Growing up with country, R&B, gospel, and classical music from my grandmother and pop, Tuskegee

was the perfect melting pot for my influences as a writer.
Lionel Richie

As a professional, you can afford to pick some stocks and be wrong about a few of them. To keep your job, you cannot take the risk of being seen to be wrong about the 'big picture' for very long.
Jeremy Grantham

As you get older, subconsciously you start thinking about mortality and protecting your offspring. It opens up a whole new avenue of life experiences.
Kevin Nealon

When I get up in the morning, I have to decide what I'm going to have for dinner or I can't get through the day.
Alan King

How it happened that Mastro Cherry, carpenter, found a piece of wood that wept and laughed like a child.
Carlo Collodi

The American people have no control over what the military does. We have no say in American foreign policy.
Aaron McGruder

If you read quickly to get through a poem to what it means, you have missed the body of the poem.
M. H. Abrams

It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance... and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of its process.
Henry James

The only change I can really see is that I don't have to shop for pants in stores anymore.
Larry David

The difference today is that, in both parties, the very extreme elements control the nomination process.
Hamilton Jordan

Gemeoss

When I was 17, I worked in a mentoring program in Harlem designed to improve

the community. That's when I first gained an appreciation of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African-Americans rose to prominence in American culture. For the first time, they were taken seriously as artists, musicians, writers, athletes, and as political thinkers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar I only make movies that are interesting to me. Brian Grazer I wouldn't say I was organised at all. I just have to prioritise. Is it more important for them to be organised, or to have their dinner, do you know what I mean? Jo Brand The courage in journalism is sticking up for the unpopular, not the popular. Geraldo Rivera A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. Bertrand Russell I think Mick Jagger would be astounded and amazed if he realized that to many people he is not a sex symbol, but a mother image. David Bowie I enjoy my job as long as I can create a character, otherwise it's boring. Jav...

It had to happen to me sometime: sooner or later, I would have to lose

sight of the cutting edge. That moment every technical person fears - the fall into knowledge exhaustion, obsolescence, techno-fuddy-duddyism - there was no reason to think I could escape it forever. Ellen Ullman Innovation and its allure can be dangerous. It can draw you away from the user, from the intended outcome, and may be the ultimate demise of otherwise great intentions. Mark Brand My voice is different, but I don't think I'm the only one with a different take on pop music. Charli XCX In South Africa, we drive on the left-hand side, and most of the cars are standard, so I learned with a full-gear transmission with a clutch and hill starts. I've never driven an automatic until I came to Canada. Jodi Balfour Mexico has 44 treaties with other countries that make it very advantageous to do international shipping from Mexico rather than from the United States. Wilbur Ross Winning HOYS set me up for the future and prepared me for riding in front of lots of ...

Given Pounds and five years, and an ordinary man can in the ordinary course, without

any undue haste or putting any pressure upon his taste, surround himself with books, all in his own language, and thence forward have at least one place in the world. Augustine Birrell Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud, and that the major cancer research organizations are derelict in their duties to the people who support them. Linus Pauling A Bush Administration will, I believe, enjoy a better relationship with the new Congress, although President-elect Bush will be faced with real challenges in getting along with the Congress. Richard V. Allen I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for to believe the white man any more. Black Kettle When you finish a poem, it clicks shut like the top of a jewel box, but prose is endless. I haven't experienced an awful lot of clicking shut! Kenneth Koch I thin...

As a Midlander and a big walker, I'd always loved ridge and furrow

fields, the plough-marked land as it was when it was enclosed. It is the landscape giving you a story of lives that ended with the arrival of sheep. Jim Crace I think it's really rare to see women on television who are brilliant, selfish, vain, fallible - and I feel like I have all those capacities in myself, so it's good to see people in the media representing all of those things. Kerry Bishe I never went after fame. It fell into my lap. Caitlyn Jenner My mom and dad were actors when they were younger and had a horrible experience of it. My dad became a literary agent and my mom a casting director. Daniel Radcliffe I have this idea of trying to catalog all the genes on the planet. Craig Venter The wind from the Kingdom of Heaven has blown all over the world, and shall blow for centuries yet. George William Russell I always said if I played a drag queen, I'd want to create a template with the realness they talk about in 'Paris Is Burning.' Billy P...

All I've been a part of has been thanks to the Disney company: the job,

experience, travel, opportunities have come thanks to Disney. Working for Disney was not part of my original plan, but it was part of God's, and it shows that God is still moving. Jodi Benson It almost goes without saying that when you are a startup, one of the first things you do is you start setting aside money to defend yourself from patent lawsuits, because any successful company, even moderately successful, is going to get hit by a patent lawsuit from someone who's just trying to look for a payout. Charles Duhigg People always ask me about 'Girls' with this kind of hesitation. What do I think of it? I love it. It's awesome. I get a lot of Where do you come down on this? I come down on the side of 'Yay, Lena Dunham. Congratulations. I'm jealous.' She's doing something so fantastic. Maybe it's not for everybody, but it certainly is for me. Callie Khouri I've never really understood the term 'Post-Impressionism' as more tha...

How great is the mystery of the first cells which were one day animated by

the breath of our souls! How impossible to decipher the welding of successive influences in which we are forever incorporated! In each one of us, through matter, the whole history of the world is in part reflected. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Part of being innovative in government is sometimes not trying to plot out the last chapter of the book, but to be open and see what comes back. Anthony Foxx Bray is where I live; it's a seaside resort. It's a nice place to walk up there and stuff, on the coast. There's crosses along on top of it. Tristan MacManus The decisive factor for the future of Europe - and before all things, for the 'restoration' of Europe - will be whether political thought and national feelings are influenced by the reality of internationalism. Ellen Key In the ancient times, bards went around singing the epics, which were storehouses of philosophy. Amish Tripathi Once I started singing, I didn't have to try to be cool. I was just on...

The class has become over the years fairly large, running to three hundred or more,

but I always insist upon reading all the student folklore collections myself. Although this is a tall order, I look forward to it because I learn so much from it. Alan Dundes I'd like to thank the BBC for allowing me to work here. And I'd like to thank the wife and kids for making it necessary. Les Dawson Many slaves on this continent are oppressed, and their cries have reached the ears of the Most High. Such are the purity and certainty of his judgments, that he cannot be partial in our favor. John Woolman A talent somewhat above mediocrity, shrewd and not too sensitive, is more likely to rise in the world than genius. Charles Horton Cooley I didn't really want to act. Gerard Depardieu discovered me when I was 14 and asked if I wanted to make movies and I said, 'Why not?' Melanie Laurent People think when you have a, quote, 'bank failure,' that that is the end of the bank. And it isn't necessarily. Michele Bachmann Some broad themes br...

I did make some not-so-great relationship decisions when I was a lot younger. I do

know that not all high school boys are great and wonderful and Prince Charming, and there are a few that are going to treat you that way. Jodi Lyn O'Keefe Thus, the forces and value systems that are most threatened by this shift are becoming the most coherent and are rising to the top as minority or plurality powers. But they do not represent either the shift, the change, or the future. Paul Hawken I don't think he's permanently affected me except in the sense that I miss him. I miss being him. Or trying to be him. He is one of a gallery of characters that have had an impact on my career and therefore my life. Derek Jacobi A book is sent out into the world, and there is no way of fully anticipating the responses it will elicit. Consider the responses called forth by the Bible, Homer, Shakespeare - let alone contemporary poetry or a modern novel. Chaim Potok We have three generations at home, including my father-in-law. I keep a very low profile, and a lot of thi...

It never was because of my positions or policies that people refused to vote for me.

In fact, most people agreed with my policy agenda. Rather, the problem was my personality. Peter Navarro One thing I won't do in television is a sitcom. I find that world to be so neurotic and bizarre. Theresa Rebeck As a general rule, I do not think judges should consider current societal preferences when ruling on constitutional challenges. Paul Watford Fox News has been a force in converting the party of Lincoln into the party of Trump. The network's allegiance to Trump approaches mindless adoration. Richard Cohen I remember the first time I pulled out of my driveway in my grandparents' Nissan Ultimate or Centra. I just remember getting in a car that smells like my grandparents, with both my parents standing on the lawn, so petrified. That was my car up until I was 18. Emily Ratajkowski You don't want to throw out a good idea and have nobody get excited about it. It takes the wind out of your sails. Kevin Nealon Unless you're making Marvel movies, I think CGI us...

I was interested with exploring the idea of who gets to be in possession of

the land - how it's sometimes impossible to go back home, how family can be the thing that drags you down. Dee Rees Alabama and other states had a terrible record in terms of depriving people of their right to vote, making it difficult for them to vote, discriminating against people. Luther Strange I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to do a TV show or movie, but life comes first, and then there's business. If this business doesn't allow me to have my life, then I'll do something else and be a happier man. Gavin Creel As I've seen over and over again during my career, the best way to deter individual conduct is the threat of going to jail. That's what truly changes behavior. That's what changes the calculus as employees and executives decide whether to participate in an illegal scheme. Sally Yates The first gay people we elect must be strong. They must not be content to sit in the back of the bus. They must not be content to accept ...