I think every writer has a book that haunts them, and on some level, every

book you write is a reaction to it. 'Lolita' is that book for me. Nabokov's love of wordplay, descriptive detail, artfully complex plots, and his themes of obsession and lost love, are inspiring.
Marisha Pessl

For awhile, I got stupid about only wanting a leading-man role, but I have no illusions. I know I'm not Brad Pitt.
Breckin Meyer

Kids don't eat fast. They take their time; they talk and laugh. Sometimes it's really annoying, because you're like, 'Come on, it's bedtime!' But try it: You'll fill up before you know it, because it takes 20 minutes for your brain to know your stomach is full.
Alison Sweeney

I want to touch people's hearts, to get right down to their souls.
Laura Branigan

If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.
Marian Wright Edelman

The cost of living is going up and the chance of living is going down.
Flip Wilson

'Adapt and overcome' is my new motto.
Jack Osbourne

To all the girls out there who think being funny is not sexy, you are wrong!
Chad Michael Murray

The prudence of the best heads is often defeated by the tenderness of the best hearts.
Henry Fielding

I don't need an award to inspire me to keep making music.
Jake Bugg

Gemeoss

This battle for 'common-sense' gun control laws pits emotion and passion against logic and reason.

All too often in such a contest, logic loses. So, expect more meaningless, if not harmful, 'gun control' legislation. Good news - if you're a crook. Larry Elder I drive a lot. Just for pleasure. Sometimes I'll get in the Cadillac and drive around the city or the country, kind of trying to get lost basically. Y'know, just see where roads lead. Frank Black You and I will meet again, When we're least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won't say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again. Tom Petty We must dare to think 'unthinkable' thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world. J. William Fulbright Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. Mary Shelley Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such fr...

There's this wonderful first assistant and he'll be saying, 'Now Harry goes down among the

dragons.' You have to hold yourself together. Because if you lose it for a second then you're sunk. Maggie Smith We believe we've got the skill base and the techniques to supply the chips that really enable the end manufacturers to develop exciting, innovative products themselves. David Milne Oscar Wilde said the rich and the poor are equal - they can both sleep under the bridge. Right? Do they have a right? You're damn right they have a right! Al Lewis If we'd have said we were not upset, they would have thought we were so rich it meant nothing to us, and if we say we're upset about it, they'll say money is all we care about. John Bonham We... are not really free if we can't control our own government and its policies. And we will never do that if we remain ignorant. Charley Reese Our universities and museums are respected around the country. Jane Byrne George W. Bush bought the election - period. End of story. There is no argument. Yo...

It's a different thing playing in a smaller venue where you can actually see people's

faces and reactions. It's so much more intimate. You walk away with a more personal experience. Jann Klose I love the theater. I love being on stage; I love the live audience. I also love dressing up and all of the make-believe. Nicole Ari Parker This is sort of not expected, but I would love to produce a record for Missy Elliott. It would be totally different, but she makes party music. 'Lose Control' was my favorite song when I was in 5th or 6th grade. Ansel Elgort I sculpted for four or five years. Mostly for my own amusement, I decided to do a picture book, and that was kind of a turning point. Chris Van Allsburg Circumstances in life often take us places that we never intended to go. We visit some places of beauty, others of pain and desolation. Kristin Armstrong I like John McCain. He can always be counted on for a good quote. Ted Cruz Practices such as arranged marriages and restrictions on girls attending school have deep roots, and changing them i...

Unlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an

interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does. John Berger Death is the liberator of him whom freedom cannot release, the physician of him whom medicine cannot cure, and the comforter of him whom time cannot console. Charles Caleb Colton I live by a man's code, designed to fit a man's world, yet at the same time I never forget that a woman's first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick. Carole Lombard It is absolutely imperative that we protect, preserve and pass on this genetic heritage for man and every other living thing in as good a condition as we received it. David R. Brower I don't have the insight with the Longhorns that I do with the two teams that I own, but as a fan and reading the sports pages, I'm bullish about the Longhorns. Tom Hicks The more liberty you give away the more you will have. Robert Green Ingersoll My bo...

Our cautious ancestors, when yawning, blocked the way to the entrance of evil spirits by

putting their hands before their mouths. We find a reason for the gesture in the delicacy of manner which forbids an indecent exposure. George Herbert Mead The quest for riches darkens the sense of right and wrong. Antiphanes The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. Honore de Balzac The best way out of a difficulty is through it. Will Rogers Slot machines are like crack for old people. Keenen Ivory Wayans Rastafari not a culture, it's a reality. Bob Marley There is more criticism of puritanism, and more distance from Christian morality, than there has been before. Susie Bright

You write in songs what you're too scared to write in real life, and then

you sing the songs to loads of people instead of telling it to the person you should be telling it to... Songs are a great way of dealing with those issues but kind of a coward's way as well.Winston Marshall I really wanted to be Ambassador to Argentina.Jorge M. Perez I've never been able to understand what they mean by 'Pinteresque,'. I'm sure it's indefinable.Harold Pinter I still think 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' was what they call one of those watershed movies. That and 'The Exorcist' and 'Psycho' were just landmarks for those horror films.Fred Willard You got to learn when to be the bigger person, especially in the entertainment business.Justine Skye My writing is a product of how I would interact with things that have happened to me or things that have not happened to me but have happened to somebody else.Rupi Kaur Here in L.A., people really open their houses in an easy way, nothing too complicated. You can go in y...

We'll support the government on issues if it's essential to the country but our primary

responsibility is not to prop up the government, our responsibility is to provide an opposition and an alternative government for Parliament and for Canadians. Stephen Harper We have a country that wants to believe it is the best in everything, but until all of us embrace the idea that health care should be a right, not a privilege, our system cannot be glibly described as, quote, 'the best in the world.' Tim Johnson Hollywood sold its stars on good looks and personality buildups. We weren't really actresses in a true sense, we were just big names - the products of a good publicity department. Ann Sothern Well you know, it's true that as a fat person I run a greater risk of heart disease, diabetes, and a number of other things. But guess what? The amount of that risk is almost infinitessimal! Daniel Pinkwater But even race-neutral policies and recruitment efforts designed to achieve greater diversity are, in the end, not race neutral. Adam Schiff Happines...

It's not just the kid who's spent every penny from his job to upgrade his

car to tell the world he cares about sports cars, it's also the person driving around in a fuel-conscious hybrid electric car, because it's more a message to the world than an effective means of saving fuel, to be quite honest. Richard Hammond Praise the bridge that carried you over. George Colman The power of an air force is terrific when there is nothing to oppose it. Winston Churchill 'A collected poems' is either a gravestone or a testimonial to survival. Al Purdy Hardship makes the world obscure. Don DeLillo I have a weird life because I live on songwriting royalties, which are a strange income. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it doesn't. Joe Strummer Girls we love for what they are; young men for what they promise to be. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Always be smarter than the people who hire you. Lena Horne In the middle ages people were tourists because of their religion, whereas now they are tourists because tourism is their religion. Ro...

Just because I am a chef doesn't mean I don't rely on fast

recipes. Indeed, we all have moments when, pressed for time, we'll use a can of tuna and a tomato for a first course. It's a question of choosing the right recipes for the rest of the menu. Jacques Pepin Words are not as satisfactory as we should like them to be, but, like our neighbours, we have got to live with them and must make the best and not the worst of them. Samuel Butler Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon. Booker T. Washington People who wear fur smell like a wet dog if they're in the rain. And they look fat and gross. Pamela Anderson Everybody thinks if you do one thing, you can't do something else. So I like the fact that I can be versatile if I want to. Denise Van Outen I don't ever want to be hugely famous because I had a little taste of it after 'East Is East' and 'Bend It....

The reason why parents mistreat their children has less to do with character

and temperament than with the fact that they were mistreated themselves and were not permitted to defend themselves. Alice Miller There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such as Palestinian terrorism and apocalyptic terrorism like Sept. 11. You have to distinguish between the two. Alan Dershowitz Lacey said if he wanted to read a daily or regular critiques of the Bush administration, he would read the New York Times, and that's not what he wanted in the Village Voice. Sydney Schanberg I urge people to learn from the mistakes of others. Please drink responsibly and it's never acceptable to drink and drive! Kim Kardashian Television preachers extract money from the poor to live in a style and to indulge in shameful acts which equal or outdo the worst of the Renaissance Popes. J. Irwin Miller Convent - a place of retirement for women who wish for leisure to meditate upon the sin of idleness. Ambrose Bierce If you have debt I'm willing to bet that...