I have seen entrepreneurs ask for hundreds of millions of dollars on a concept and

try to sell because of 'their passion' for an idea. If the idea is that good, why wouldn't I cut you out and hire someone who is just as passionate for much, much less?
Kevin Harrington

Madam President, speaking here in Dublin Castle it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as it was yesterday when you and I laid wreaths at the Garden of Remembrance.
Queen Elizabeth II

She was not a white woman. She was not a Greek... Until the emergence of the doctrine of white superiority, Cleopatra was generally pictured as a distinctly African woman, dark in color.
John Henrik Clarke

That's what I've been trying to strive for - to draw a clear picture, to open up a new dimension.
Mos Def

My world was a community ballet school, a marching band, my two sisters and my girlfriends. I played saxophone in the band and was a bit nerdy.
Jennifer Garner

I firmly believe that the next great breakthrough in bioscience could come from a 15-year-old who downloads the human genome in Egypt.
Thomas Friedman

I would really love to go to Thailand as so many people have told me how wonderful it is.
Pixie Lott

Captaincy is 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill. But don't try it without that 10 per cent.
Richie Benaud

When people refer to 'Back in the Day,' it was a Wednesday. Just a little fun fact for you.
Dane Cook

Anger is one way to respond to fear. I say one way because responses are categorically multiple.
Mark Z. Danielewski

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...

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...

When you first start working, you take whatever job is offered, because you have to

build your resume. But you don't think about what you're building. Chris Hardwick I think it's important to find humor anywhere you can. In real life, with the darkest, scariest, most intense moments, if you can find something funny, that's good. Katie Lowes I am not racked with self-loathing. Some issues of guilt and shame, but I'm a pretty good guy. Marcus Brigstocke The long poem cannot be a digressive, expansive, boring exposition. It is really made of very sharp, Imagistic, quintessential poetic elements. Louis Dudek The day I entered St Columb's College, my parents bought me a Conway Stewart pen. It was a special afternoon, of course. We were going to be parting that evening; they were aware of it, I was aware of it, nothing much was said about it. Seamus Heaney I'm always wearing Spanx, eating ice cream and feeling a bit lonely. Sheridan Smith Writer's block! It doesn't exist. You just long for ideas to go away so you have an...

Writing books and being paid for it - it's not like winning the Lottery. You

can't suddenly go, 'Yippee!' and start throwing tenners in the air. I've done pretty well out of it, but certainly not enough to say, 'Right, that's me set up for life.' Joanne Harris When I teach writing, I always tell my students you should assume that the audience you're writing for is smarter than you. You can't write if you don't think they're on your side, because then you start to yell at them or preach down to them. Tony Kushner When infuriated by an outrageous column, do not be suckered into responding with an abusive e-mail. Pundits so targeted thumb through these red-faced electronic missives with delight, saying 'Hah! Got to 'em.' William Safire I've always wanted to write a book relating my experiences growing up as a deaf child in Chicago. Contrary to what people might think, it wasn't all about hearing aids and speech classes or frustrations. Marlee Matlin The three actors I admire the most are a...

I wanted to be a designer since I was a kid, and I was always

attracted to the way rock stars dressed and the way their girlfriends dressed. I always thought that they were the most interesting people. Anna Sui I don't know why, but the older I get the more interested I get in my parents' marriage. And it's interesting to be married yourself, too, because there is an inevitable comparison. Jhumpa Lahiri I don't think there's any such thing as teaching people photography, other than influencing them a little. People have to be their own learners. They have to have a certain talent. Imogen Cunningham I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement. Calvin Coolidge While there are many influences on gas prices in America, I believe the passage of a national energy bill will help relieve this burden on our country. Paul Gillmor I understand that the end does not justify the means. And this should be a lasting value for democracy. Park Ge...

Human beings are social creatures. We are social not just in the trivial sense that

we like company, and not just in the obvious sense that we each depend on others. We are social in a more elemental way: simply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people. Atul Gawande Politics is a lot of serendipity. You're in the right place and the right time and you've got the right message, and it either connects for you or, or it doesn't. Jon Huntsman, Jr. I became more confident within myself and matured as a person and become a little bit more opinionated - maybe the lads might say a little bit too opinionated for their liking but that is just a natural progression for a player. Kenny Cunningham You have to realize I like doing big movies that appear on a big screen. So the visuals and the audio have to be of a certain quality before I start to get excited about the thing. Hans Zimmer I can't tell stories to save my life. I like to have fun, and I go out and have a lot of fun. But I'm not really an entertainer that w...

I wouldn't call myself a standup in the presence of Jerry Seinfeld or Chris Rock,

but I do my share of it and it has been and remains part of my activity and I like it. Alan Thicke Like most people who live in India, I complain about corruption, but know that I can live with corrupt men. It is the honest ones I secretly worry about. Aravind Adiga A significant piece of the wealth that the NFL owners garner is a result of the enormous TV revenues they get - and those revenues are supported by a legislatively granted exemption from the antitrust laws that has been made applicable to sports leagues, primarily the NFL. Eliot Spitzer From my parents, I learned a very strong work ethic, and all of my brothers and sisters all worked from the earliest days of life right through to the present time. George J. Mitchell I'm quite interested in my own mental processes, simply because I'm a failed scientist, and because I'm interested in how the brain and the mind works, and I like to avoid easy descriptions. A. S. Byatt You don't even really get u...

There's no such thing as ageing gracefully. I don't meet people who want to get

Alzheimer's disease, or who want to get cancer or arthritis or any of the other things that afflict the elderly. Ageing is bad for you, and we better just actually accept that. Aubrey de Grey In a memoir, I think, the contract implies a certain degree of truth. I think you have to be as true to your memory and your experience as you possibly can. David Leavitt I'm a serious student of music, a perfectionist in the studio, and I take the arrangement and production of it very seriously, down to the mixing and mastering even. But at the same time I'm having so much fun with it. I try not to take myself so seriously. Mayer Hawthorne A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind. Daisaku Ikeda Not that pleading can be taken as a test, for the forms of action, notably Debt, ignore the fundamental difference between duties imposed by law and duties c...