I am a sworn atheist and therefore from my point of view the Talmud or

the Koran don't constitute works of political philosophy but rather writings that stand in utter contradiction to concepts like logic, freedom, feminism, secularism, brotherhood - which are my ideals.
Michel Onfray

Our intellect, our awareness, and our consciousness is the most powerful form of life on this planet. It's totally worthwhile. If our animal instincts stopped, we would die. We don't think about it, but if your consciousness were responsible for all of your bodily functions, you would die.
James McAvoy

My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchestra. It has been a great success. We give performances; we've become the most famous bad orchestra in the world.
Alexander McCall Smith

There's steps that I've taken already, and each week, talking with the sports psychologist on a routine basis and working with the different programs that we're going through. This is all stuff that you can say you're going to make a difference, but I'm putting it into action.
Kurt Busch

What we have seen in financial markets should bring home to us all that the central organising principle of this 21st century is interdependence. For the century just past, interdependence may have been one option among many. For the century that is to come, there is no longer an alternative.
Kevin Rudd

I should have liked to get married, but over many decades I have lived essentially alone. I go to sleep when I'm tired, get up when I wake up, have my food prepared when I'm hungry. I can't bear the thought that I'd have to coincide, make an effort.
Felix Dennis

What had brought me to New York in the autumn of 1972 was a letter of recommendation written by Norman Mailer, the author of 'The Naked and the Dead' and American literature's leading heavyweight contender, to Dan Wolf, the delphic editor of 'The Village Voice.'
James Wolcott

Gemeoss

We underestimate children and the people who work with them. I swear - so often, I tell

people I am a children's author, and it's like they want to pat me on the head: 'Aw, isn't that sweet.' Kathi Appelt There is a disconnect in education and work. And corporates don't do a great job of skilling. In future, corporates and educational institutions will work closely. Shiv Nadar I played semi-professionally for a season, and there's an element of performance to being a footballer, stepping onto the pitch: you feel like a gladiator walking into a colosseum. Callum Turner We used to indulge hopelessly as a family at Christmas. When the children were little, I dressed up as Father Christmas. They knew it was a gag, but they loved it. I remember stealing into their bedrooms at 1 A.M. and filling the stockings up at the end of the bed. Richard Attenborough What we, as black people, need to do is we need to worry about our education. Charles Barkley I was never the person who came up with a boom somehow. I worked slowly and consistently, making my wa...

I like George W. At a time when this country was hit hard, he

stood up for America. He's been the leader of the free world during the hardest time America's ever had. Johnny Van Zant In the 21st century, our adversaries will continue to use cyberattacks against us. We need to be prepared to defend our networks against this growing threat to our democracy, especially the most fundamental part of our political system: our elections. Amy Klobuchar I grew up in a lot of different places, mostly in Kansas, I really started thinking seriously about acting in high school; I just did it better than most of the other activities in school. Paul Rudd I thought, 'Nobody wants this book, and I'm an idiot for having worked on it so hard.' But to succeed in writing, you must be willing to look stupid for a long time. 'Pachinko' took so long because I got it wrong so many times. Min Jin Lee The most calmest place I can be is the studio. And like, I stay in there 'cause I know, when I come out, it...

If you... scaled down human beings, scaled down society, if you land with a group

of little boys, they are more like a scaled-down version of society than a group of little girls would be. William Golding I've been performing since I was a child; my mother would have to pull me aside and tell me that I wasn't onstage. I was a cheerleader, president of choir, and in the school play. Aja Naomi King I am a very strong supporter of our government's view that it is important to engage with all countries around the world - very much including Russia. Chrystia Freeland I was wrapping up my stint on 'Daredevil' co-writing with Andy Diggle during the Shadowland story, when Marvel asked if I was interested in doing something else with DD but a bit different. When they explained the purpose of the 'Season One' books, I was intrigued - I'm a big advocate of books for people new to the medium - and said yes. Antony Johnston Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw ...

I never stopped DJing through the entire 'Game of Thrones' process. I never saw the

need to stop because I do love it so much. Kristian Nairn R-rated comedies make as much money as PG-13. And I think the audiences wanna be shocked. Especially with comedy. Nicholas Stoller In 'Maaya,' I'm going shirtless for the first time in my career. My producer requested me to take off my shirt in one of the scenes. I have been working extremely hard to flaunt a perfect body for the scene. Harshvardhan Rane When every word is parsed for ill intention, regardless of who is speaking or why, we become so afraid we'll offend that we stop trying to communicate with people we don't understand. Marti Noxon I don't understand when you say I'm a man or I have a deep voice. I know I'm a female, so there's no question for me. Caster Semenya We had a field day before anyone knew anything about shorting. It was almost a license to steal. Nowadays, it's a license to get hosed. Julian Robertson Now we're dealing with a younger generation of terrorists ...

We need to establish boundaries between our personal and professional lives. When we don't, our

work, our health, and our personal lives suffer. Travis Bradberry Originality is dangerous. Salman Rushdie I think the War on Terror is really absurd, especially coming from a country that is founded on terrorism. Alice Walker If I hear about a tsunami that hit Asia, hundreds of people have lost their lives, and you see it and you hear about it, but you still brush your teeth, still have to go on with your day. But let you get information about one person who you're close to or you're intimate with, it has an almost paralyzing effect. Ryan Coogler Once you have a computer that can do a few things - strictly speaking, one that has a certain 'sufficient set' of basic procedures - it can do basically anything any other computer can do. This, loosely, is the basis of the great principle of 'Universality'. Richard P. Feynman My plays are always pushing towards cinema anyway. They're down and dirty, real and more fun. Martin McDonagh I consider m...

At the end of the day, the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott had to be converted into the 1964

Civil Rights Act. We don't want politicians who've gotta be coaxed, cajoled and protested. We want them on our side from the beginning. Keith Ellison I'm not having to go outside and switch the role model hat on. It's me, and it's important for me to leave that legacy to help inspire younger players because I didn't have a role model growing up. Carli Lloyd The song 'I Feel the Earth Move' brings me back to those younger years when I was taking my first strides on the ice. Hilary Knight I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana. It's not a black-and-white type of thing down there. It's a very cultural place. Everybody has the same accent. It's not like if you're white we can't hang with you or anything like that. So it's easy for us to call each other out on our things. Jason Mitchell My original perception of wrestling was not a very positive one. I didn't understand it at all, and I thought it was kind of silly and ridiculous. Bu...

I bought the VHS of 'Into the Woods' at the Suncoast in the Park City Mall and watched

it in the basement when I got home. And when it was over, I rewound it and immediately watched it again. Jonathan Groff To tell you the truth, if you're looking at rising pretty high, then you need to find a way of taking care of these problems and not taking time off. At the end of the day, it is a very tough competition. And in a very tough competition, if you just take breaks, then it's going to become much, much more difficult. Arundhati Bhattacharya No greater privilege than I had as a soldier and then as a spymaster and to some degree now in the business world. David Petraeus I'm just another non-native whose mom told him we were part-Cherokee. W. Kamau Bell Attacking school segregation requires all hands on deck. We in the charter sector must move beyond our traditional comfort zone, serving disadvantaged students, and meet the demands of parents who have other high quality options. Eva Moskowitz Since I was, like, an infant... I remember being in love with televisi...

I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to

advance policies that level the playing field for American workers and incentivize investing in jobs here at home.Elizabeth Esty Every woman needs a private pin money stash. That is her own personal stash of cash to do with whatever she wants. It gives a woman freedom even if she doesn't spend it - especially if she doesn't spend it.Sarah Ban Breathnach For each project I do, I try to surprise myself, do the unexpected, and change my own status quo. From the One Laptop Per Child, the Herman Miller Sayl, or the latest Movado watch collection, there is always an insecurity about being able to do something important. I think each of those projects makes me feel like we have progressed.Yves Behar If you're going to be a big tent party as we are, and you're going to help elect democrats who have generated support in their communities... the will of those voters is the will that we must respect.Tom Perez There is an obvious truth here that must be spoken. The trut...

When I was young, my dad, a veteran who attended college on the GI Bill, lost his

job at age 55 when the company he worked for was sold. My entire family pitched in - my mom took in sewing, and I got a minimum wage job after school. Tammy Duckworth Why would you envy a man who doesn't know the names of all the planets, is a 'high functioning' sociopath, and has no friends? Because Sherlock Holmes thinks in all the ways we wish we could. Kyle Hill I really do believe that inner beauty is so much more than any kind of outer beauty. Rachele Brooke Smith I studied arranging and orchestration a number of years ago, so I have a home studio and arrange about three-fourths of my songs on the computer. Since writing orchestration is tedious, I often put an arrangement on the keyboard and let someone better-qualified finish it. Brian Stokes Mitchell New Orleans is like my blood; it's not going anywhere. And then I just take different things that I've learned over the years and add them to what I'm doing with the natural New Orleans sound. Trombone Sho...

We have to prove that digital manufacturing is inclusive. Then, the true narrative will emerge:

Welcome, robots. You'll help us. But humans are still our future. Joe Kaeser I grew up loving cartoons, comics, magic, and writing. Paul Dini Before I went off to Rutgers, I worked in a comic book shop in my hometown. At night, I would work on some comic stories, and after a while, I developed an idea for a weird little superhero spoof comic called 'Cement Shooz.' Christopher McCulloch I think I've had 16 books that purport to be a biography of me. I've never cooperated with someone. Warren Beatty Sometimes, the action genre does get stale. Although I want to go back and see my favorite characters in their tentpoles - and will religiously do that - it's really fun to see breakout ideas and concepts. Let's make some new stories. David Leitch Many tax experts say a key element to any fundamental overhaul is getting rid of certain deductions for businesses - the 'special-interest giveaways that are masked as tax breaks,' as House Republicans describe ...