one of my first memories - I was three, and I was the youngest angel in the show production. And I remember being absolutely desperate for the toilet. I needed to wee really badly. So I was crossing my legs when I was walking down. Rose McIver Remember that we are all human beings trying to do what we love to do. Zendaya I was always singing but didn't plan on pursuing it seriously. When I got to New York City when I was 18, I started playing in clubs in Brooklyn - I have good friends and devoted fans on the underground scene, but we were playing for each other at that point - and that was it. Lana Del Rey I get recognized often, but they don'

To arrive at a contradiction is to confess an error in one's thinking; to maintain

a contradiction is to abdicate one's mind and to evict oneself from the realm of reality. Ayn Rand We don't want privacy so much as privacy settings. Meghan Daum I was always curious about the anxiety a person would feel when you open your mouth and you have an accent. You could have a Ph.D. or be a lawyer, but as soon as you say something, you may be diminished in the eyes of someone else. Dinaw Mengestu One important lesson is this: It is okay to try and fail at something, but it isn't okay to not try. Parents need to encourage their kids, and it all starts in the home. Bill Rancic I see a really good tag on a building, a man passed out in the middle of the street, a couple hugging, a cop arresting a panhandler. I'm interested in how all these things are happening in one block. Barry McGee I like loud snare, and I like really treble-y guitars, and that's just never going to change. Kathleen Hanna Art is for healing ourselves, and everybody needs

If we are to perpetuate the state, we must not only produce citizens, but good

citizens - men and women of sound bodies, clear minds and clean souls. Arthur Capper Modern Orthodoxy has a highly positive attitude toward the State of Israel. Our Ultra-Orthodox brethren recognize only the Holy Land, but not the state. Norman Lamm I met a lot of great people in Saudi Arabia and I'd like to see them again. And I'd love to spend more time in the desert and in the mountains. I felt really at home there. Dave Eggers The trap for an actor is that you become too successful at what you're trying to do, and you can find yourself stuck there. Ben Affleck Plays are always about intense relationships, whether they're intense love relationships or family relationships or existential relationships. David Ives When you are 20, 40 looks really old. When I was nearing 30, that seemed like a major milestone. Catherine Zeta-Jones I'd like to meet a nice girl and leave all those 'hottest bachelor' lists behind. Jesse Metcalfe Only 10 per

I've had five weddings but if I'm really honest and if I count significant de

factos... I've had nine husbands... which sounds appalling but when you consider I started at 18 and I'm 65 it's not so bad. Jacki Weaver My own funeral, I'd like to be laid out in a coffin in my own house. I would like my coffin to be put in the double parlor, and I would like all the flowers to be white. Anne Rice We needed time off from each other after our last tour because there was a lot of personal stuff we had to take care of. Eddie needed hip replacement surgery. Al needed his back worked on. And I was going to have a baby. Sammy Hagar People forget the punk thing was really good for women. It motivated them to pick up a guitar rather than be a chanteuse. It allowed us to be aggressive. Siouxsie Sioux I see myself as a journalist reporting neglected stories about our past and trying to bring rigor, reason and intuition to the quest. Graham Hancock One I've been passionately committed to, of course, is women's ministry; I believe solidly i

In the future, when people look back at the early days of Bitcoin, they'll say, 'It was so

obvious that the ability to move money anywhere, instantly, at near-zero cost would be a huge success. Adam Draper I put down the camera long ago, you know? I was here in London, aged 19, and I was obsessed with my camera, shooting everything I could. Then someone stole it. It helped me to see things for the first time. Forest Whitaker I hate the idea that people should listen to what actors have to say on certain issues more than anyone else. Actors have no more right to be heard than anyone. Gemma Chan It's such a complicated thing to put a movie together. The book world is so much simpler. Arthur Slade I started playing guitar when I was 13. I'd written a few songs on the guitar over some time. I'd written a book of poetry, and I got a book of lyrics that I had when I was a kid. Lewis Hamilton My time with the WEC was great for me; it was great to be able to get big-show experience, headline fight-cards, and fight for world titles. Donald Cerrone I probably didn't t

My first paying gig was a play called 'The Voice of the Prairie' at a

theater that no longer exists in Chicago called Wisdom Bridge. I played a fast-talking radio huckster - a salesman of crystal sets in the 1920s - and I actually won an award. Look at that! And then promptly didn't get hired for a year. Denis O'Hare Actions, such as the designation of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, spring from First Lady Michelle Obama's leadership of efforts to end childhood obesity within this generation. Richard Carmona I don't remember my father reading to me, but I remember him telling me bedtime stories. I got to pick what was in them, and then he'd make them up. Caroline Kennedy There is no post-9/11. Everything from now until the end of time is post-9/11. Joe Bob Briggs I am a little bit of a softie, yes. Actually I don't think it's softness, I think it's kindness. Len Goodman Children make your life important. Erma Bombeck They envy the distinction I have won; let them therefore, envy my toils, my h

America's demographic shift was obvious to everyone in the 2010 Census - but Republicans stubbornly

rejected math, facts, and polls to their electoral peril. While Republicans tailored their platform by and for the pale stale and male, among us, Obama and Democrats are embracing America's diverse mosaic. Christine Pelosi The more irrational of us are worried about the millennium ending - as if a date would really matter. Sting I think it's important to be honest with yourself about what you want and it's important to be honest with your partner about what you need. Alison Brie A great pickup line is one I don't even notice. It has me connecting with you, laughing, having a good time. And that definitely gets my attention. Jennifer Morrison I'd always loved poetry and I'd always loved writing music and composing music, but I hadn't thought of putting the two together until around that time. Bruce Cockburn In 1993 my birthday present was a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Annette Funicello Once you find you can't walk as far and as