Let's not give the electoral process so much importance. We have to be cynical about

it. Let's give importance to the real democracy that's constructed on a day-to-day basis. That's my hopeful perspective on it.
Gael Garcia Bernal

I'm born into the cycle of giving that we're all born into, and I recognize it. So just because something is a good business, I'm not a business guy. I'm a creative guy.
Russell Simmons

Questioning my spiritual life has always been germane to what I was writing. Always. It's because I'm not quite an atheist and it worries me. There's that little bit that holds on: 'Well, I'm almost an atheist. Give me a couple of months.'
David Bowie

Fundamentally, I believe that the U.S. can improve its international standing and its national security by expanding trade and strengthening its relationships with moderate Muslim countries.
Richard Neal

There are so many issues in society - we talk about the violence, the drugs, the unwanted pregnancies - but at the end of the day, it comes down to what we taught our children to be.
Allan Houston

When the Nobel award came my way, it also gave me an opportunity to do something immediate and practical about my old obsessions, including literacy, basic health care and gender equity, aimed specifically at India and Bangladesh.
Amartya Sen

There's also a subplot about a guy who manages pop groups. Dave is a very ambitious boy, and he gets offered an audition but only wants to do it on his terms and conditions. He wants to maintain his integrity.
Neil Tennant

If you are a girl dressing up in the morning thinking about the whole world having a point of view on what you are wearing, it takes the pleasure out of getting dressed.
Olivier Theyskens

An architect should live as little in cities as a painter. Send him to our hills, and let him study there what nature understands by a buttress, and what by a dome.
John Ruskin

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...

We hope and we've made clear that the forces need to come out. It needs

to be full and complete withdrawal. Our position is it needs to be done as soon as possible so that the elections can be free, fair and free of outside influence. Stephen Hadley Parks said, he's guilty and that's the end of the story. Tommy Bond We know that the nature of genius is to provide idiots with ideas twenty years later. Louis Aragon Welcome to the Salvation Army. I've never been associated with an offense so nice about giving the ball away. Hayden Fry I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections, and the truth of imagination. John Keats Russia has gone through eight years of continuing economic pain. Jeffrey Sachs It's nice to get a response from the artists that I cover. Joe Cocker

If you're poor, you don't often live near a good school. If it's a competitive

public school program, our kids are not prepared to enter those programs. Sonia Sotomayor I'm a middle-class, middle-brow novelist. And that's it. It amuses me. Anita Brookner I have always had a very natural connection to the water, and that connection stems from the ocean itself. Aaron Peirsol I got married at a very young age, and of course, for all the wrong reasons, and ended up divorced and lost everything. It was a very difficult time in my life. Willie Aames We have 11 great potato flavors, and customers have been clamoring for tortilla. For over a year, we worked to develop the four flavors of tortilla popchips: chili limon, nacho cheese, ranch and salsa. They're made with traditional stoneground masa, are gluten-free, and have less than half the fat of other chips. Keith Belling I never won anything by myself. I was always strong because of help that gave me extra strength to win. Dan Gable There's a toxicity within gaming culture, and also i...

If we lived in a time where people couldn't watch 'Lost' on Hulu or record

it on their DVR, we wouldn't necessarily have succeeded. We need people to be able to catch up. Now you choose when you watch TV. We wouldn't have survived in the old days because people would have missed episodes. Carlton Cuse In science, if you don't do it, somebody else will. Whereas in art, if Beethoven didn't compose the 'Ninth Symphony,' no one else before or after is going to compose the 'Ninth Symphony' that he composed; no one else is going to paint 'Starry Night' by van Gogh. Neil deGrasse Tyson I would like to be known as one of the best actors in the world because that is something that I would have earned. And being sexiest would come from my genes... it is something I was born with and not earned it for myself. Randeep Hooda Fundamental discoveries can and should be made in industry or academies, but to carry that knowledge forward and to develop a new drug to the market has to depend on the resources of industry. John Van...

If you don't have a father, you don't miss it, because you don't know what

it is. It was really only when I married Wyatt Cooper that I understood what it was like to have a father, because he was just an extraordinary father. Gloria Vanderbilt I try to eat healthy. But sometimes, though, I eat cheeseburgers. That's good for the soul. I make sure to balance everything out. I drink tons of water. Gal Gadot After one has been in prison, it is the small things that one appreciates: being able to take a walk whenever one wants, going into a shop and buying a newspaper, speaking or choosing to remain silent. The simple act of being able to control one's person. Nelson Mandela I was well into middle age when one of my children, then in the second grade, was found to be dyslexic. I had never known the name for it, but I recognized immediately that the symptoms were also mine. Philip Schultz A presidential candidate's great desire is to be seen as pragmatic, and they hope their maneuvering and shifting will be seen in pursuit of some higher pu...

If Lincoln is among history's truly great men, he didn't achieve that stature until his

final three years. This was when his long-held antipathy to slavery cohered into a dedicated hostility that gave larger purpose to the Civil War and also confirmed the logic of Lincoln's destiny. Steve Erickson When you're in the day-to-day grind, it just seems like it's another step along the way. But I find joy in the actual process, the journey, the work. It's not the end. It's not the end event. Cal Ripken, Jr. I prefer natural hardwood lump charcoal - the other stuff makes your food taste like Goodyear tires. Jose Andres I had a strong conviction that there was something out there in the world that was wonderful. Mary Gaitskill Who you are as a person has to do with what you think and how you feel. It has to do with how you love and how you care for people. Scott Weiland If teaching isn't rewarding and challenging, we're going to continue to lose our best teachers to work in other fields. Michael Bennet A key ingredient in innovation i...

If you don't have the confidence in baking, commit to making the recipe three times.

The first two, do it exactly the way I've told you to make it. Twice. The first time you'll screw it up. The second time it will come out pretty good, and then the third time, make your adjustments. Tom Douglas People feel repressed by their own governments; they feel unfairly treated by the outside world; they wake up in the morning, and who do they see - they see people being shot and killed: all Muslims from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Darfur. Mohamed ElBaradei Every actor hopes that the character that they're playing continues to be a challenge throughout their tenure of their show. Reshma Shetty In a world where irony reigns, where you have to separate, protect and laugh at anything that is honest or has an emotional charge, I bet for catharsis. I like to invest emotionally in things. And catharsis, when it touches the emotional vein, can open the doors of even those who protect themselves. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu In every single culture I encoun...

I hate these reality TV shows where people walk off Big Brother and think they're

A-list celebrities when they've done nothing in their lives, it really does my head in. Kevin Pietersen Success is just being happy. And I try so many different things. I do a lot of different things. Because I think God has helped me to love myself. I know who God is, and I love God. Herschel Walker Jumping genes are fundamental because they're agents of change. Everybody knows that organisms evolve. What makes them evolve is that their genes are dynamic and in motion. A familiar example is the stripe-y corn - called Indian corn - that you buy in the fall. Nina Fedoroff I feel like any single woman of color who's been onstage has a Shakespeare monologue in her back pocket, and a monologue from 'For Colored Girls.' It's just part of what you should have, as a woman of color. Kerry Washington As a parent, your perspective of childhood is through the eyes of this person that you care so much about and you just want the world to be great for them. You w...

If you have a film that's talking about God, you would think that it would

appeal to people that consider themselves religious, whatever denomination they're attached to. John Curran I even ate chips because I love the crunchy sound they make. And I didn't give much thought to what I was eating or what I was putting inside my body, except hummus, of course, which is one of my weaknesses. Khloe Kardashian I love to eat, I love to feed people, and I'm a great cook. I joked with my friends that I wanted to write a book where desserts had to be extensively researched, since I have a terrible sweet tooth. My particular downfall is cake. Julia Glass You can be plain and smart, or pretty and smart. You can even be plain and dumb! You just have to be yourself. Ashley Tisdale People be saying, 'Watch - when she gets some money, she's going to get a Gucci purse.' But I don't think that's my style. I like finding random stuff and random brands. Maybe one day when I'm sophisticated and older I might settle down and invest i...

If someone has been bad to me, I believe in being good to that person.

It's my way of getting back. Because that person is going to feel guilty about it. Madhuri Dixit I'm a homing pigeon. When I'm in Tallahassee, I give everything I have to being, hopefully, the best legislator I can be. When I'm home, I'm home. I try to not do legislative stuff. That brings a balance to life. Dan Webster Most traditional ghost stories feature rather hapless protagonists, who have nasty things happen to them. Jonathan Stroud The dynamic between two individuals starts off with everything warm and nice and fabulous and good. Working and living together can serve you quite well, but when it starts to go wrong - oh, boy! Annie Lennox The knack is to find your own inspiration and take it on a journey to create work that is personal and revealing. Martin Parr A gun is no more dangerous than a cricket bat in the hands of a madman. Prince Philip I grew up dancing salsa - you know, a traditional Puerto Rican dance. Gina Rodriguez Being a M...