It's hard enough to be a middle-school kid, because you're dealing with so many facets

of your identity - you're changing socially, you're changing physically, you're changing emotionally, everything is in flux, and to put race on top of that as well and have to figure out your racial identity is extremely hard.
Rick Riordan

Most action is based on redemption and revenge, and that's a formula. Moby Dick was formula. It's how you get to the conclusion that makes it interesting.
Sylvester Stallone

I'm an ecumenical reader, grew up with all sorts of fiction, teach writing, went to the Iowa Writers' Workshop, so my tastes and interests are broad.
Justin Cronin

We knew all along we were making a good show, so its success was not a surprise to me. What has surprised me is the magnitude of this show's success. More people see me now in one episode than saw me in 20 years of movies and theater!
William Petersen

I have selective hearing.
Eddie Van Halen

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
E. L. Doctorow

I'm not a big guy anyway. I'm only, what, 150 pounds? I was 190 for 'Batman,' 179 for 'Warrior.' Films make you look big.
Tom Hardy

The incarnation is true, not of Christ exclusively, but of Man universally, and God everlastingly.
James Martineau

I am honored to be here as co-chair of President Obama's re-election campaign.
Eva Longoria

You play 20 games, you have one bad game, I think any team in this league will live with that.
Scott Brooks

Gemeoss

The pleasure of work is open to anyone who can develop some specialised skill, provided

that he can get satisfaction from the exercise of his skill without demanding universal applause. Bertrand Russell You don't go to your 9 to 5 and share every story with your coworkers, and in the same way, not every YouTuber shares every story with their audience. Tyler Oakley You might have noticed Harry Reid is a little upset with Americans for Prosperity. Let me tell you, when the Democrat leader is complaining about you on the Senate floor, you know you are doing something right. Marsha Blackburn It's such a paradox. You come from this place where you want fame; you don't want to be bourgeois, but you want to be successful. You want to be accepted, but you also want to be going against the grain. You want to be on the outside, but you want to be on the inside. Dan Colen Walking the floor at a con dressed as Chewbacca, you might as well be Bono. I mean it's ridiculous. People just walk up and grab you and hold you, because they love Chewbacca so much. A...

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...

'Clueless' is an adaptation of 'Emma' by Jane Austen. It works either way: if you

know the book and if you don't. Jason Moore Civilization never recedes; the law of necessity ever forces it onwards. Jules Verne My favorite foods are things that aren't great to eat, like pizza. Stephen Pagliuca My martial arts came a lot from my uncle, who actually taught martial arts through the military. He was a black belt in tae kwon do, but also, he used a lot of military-style fighting where it's not the high kicks or anything like that. It's basically defeat your opponent as fast as possible. Brian Tee Memory is not pure. Memories told are not pure memories; memories told are stories. The storyteller will change them. I've always been interested in that. Alice McDermott It was always a dream as I was growing up. I would watch movies, mostly American movies, and be so engrossed in those stories, all I wanted to do was be there. I wanted to be part of that romance or that fantasy or be that warrior or that struggling soul who finally makes it g...

When you're writing, you're only a brain and some fingers, but drumming, you're involving all

four limbs, and you're hearing stuff and you're converting your ideas into physical motions, getting physical feedback from things you are touching - it's pretty cool. It's a really a nice contrast to writing. Michael Azerrad The work of artists is to find what's humanly possible - possibility's furthest reaches. Tony Kushner If you look at the way people behave at shows, icons are now musicians; they are the people that we worship. Grimes As much as I long for a sort of security and consistency sometimes, I do enjoy sort of being busted around. I really don't know what's happening sometimes next week, let alone this year. Matthew Macfadyen On Wall Street, fraudulent schemes tend to thrive during economic booms, and to blow up when times turn tough. James Surowiecki I want a guy who can clean my gutters and kill my spiders - who's simple yet layered. Kelli Garner Politics is the art of controlling your environment. Hunter S. Thomps...

A 5-acre school each in Noida and Gurgaon is what we have; it costs Rs.

50 crore to buy the land and another Rs. 50 crore to build the property. That's the capital cost alone.Shiv Nadar What is it like to get in someone's head and hunt them from inside their eyes? That's so freaky to me.Brian J. Smith I fell in love with L.A. To me, it is the most quintessentially American city.Jeremy Scott I don't understand how those old bands did it. We worked out early on that if we did three gigs in a row and went out afterwards, we'd lose our voices. We know our limits.Winston Marshall Coos Bay is a sports-minded town. You had to be an athlete to be somebody.Steve Prefontaine When I was in desperate trouble for maybe eight or nine years, I went to a neuropsychiatrist.Gene Wilder The digitisation of money, the rapid expansion of internet access and, of course, the adoption of mobile phones have created the perfect conditions to make it easier, secure, and affordable to save, spend, give, and borrow.Dan Schulman Playing football...

You have to have a ton of passion for what you're doing because being an

entrepreneur is probably twice as hard as you think it's going to be. The good news is that it's probably twice as much fun when it's going well. Keith Belling The fact that I'm on 'Essex Anthems' makes me happy, especially because half of my family's from Essex. Jess Glynne I find it very easy to be alone. I'm a writer, for heaven's sakes! Simon Mawer I burned down my backyard as a seven-year-old. I poured kerosene over dried leaves and set the whole place on fire, just for fun. Yeah, not a very normal thing to do. Emraan Hashmi If you're somebody who writes songs or writes fiction, a writer that people pay for your opinion in any way, you shouldn't be the least bit uncomfortable giving it to them. People want songwriters to tell them how they think and how they feel. That's what a song is. That's what I want to hear in a song. Jason Isbell I would say I'm a goof ball, but not a comedian. Jake Lacy In many previ...

I think the more realistic you try to make the graphics and the

experience, the more you limit yourself to a single vision. Markus Persson I guess I set a world record for errors. I had a pretty good arm, see, but I didn't have much control. Mordecai Brown I criticise myself an awful lot. I do worry to the point that I don't think it's very healthy. I'm always picking my flaws. It's a terrible anxiety I have. I wish I could pretend nothing fazes me, but it does. Roxanne McKee You need someone in your life to give you advice without yelling at you. Mimi Kennedy Lawsuits against reverse mortgage companies, including the nation's largest, Financial Freedom Senior Funding, contend that those firms helped pressure older Americans into bad investments. Charles Duhigg Playing girls is cool, but its a lot more fun playing boys. Chris Lilley I hope that with the success of the transition to democracy in Tunisia that we will export to Egypt a working democratic model. Rashid al-Ghannushi Sometimes I wake up and th...

When 'The Dark Side of the Moon' was a new album in 1973, a friend

of mine walked into my room where I was working with a copy in his hand and said, 'You really have to do a play about this album.' Tom Stoppard I realised success as an actor alone wouldn't make me happy. I needed to explore my spiritual side in more depth. Linus Roache I think 'lunch' is one of the funniest words in the world. Stephen Sondheim Because there's no structural barrier to joining 4chan, the community is really dynamic; for every five people that leave, five new people join, bringing their perspective and culture. A lot of other communities get set in their ways. Christopher Poole Money has never been my drive. I have never seen the shortage of money in my life, so for me, I don't want to buy a silk pillow or a private jet... My drive is to achieve more than what my grandfather achieved; my drive is to make a name for myself, get rid of this 'star son' tag that has been attached to me. Ranbir Kapoor I used to work as a volu...

If a woman goes out with different men on different days, women only will question

her character and call her all sort of names. Esha Gupta I've made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven't lived in vain. Muhammad Ali Unfortunately, I have two facets to my makeup, and that is both scientific and artistic. By doing medicine, I was only answering one of those sides. Jonathan LaPaglia The panty-line thing shouldn't be a big deal. I think we should just all agree that panty lines are OK. Because the thong thing is... just uncomfortable. Benjamin Koldyke For a long time, I resisted seeing 'The Sound of Music,' but when I finally did, I cried. Michael Learned I started acting when I was, like, five in monologue competitions at this private elementary school. Josie Loren Whatever anybody eats is their business. I'm just a vegetarian because I personally want to be. If my sons want to go have a steak... then that's their decision. But coming from my hand, as their mother, ...

In metros, girls are very independent, conscious and aware. But in the interiors of our

country, where education is not given importance, they continue to be oppressed. But it is important for every woman to acknowledge what she wants from herself rather than going for what people expect from her. Kangana Ranaut I start from one point and go as far as possible. But, unfortunately, I never lose my way. I 'localize,' which is to say that I think always in a given space. I rarely think of the whole of a solo, and only very briefly. I always return to the small part of the solo that I was in the process of playing. John Coltrane I like the Open Window Fresh WetJet scent; it smells pretty good as you are using it. I like fresh and clean smells, so it makes sense that I would also be partnered with Swiffer because that is what they are all about: making your house all fresh and clean. Eric Stonestreet The good news is that I've already outlived two Brontes, Keats, and Stephen Crane. The bad news is that I haven't written anything. Paul Kalanithi I...