Television has lifted the manufacture of banality out of the sphere of handicraft and placed

it in that of a major industry.
Nathalie Sarraute

I love stories that give me a perspective on how easy American life has become in the 21st century.
Hope Davis

Most of all, however, critics of black conservatives say we've forgotten where we came from. I may forget a federal budget number or, God forbid, to set the alarm clock for my weekly 6 a.m. flight to Washington, but I know exactly where I came from.
J. C. Watts

Acting is something I love.
Rod Taylor

Sometimes I think change is a good thing.
Katie Couric

Strip malls are history.
Jeff Bezos

What I lack in energy, I have in wisdom.
Marcia Cross

Individuals will speak their minds, which I think is healthy.
William P. Leahy

A chaplain's biggest gift is to be present and just listen.
Diane Johnson

Authenticity is key.
Tim Kaine

Gemeoss

I came to the United States in the early '80s and was welcomed with open

arms and given the opportunity to pursue my dreams. God has been very kind to us. My family and I are fortunate enough to be successful and we feel a tremendous responsibility and obligation to give back to our great country. Naveen Jain I like to move forward and notice things along the roadside that indicate where I should go. Josh Homme We knew that you don't get to be world champions without a struggle. Eric Cantona I can't speak for all women, but I do think that... I mean, me and my girlfriends, we definitely... we're in crisis on a continuous basis...or at least monthly, for sure, I don't know. Helen Slater I left school at 16 but I wish I'd gone to university - I think I would have studied English literature. I had a knack for that. But I don't think you have the kind of wisdom at 16 to make that decision. Brendan Coyle The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell. Simone We...

If you... scaled down human beings, scaled down society, if you land with a group

of little boys, they are more like a scaled-down version of society than a group of little girls would be. William Golding I've been performing since I was a child; my mother would have to pull me aside and tell me that I wasn't onstage. I was a cheerleader, president of choir, and in the school play. Aja Naomi King I am a very strong supporter of our government's view that it is important to engage with all countries around the world - very much including Russia. Chrystia Freeland I was wrapping up my stint on 'Daredevil' co-writing with Andy Diggle during the Shadowland story, when Marvel asked if I was interested in doing something else with DD but a bit different. When they explained the purpose of the 'Season One' books, I was intrigued - I'm a big advocate of books for people new to the medium - and said yes. Antony Johnston Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw ...

I remember when I was in third grade, I was in a classroom, and the teacher said,

'What do you want to do when you get older?' We were going around the room. I said, 'I want to be a professional basketball player.' She's like, 'That's not realistic.' I thought to myself, 'OK, watch.' Zach LaVine Professional wrestling is my first love, and I will continue to do that, but if I get a good offer for a film or a show, I would love to take it up. Sangram Singh I had this dream in my head of, if I got hired by 'SNL, what that moment would be like. And I dreamed that I would, like, collapse on the sidewalk and cry to the heavens. I got this call, and it didn't happen naturally. But I did it anyway because I wanted to have that moment. So I did collapse. Kate McKinnon It's funny: I don't feel like I have any particular privileged feeling for the Fifties. Todd Haynes Stock market goes up or down, and you can't adjust your portfolio based on the whims of the market, so you have to have a strategy in a position and s...

The PhD system is the real root of the evil of academic snobbery. People who

have PhDs consider themselves a priesthood, and inventors generally don't have PhDs. Freeman Dyson I don't know nothing about communism. But I know the Albanians loved me. Same reason as anyone else loves me. Because I made them laugh. Norman Wisdom I am proud to be an American, and proud that such beliefs are at the core of our country and its citizens. John Linder I have tried for much of my life to write as if I was composing my sentences to be read posthumously. Christopher Hitchens I think it's not inaccurate to say that I had a perfectly happy childhood during which I was very unhappy. Joss Whedon People that have been interested in our work for awhile... those are the last people you want to disappoint. Joel Coen I write music people enjoy playing and listening to, and I have a group that loves playing the music. Chuck Mangione Our choices are going to determine the future for our children, our children's children, and their children. I take ...

Mike Schur knows exactly what everything should look like but, at the same time,

is super collaborative and loves working with actors that make choices and bring stuff to the table. D'Arcy Carden Effective cybersecurity policy will depend on active and continued collaboration between public and private sectors. Dan Lipinski There was certain points shooting 'Spring Breakers' where I wasn't uncomfortable at all, and that let me be free. It allowed me to play with what I love, so that's what I wanted to do with my music. Selena Gomez Don't wait for inspiration. Learn to cultivate it. Nick Petrie All Western cities face significant challenges on social integration. Our populations are booming, but social integration is not keeping pace. Rapid growth is a sign of our success, but it also puts stress on housing, infrastructure - and on communities. Sadiq Khan What I tell myself is that there is never going to be another 'Gone Girl' for me. I mean, I really believe that. I think I'll write other good books; I have faith in that. Gilli...

Santa is our culture's only mythic figure truly believed in by a large percentage of

the population. It's a fact that most of the true believers are under eight years old, and that's a pity. Chris Van Allsburg No man or woman is an island. To exist just for yourself is meaningless. You can achieve the most satisfaction when you feel related to some greater purpose in life, something greater than yourself. Denis Waitley There is only one thing I want. I would like to be seriously ill, and to hear nothing more about him for at least a week. Why doesn't something happen to me? Why do I have to go through all this? If only I had never set eyes on him! Eva Braun The very greatest things - great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty. Samuel Smiles A playwright must be his own audience. A novelist may lose his readers for a few pages; a playwright never dares lose his audience for a minute. Terence Rattigan Our bodies are shaped to bear chi...

I didn't understand the Weber bar and how gravitational waves interacted with it.

I sat and thought about it over a weekend, trying to prepare for the lecture for the following Monday. I asked myself how would I do it. The simplest way... was a thought experiment. Rainer Weiss Bollywood is getting bigger and better. Jacqueline Fernandez I've always loved magic. Elliot Knight In a sensibly organised society, if you improve productivity, there is room for everybody to benefit. Geoffrey Hinton As I explained when I announced that I was turning down a potential opportunity to serve as Secretary of Education, I voted for Hillary Clinton and was sorely disappointed she didn't win. Eva Moskowitz We have too few college graduates. We also have too few people who are prepared for college. David Autor One of the things I've always loved about genre, comic books, science fiction and fantasy is that there's a certain level of playfulness to them, and pure imagination and creativity. Noah Hawley There will always be a place for 'The Ultimate Fighter.' Mi...

When I was studying... there weren't any black concert pianists. My choices were intuitive, and

I had the technique to do it. People have heard my music and heard the classic in it, so I have become known as a black classical pianist. Nina Simone Creation implies authority in the sense of originator. The possibility of a 'Fall' is implied in a Covenant insofar as the idea of a Covenant implies the possibility of its being violated. Kenneth Burke Other people - they practice and they practice... these fingers of mine, they got brains in 'em. You don't tell them what to do - they do it. God given talent. Jerry Lee Lewis In this day and time, with no competition you are really walking a tightrope. I mean you may think that no competition is good, but in reality no competition is really bad. Jerry Lawler I played a heap of snow in a school play. I was under a sheet, and crawled out when spring came. I often say I'll never reach the same artistic level again. Stellan Skarsgard The wisest have the most authority. Plato Francis Webb is easily our gr...

I like challenges, and thus, I keep trying something different and new every time. And

these challenges and interests turn into passion. Shaheer Sheikh Miyazaki movies were what I was raised on. I've watched them since I was very young, and I've been greatly shaped by them. Mitski How come women are treated differently from men all the time? Not only handicapped people, but women - and handicapped women, forget it! Teri Garr If you reach a point where your entire farm system is in the big leagues, you've traded a couple guys for players who are now in the big leagues, you know what you do? You start over in your farm system, and you keep developing the talented players you have. Theo Epstein Voter suppression anywhere hurts our democracy everywhere. Jason Kander My mother often tells me not to drive back home late in the night. But like all youngsters, I suggest that there is nothing to worry. I tell her I have my driver, I have my security. Rakul Preet Singh Although it's depressing to admit this, more than a handful of post-'Donnie Brasco' Al ...

I try to tell the people that are sort of new here when they come

in and do their flights and whatever, the things that you remember most after your flights are the interactions you've had with your crew. Those are the most satisfying things you take away from a flight. Shannon Lucid The public impression is that the government, industry or the highest bidder can buy a scientist to add credibility to any message. That crucial quality of impartiality is being lost. Johnny Ball When he says he loves me, it only means he loves me at that particular instant. Like his promises, which he never keeps. Why does he torment me like this, when he could finish it off at once? Eva Braun Strange, is it not? That of the myriads who Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us of the Road Which to discover we must travel too. Edward Fitzgerald Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves. Marcelene ...