Incumbent White House parties have won 10 of the last 18 presidential elections; the odds

are tight, but they favor Obama in 2012. And so gloomy Democrats, check your despair; gleeful Republicans, watch the hubris.
Jon Meacham

Jazz is not the kind of music you are going to learn to play in three or four years or that you can just get because you have some talent for music.
Wynton Marsalis

There's a false notion that success is a zero sum game. To win in our careers we have to give up family. To work hard we have to sacrifice sleep. To accomplish we must take (or borrow or steal) from somewhere else in our lives. It's just not the case.
Maynard Webb

The traditional religious right's failure to restore public-school prayer or pass an antiabortion constitutional amendment has likely helped fuel the spread of the more extreme dominionist school.
Jon Meacham

My influence is probably more from American crime writers than any Europeans. And I hardly read any Scandinavian crime before I started writing myself. I wasn't a great crime reader to begin with.
Jo Nesbo

Rome - the city of visible history, where the past of a whole hemisphere seems moving in funeral procession with strange ancestral images and trophies gathered from afar.
George Eliot

I would like to attribute my range of interests to being an independent intellectual, but although I'm independent, I'm not sure I qualify as an intellectual. Basically, I'm an old-fashioned amateur.
Anne Fadiman

We continued the hard work of integrating TWA, because at that time we still thought an efficient connecting hub in St. Louis could be a profitable addition to our network.
Gerard Arpey

Securing freedom has been a singular commitment of American presidents and patriots in and out of government for generations. But its perpetual continuation is not guaranteed.
George Nethercutt

Gemeoss

I mean, I kind of remember... I'm 36 now, so it's kind of hard for

me to relate to what it was like when I was 25, or 24, but I do remember a period in time when that's how I defined who I was, by the music I listened to and the movies I went to. Liz Phair In the last four years, I heard the same thing over and over again from people: 'We've had enough,' 'Our country is drifting,' 'We've lost our way.' Ted Yoho I desire an special interest in your prayers that my faith fail not in the day of adversity. John Hawley There was never a golden era of American radio as far as I can tell. Michael Stipe The world invited me many places. Leon Wieseltier I just like making people laugh. Isaiah Mustafa As an actor, to play someone who's at war with himself, that's so interesting. Hugo Weaving Plumage features constitute a major component of courtship signals. Peter R. Grant Some people don't even know my name, but they know I am the man with the red soles. Christian Louboutin Salvatore Fe...

I have not made any suggestions about climate change. This is more about blending or

shifting the conversation about the environment versus the economy. It's just such an old, outdated conversation. Jennifer Granholm Sometimes shooting on a smaller scale, as long as things don't blow out of proportion, is very liberating. Daniel Craig Because I'm so known as a meat-chef, when I talk about Meatless Monday some people look at me like I've lost my mind. I'm like, look, I'm not saying beef and pork is bad, I love it and I eat it six days a week. Michael Symon I think character is permanent, and issues are transient. James Stockdale It is true that I was born in Iowa, but I can't speak for my twin sister. Pauline Phillips I came from a town of maybe 30,000 people. Jim Caviezel The rights of homosexual people are human rights, and human rights are for everyone. Ricky Martin I'm pretty much honest to a fault. It's my best and my worst quality. Jennifer Westfeldt I loved Australia. I was very successful there. Todd B...

Money is tighter now, with the advertising dollar spread a lot more thinly across a

whole range of media because of the Internet. It means the television networks have less power to produce shows, and TV is where most Australian actors make their money. Grant Bowler I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba - Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamour of the seaside. It sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue. Lana Del Rey I remember nearly having a fit of the giggles during the reading because dear Daniel was SO respectful and serious and I was finding the whole situation funny because I was speaking to his profile. Madeleine Stowe All over the land are vast and handsome pastures, with good grass for cattle, and it strikes me the soil would be very fertile were the country inhabited and improved by reasonable people. Alvar N. C. de Vaca Hollow commitments to action in the future are insufficient. Deferring difficult issues must not be tolerated. Our children and grandchildren expect us to spea...

In Sydney, we always have a deficiency of housing. So that's one good thing, which

will cause real estate to keep going up. Not fast, but it'll go up. Harry Triguboff I didn't think I was a humorless shrew in 'Knocked Up.' I think the women are just as funny as the men are in that movie. Leslie Mann It is easy to make stuff up - and easy to dig up information and repeat it or report it to others. But to find a real life story with real people in real life situations is quite difficult and time-consuming. Yet, the rewards are worth the effort. Lee Gutkind Given the gruesome fate of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family, and the fact that five of the previous 12 Romanov rulers were also murdered, it is easy to regard Russia's imperial dynasty as cursed. Saul David Large areas of the Gulf have escaped being scraped by trawls, crushed by more than 40,000 miles of pipelines, or displaced by one of 50,000 oil and gas wells drilled since the middle of the 20th century. Some places have been deliberately protected. Sylvia Earle I think...

The monetary impacts of malaria from the household to the global level are significant.

Malaria tends to strike during harvest season, rendering families too sick and too weak to perform the work necessary to earn a living. Malaria-stricken families spend an average of over a quarter of their income on malaria treatment. Tedros Adhanom It's not in the interest of most mapping companies to make those changes as they occur, but if you give the power to local people, you can be sure that you're always getting the best information from the folks that actually drive those roads every day. Noam Bardin We are all pleased when our names are pronounced and spelled correctly. Russell M. Nelson Music and dance is part of everything in New Orleans. So I grew up appreciating it all. Dawn Richard I get things out of my system through my songs, but, because they can be about so many different things, it takes me a while to get through them emotionally. Sharon Van Etten I like to think I've changed the centre of gravity on lots of national debates. Nigel Farage I was a membe...

Over my NFL career, I've had five head coaches who have helped me become better

at my craft and have helped me become a better human being: Jim Mora, Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, John Fox, Gary Kubiak.Peyton Manning There's all kinds of schisms in Satanism, but the thing I like about it is the quest for knowledge.Glenn Danzig I know my body's limits. I've never enjoyed Spin classes, where they're like, 'Push it further!' I'm like, 'No. If I pull something, I can't work tomorrow.' That's why I gave up Bikram yoga.Cobie Smulders I really am a full-blown Scorpio. Whenever I look things up about my sign, it's like, Check, check, check: thoughtful, detailed, moody, stubborn, prideful, emotional.Selah Louise Marley We always find a way to learn and to get better.Travis Kalanick I take a lot of personal pride and motivation to be able to make a difference in areas that may fall through the cracks in R&D across the industry.Vivek Ramaswamy Asa Briggs was a historian of class history, so he felt obligated t...

If most people were to take a moment to picture in their minds the average,

not-for-profit, save-the-world girl, they... well, they probably wouldn't, because who wants to think about hemp, hairy legs, and Birkenstocks? But I'd rather eat a pair of Birkenstocks than put them on my feet, and I love, love, love my Christian Louboutins. Nancy Lublin Every morning when I woke up, my mother was already in the kitchen making breakfast. It was always the same: steamed rice, pickled vegetables, grilled fish and miso soup. Each day there was something different in the soup such as tofu or potatoes. Nobu Matsuhisa My son was born during my last semester in college. His due date was Thanksgiving, but he didn't show up until finals week. I brought my books to the hospital and didn't think anything of it. That is what a father is supposed to do. LZ Granderson Unless it's a dead-straight short putt, you should focus on a spot somewhere along the line you want to roll the ball on. Ernie Els Ukippers are the kinds of fools who haven't notic...

People come up to me and say, 'It's too bad the space program got canceled.'

This is not the case, and yet that is what most of the public thinks has happened. Buzz Aldrin I used to spend countless days in my teenage years keeping scorecards, playing cricket and just enjoying myself with friends and having the occasional shandy in the bar. Steffan Rhodri I am happy that I'm a better novelist than a screenwriter. Graeme Simsion I believe you should help people. Gerry Harvey I watch a lot of football. Paolo Sorrentino The mind as well as the body must be not only strong but well disciplined in order to act with promptness and vigor in new and untried situations. It is hard to turn men's minds from the old and deeply worn channels in which they have long been flowing. Benjamin Robbins Curtis In Japan, a company worker's position is secure. He is retrained for another job if his present job is eliminated by productivity improvement. W. Edwards Deming Chris Rock is a good friend of mine, and he is hysterical. Kid Rock

I've always been more of a nerdy, academic type. I loved 'Star Wars' growing up.

I have three older brothers, so they were a big influence on me. We loved 'Danger Mouse,' and we love 'Monty Python'. We loved any kind of British comedy and 'Wallace and Gromit' and all of that stuff. Mara Wilson Crimes of the century differ from the garden variety of murders. They involve wealth, celebrity and powerful attorneys, and live on for decades after the verdict has been rendered. Armand Deutsch The thing about interviews is that if someone interviews you, and they're an idiot, then they make you sound like an idiot, too. They ask you stupid questions, and they bring you down to their level. It's tempting to not ever want to talk to anybody, but you can't do that. Dean Wareham For me, moving is always a big opportunity. It's just a enough of a shift in outlook that every time I move, it seems to open something up. John Darnielle For me as a person, friendships are incredibly important to me, but in writing, they can distrac...

We Americans love original ideas. But truly, there are already plenty of good ones out

there, ours for the taking. If I were too proud to copy the ideas of others, I likely wouldn't have even a fraction of my current success. Mohnish Pabrai The organized workers of America, free in their industrial life, conscious partners in production, secure in their homes and enjoying a decent standard of living, will prove the finest bulwark against the intrusion of alien doctrines of government. John L. Lewis Well... I had braces and I had to wear headgear! I loved my braces, actually. For me, they were like a piece of jewelry! Instead of the silver or pewter I had gold braces. It was so much fun, I loved them. I got to change the colors and stuff and I had the rubber bands. Jordin Sparks The animators are absolutely extraordinary. It's mind-boggling. Helena Bonham Carter I've been so good in so many movies that nobody saw. Joe Pantoliano Our parents have always encouraged us to be independent and dream big. Jenna Bush So much emotion goes into writing...