'What is this', and 'How is this done?' are the first two questions to ask

of any work of art. The second question immediately illuminates the first, but it often doesn't get asked. Perhaps it sounds too technical. Perhaps it sounds pedestrian.
James Fenton

High school for me was not all that fun. I think it's a lot more fun after when you realize that high school ends, and everything that's important at that time is sort of not important if people don't like your jeans or whatever. It doesn't matter.
Leighton Meester

What we all have in common is an appreciation of kindness and compassion; all the religions have this. We all lean towards love.
Richard Gere

I believe that our society is merely a reflection of what is going on inside each and every one of us.
Seal

Meditation here may think down hours to moments. Here the heart may give a useful lesson to the head and learning wiser grow without his books.
William Cowper

Almost any decent cook will make food by eye and taste. Virtually all of my family cooked that way.
Steve Albini

My mom was always the support. I can always go out to her and she'll always find the positive in things.
Caroline Wozniacki

If you look at my CV, just about everything I have done has come through a publicly funded institution; it is a career entirely built on that sort of support.
Elizabeth Price

It's just a great school and they have a history of developing big men. Georgetown is definitely a great option for me.
Nerlens Noel

So I'm studying ballet every day and really training so people will see me as a ballet dancer, which no one's seen before.
Sutton Foster

Gemeoss

I love the idea that we put in jokes the kids don't get. And that

later, when they grow up and read a few books and go to college and watch the show again, they can get it on a completely different level. Matt Groening Brainy folks were also present in Lyndon Johnson's administration, especially in the Pentagon, where Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's brilliant 'whiz kids' tried to micro-manage the Vietnam war, with disastrous results. Thomas Sowell The most interesting guy I've ever played with was King Hassan of Morocco. I went over there on a trip in the early 1970s, and the King and I played five holes. I've never been that nervous in my life. Lee Trevino George Martin is an incredible writer. Peter Dinklage I do come from a strong family. Arlen Specter I think any cancer patient, if you dig not too deeply, they want to live. Charles Jencks We believe in personal choice, rather than society dictating how we must live our lives. Mike Peters Yeah, I've only been acting since I was 18 out of high...

I love a well-plotted story. But I'm just not that kind of writer, and it's

not necessarily by choice. When I manipulate plot, I feel I lose authenticity. Alice McDermott I made three short films of my own which I wrote, produced, directed... you did everything in those days. My favourite one was something I shot on VHS... a little documentary. Asif Kapadia Everything comes out in blues music: joy, pain, struggle. Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance. It's about a man and a woman. So the pain and the struggle in the blues is that universal pain that comes from having your heart broken. Most blues songs are not about social statements. Wynton Marsalis There's still a lot I'm angry about, a lot of human behaviour that's appalling and despicable, but you choose what you can fight against. I always thought if I could just put something in words perfectly enough, people would get the idea and it would change things. Neil Peart I'm not specifically attached to anything other than trying to, in my personal life, fight against wh...

I would have to say the most challenging thing about directing is the sheer stamina

because... as a director, you're always doing something. Someone always needs to talk to you. There are always decisions to be made and every day for as long as the movie goes on. So it's a marathon... You don't have to look nice, but it's all day every day. Michael Urie It's been a joy to be a part of other people's journey, to be able to inspire and be a part of new singers coming up in this business. Christina Aguilera It wasn't that I got pinned against my locker, but I was intensely aware that the things I valued weren't shared by anyone. Girls didn't like me, and I had few friends. Josh Groban We must also win really sufficient and, above all, practical, guarantees for the freedom of the seas and for the further fulfilment of our economic and political tasks throughout the world. Bernhard von Bulow For thugs from the ghetto, violence is a way of life - it's what helps you survive. Suge Knight Now we are using the body scanner to s...

The rap against Tesla has always been of the 'yes, but' variety. Yes, it's a fine

artisanal designer and manufacturer of electric cars, and its CEO is one of the few business leaders alive for whom the label 'visionary' isn't hyperbolic. Adam Lashinsky I did 'Christmas Carol' off and on through my teenage years, so I always had that dialect and that sound in my ear, which was so helpful. It became second nature. Dan Amboyer I grew up around electronic instruments. To me, the turntable is an electronic device. At the same time, I had access to drum machines and keyboards through my uncle; then track recorders into computers. At an early age, I was messing with computers more than most hip-hop musicians. Ali Shaheed Muhammad When I graduated from Brown, I had a very limited conception of jobs, careers, and what I wanted to do. Basically, I figured I should do some kind of thought work that paid well, but I wasn't sure what. Andrew Yang From day one, we've always gotten backlash for certain outlandish ideas that we've had and presented...

When my parents got divorced, I wanted to spend my time laying in the garage

listening to the washer and dryer. Loud, immersive, changing. It was music to me. Brian Reitzell A friend of mine encouraged me to try rapping, so I started experimenting with it, writing verses, seeing if I could fit an extra word or syllable into each line without tripping myself up. K. Flay The sleeplessness is proven; it eradicates your memory. Gaby Hoffmann I was a science fiction geek. That lets you know that they come in all sizes and styles, right? Mae Jemison Most middle-aged white men probably don't know about little old Stormzy from London. Stormzy I have some very dear friends I stalk consistently when I come home. Kim Rhodes When we finished 'Stop Making Sense,' we went right to the San Francisco Film Festival for the world premiere, and people swarmed the stage and started dancing before the first song was even finished. Jonathan Demme I wouldn't be where I am without Evolve. Rafael dos Anjos It has been a great working experience with Sreenu Vaitla. Ram...

You know, I love all kinds of activism. I certainly think blacks deserve

to have something whether it is affirmative action or an opportunity that should be opened up to them. But at the same time I believe that people of color are not the only poor people in America and all over the world. Russell Simmons No one will remember that President Obama supported the Arab Spring if it eventually fails and the region collapses back into the political Dark Ages. If we actively engage these movements with advice, with money, and, when necessary, with military force, then we get a vote in how it all turns out. Sebastian Junger One of the things I learned is that you've got to deal with the underlying social problems if you want to have an impact on crime - that it's not a coincidence that you see the greatest amount of violent crime where you see the greatest amount of social dysfunction. Eric Holder I'm not a big gore hound but monster gore is different to me than killing a teenager in any way that you can when another human-like person does it....

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...

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 saw my dad doing it and thought to myself, 'I can do that.' I would be backstage

watching him and running around the country with him singing to children. He would sing songs that taught children really good morals: like, 'Teaching Peace' was a song he used to sing to kids a lot. Andy Grammer I wanted to be an attorney all the way up until I was 17. Mark Foster I am not bothered about if my role in a film is small or big. Because if the character I am offered is sensible, I would do it even if it is small. Nithya Menen He's known as Sting. I have my own personal name for him, but that shall remain a personal name. Trudie Styler I wanted to play for United; I wanted to play at Old Trafford. It was always my goal. Bastian Schweinsteiger I grew up in a very middle-class life. I'm grateful for it - it has given me a lot of stability. Carrie-Anne Moss I am a human being: sometimes I am happy, but sometimes I am not feeling that great or not in a mood. Shaheer Sheikh The first time I heard the Mars Volta, I had a feeling I was experiencing something that...

That's my personal view I would say most in my caucus agree with that but

there are some who don't and I've always said that on these kinds of moral issues, people have the right to their own opinions. Stephen Harper When you're not blond and thin, you come up with a personality real quick. Kathy Najimy The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit. William Temple I would hope they would be our fellow artists, rather than trying to emulate or idolize clowns like us. Maynard James Keenan Let me give you a definition of ethics: It is good to maintain and further life it is bad to damage and destroy life. Albert Schweitzer The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority. Stanley Milgram Life is not over because you have diabetes. Make the most of what you have, be grateful. Dale Evans I am certainly not an intellectual relativist, nor a moral relativist. Edward Tufte