Rituals, anthropologists will tell us, are about transformation. The rituals we use for marriage, baptism

or inaugurating a president are as elaborate as they are because we associate the ritual with a major life passage, the crossing of a critical threshold, or in other words, with transformation.
Abraham Verghese

The American soldier is quick in adapting himself to a new mode of living. Outfits which have been here only three days have dug vast networks of ditches three feet deep in the bare brown earth. They have rigged up a light here and there with a storage battery.
Ernie Pyle

One of the important lessons of the Internet is, how easy it is to get things done completely shapes what gets created. For that reason, technologies like Amazon's cloud service are very important. Even if they aren't technically impressive, they make things easy to do.
Patrick Collison

I wrote that letter, and the one to Nixon. And I wrote more letters, and I thought it might be a magazine article. At that time I sent it to Esquire and Playboy, but anyway, I kept writing, and all of sudden I had enough and thought, well maybe it is a book.
Don Novello

Television is a very writer-driven business, and it's one of the few parts of entertainment where writers are treated with respect, only because they need you. If they didn't have to treat you with respect, they would be happy to dismiss you.
Mitchell Hurwitz

If this work can contribute in any way toward proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience of the American people to a demand for justice to every citizen, and punishment by law for the lawless, I shall feel I have done my race a service.
Ida B. Wells

For instance, when I go to the premiere on Tuesday I probably won't watch the film at all - I'll be watching the audience just to see their reaction to different moments, what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, stuff like that.
Devon Sawa

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...

It's not just the kid who's spent every penny from his job to upgrade his

car to tell the world he cares about sports cars, it's also the person driving around in a fuel-conscious hybrid electric car, because it's more a message to the world than an effective means of saving fuel, to be quite honest. Richard Hammond Praise the bridge that carried you over. George Colman The power of an air force is terrific when there is nothing to oppose it. Winston Churchill 'A collected poems' is either a gravestone or a testimonial to survival. Al Purdy Hardship makes the world obscure. Don DeLillo I have a weird life because I live on songwriting royalties, which are a strange income. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it doesn't. Joe Strummer Girls we love for what they are; young men for what they promise to be. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Always be smarter than the people who hire you. Lena Horne In the middle ages people were tourists because of their religion, whereas now they are tourists because tourism is their religion. Ro...

I think in the old days, the nexus of weirdness ran through Southern California, and

to a degree New York City. I think it's changed so that every bizarre story in the country now has a Florida connection. I don't know why, except it must be some inversion of magnetic poles or something. Carl Hiaasen My job on 'Dark Shadows' was to make it fun and funny, first and foremost. It can still be dark and it can still even be gory and gothic at times, but it also needed to be fun and it needed to be an experience that people would enjoy having. Seth Grahame-Smith I've always wanted to tackle the casual part of dressing. Knits to me are always just easy. I've fantasized about packing a suitcase of only knits: You just throw them in, roll them in a ball, pull them out and they still look fabulous. Nanette Lepore Tailoring was considered to be a world that was very traditional, and basically going out of fashion. Fashion designers did not have a real link with tailoring or tradition, so I fused the two worlds together. Ozwald Boateng Sanctific...

One of the things I noticed more in this draft than in any recent drafts

was the importance of the character issue. Players who had baggage, like Justice, fell much farther than his talent dictated. But a lot of coaches didn't want to take the chance. Ron Jaworski On some level, now, we are joining the larger world and realizing that we are connected with people in these very scary ways, sometimes. What happened recently in Spain affects us here and brings questions up. It is too bad that people have to be shaken up in that way. Edwidge Danticat 'Brand-Dropping' is the term that the Kluger Agency coined to describe discreetly advertising by product mentioning in song, and we feel we can make this the way of the future without jeopardizing any artist's creative outlet or typical style. Adam Kluger While I sign off on trades or free agents, I've rarely overruled my basketball people's decisions. But I'm not shy about steering the discussion or pushing deeper if something doesn't make sense to me. Paul Allen Kids are...

A high nutrient density diet was associated with more feelings of hunger in the mouth

and throat and less in the head and stomach. Joel Fuhrman I may not be where I want to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be. Joyce Meyer When a car's ahead of you, as long as you can see it, you get a tow, just like the draft in NASCAR. Even if it's a long ways down the track, it punches a hole in the air that has to help. When you're running alone, you can feel the difference, and it shows on the clock, too. Mario Andretti The United States created the best popular songs that were ever written, and from the 1920s to the 1940s, it was a renaissance period. It stopped in 1950. Tony Bennett The film I like the best is always the one I'm working on now or next. Ewan McGregor When I have a little down time, I like to go to the gym and try to bank some hours there. I like to spend time with my dogs, go hiking, do a little traveling. Emmanuelle Vaugier When I was in Mexico and started to dream in Spanish, I knew that was a good sign that I was learn...

With hacky sack, somebody brought one to recess in sixth grade and it kind of

all went downhill from there! The same with the yoyo's! One kid brought a yoyo one day and people started getting them. I just kept at it and found that I really loved it. Jason Dolley Shooting movies has changed, and me too - I have changed. And then, every film I do, something in my mind, my soul, changes. My natural change, I change at the same time as the films, I think. Dario Argento It's different as a guest as opposed to being a star of a series. A guest star is a whole different responsibility. It's much different than being a regular. You come in, and it's a lot of unfamiliar faces, and you want to try to fit in as best you can, but also you want to stay there without making waves. Donnie Wahlberg I like to focus on making the music sound simple and true, and very lush and full. I think music should take you to somewhere else where you have the space to contemplate or exercise your imagination. All the while you should be feeling real good, like when y...

I have values. But morals are Christian. There's no religion here. Values. Don't hurt when

you don't need to, but don't let anybody step over that line - it's an invisible line, but it's respect for somebody's space. John Lydon At that point it certainly would be called abstract. That is to say, you had a model and there'd be one or two or three people there drawing the model but otherwise you had abstractions all around the room, even though the model was in front of you. Lee Krasner I got married and decided I wanted to do a dance record, and I didn't ever expect for it to be what it was or for the 'No Doubt' thing to be such a long break, but it was one of those things where you just had to sort of follow your inspiration. Gwen Stefani Well yes so far, I was recently in Germany and they had me do six book signings a day and that was too much so I had them cut it down to about three. It becomes taxing at times but its a lot of fun and you meet a lot of nice people. Larry Hagman We need the private sector to succeed, because i...

The worst story I ever wrote was after the conviction of Jeff Skilling and Ken

Lay. My co-author and I wrote a piece for 'Fortune' saying everything's going to be different now. Bethany McLean I'll be 50 years old and still have to call my mom when I'm home at night. No matter what time, she doesn't sleep until I do! Cassie Scerbo My point is simply this: I believe I have a calling. Do you know what that calling is? To stand up in a new and hard core, radical way for the Lord. In the process, if I insult a couple of people, if I offend a couple of people, and if I got to shake it up a little bit, as long as it is led by the Holy Spirit, amen. Stephen Baldwin I'm super athletic and I love to work out, and obviously I need to workout for my industry as well, but I love learning something and developing that skill and feeling strong. Girls who can kick butt are hot. Jessica Clark Indeed, the Roman laws allowed no person to be carried to the wars but he that was in the soldiers' roll. Philip Sidney I like tattoos. I'...

The public wouldn't like the perfect umpire in every game. It would kill off baseball's

greatest alibi - 'We was robbed.' Billy Evans I suspect that here theists and atheists would agree: Human beings have within them the ability to choose evil or good. We wake up each day facing the age-old struggle of good and evil. In some situations, mental illness clouds our judgment. Adam Hamilton I go through periods where I don't shop at all, and then I go crazy and buy everything in sight. I never know what to wear, and I'm at my worst before an audition. I pull everything out of the closet, throw it on my bed. I'll get entirely dressed and then take it all off again until I'm in a kind of frenzy. Brooke Adams Why did mainstream America come to accept marriage equality? Gay leaders had made a convincing case that gay families were like straight families and should have the same rights. The American spirit of fair play had been invoked. Edmund White When I hear a great country song, I get chills and I want to cry. You feel something. And just so...

I have never really believed that acting is very difficult. I think some people have

a skill and are able to act, and if you have that natural gift, it's not difficult. Mark Strickson I don't think that a vote for Barack Obama is a symbolic thing. I think it's much more than that. It's not just a black man. It's not just a feel-good vote. It's the idea of electing someone who really does want to make a difference. Aunjanue Ellis Magicians from the nineteenth century threw cards distances, but I think I'm the first one who made a thing about using them as weapons. Ricky Jay A lot of people do that kind of nostalgia stuff believing that they were very happy in their teenage years, but that's probably just an illusion. Jo Brand Kid's culture is often dismissed as superficial, like high fibre McDonald's, but it's so much more important than that. Morris Gleitzman Who needs one more chef in one more building with four walls and a kitchen? Jose Andres We know we cannot achieve our twin goals of ending poverty and ...