A common defense among obituary-fanciers such as myself is that the obit is not about

death at all. It is about life. This is true since an article about the condition of deadness would make for turgid reading at best.
Tom Rachman

The thing about being an outsider... is that it teaches you to hear what people are thinking because you're constantly looking for the people who just don't give a damn.
Mike Nichols

Do it, do it right, pay close attention to the product, and over time, you will win.
Mickey Drexler

Labor has a proud history of tackling discrimination and introducing important social reform.
Lara Giddings

When I was a child, it was cool to be a scientist.
Michio Kaku

I have always loved blizzards, if only because of the driving experience - which is definitely an acquired taste.
Hunter S. Thompson

If you just, pretty much, take a random 15-month-old, just sit and watch them for 10 minutes and count out how many experiments, how much thinking you see going on, and it will put the most brilliant scientist to shame.
Alison Gopnik

Chemistry is so important and so unpredictable. Sometimes you get in a room with someone where aesthetically you make perfect sense as a couple, and then you read, and you're both kind of sitting there like, 'This isn't working for some strange reason; it just doesn't really pop.'
Margot Robbie

For many years, we have repeated that the direct-to-consumer channel is growing and capturing a larger share of our customers' wallet.
Richard Hayne

I wasn't predicted to be anything. I just followed an inner spirit, and it put me in the right place and the right time. I didn't want to be the mayor of Atlanta. I didn't want to run for Congress. I didn't want to work for Martin Luther King Jr. I wanted to work close to him and be a writer and write about the movement.
Andrew Young

Gemeoss

When I was 17, I worked in a mentoring program in Harlem designed to improve

the community. That's when I first gained an appreciation of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African-Americans rose to prominence in American culture. For the first time, they were taken seriously as artists, musicians, writers, athletes, and as political thinkers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar I only make movies that are interesting to me. Brian Grazer I wouldn't say I was organised at all. I just have to prioritise. Is it more important for them to be organised, or to have their dinner, do you know what I mean? Jo Brand The courage in journalism is sticking up for the unpopular, not the popular. Geraldo Rivera A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. Bertrand Russell I think Mick Jagger would be astounded and amazed if he realized that to many people he is not a sex symbol, but a mother image. David Bowie I enjoy my job as long as I can create a character, otherwise it's boring. Jav

That's what I think our jobs as parents are, to educate as much as possible...

I tell them to follow their bliss. The people who follow their bliss in this world tend to be the more happier people. Art Alexakis The only time I waste is time I spend doing something that, in my gut, I know I shouldn't. If I choose to spend time playing video games or sleeping in, then it's time well spent, because I chose to do it. I did it for a reason - to relax, to decompress or to feel good, and that was what I wanted to do. Simon Sinek Meat workers may have been looked down upon socially, but at least they were well-paid and were a fit and lively bunch as a result of hard, honest physical work. Michael Leunig I decided that I wanted a farm back in 1940 when I was with the Dodgers. I tried to find one within commuting distance of New York. Larry MacPhail Oh God, are you supposed to collect things? I don't collect things. I like throwing things away. Caitlin Moran My first phone was two tin cans tied together with string, and it worked pretty good. Do

It had to happen to me sometime: sooner or later, I would have to lose

sight of the cutting edge. That moment every technical person fears - the fall into knowledge exhaustion, obsolescence, techno-fuddy-duddyism - there was no reason to think I could escape it forever. Ellen Ullman Innovation and its allure can be dangerous. It can draw you away from the user, from the intended outcome, and may be the ultimate demise of otherwise great intentions. Mark Brand My voice is different, but I don't think I'm the only one with a different take on pop music. Charli XCX In South Africa, we drive on the left-hand side, and most of the cars are standard, so I learned with a full-gear transmission with a clutch and hill starts. I've never driven an automatic until I came to Canada. Jodi Balfour Mexico has 44 treaties with other countries that make it very advantageous to do international shipping from Mexico rather than from the United States. Wilbur Ross Winning HOYS set me up for the future and prepared me for riding in front of lots of

Given Pounds and five years, and an ordinary man can in the ordinary course, without

any undue haste or putting any pressure upon his taste, surround himself with books, all in his own language, and thence forward have at least one place in the world. Augustine Birrell Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud, and that the major cancer research organizations are derelict in their duties to the people who support them. Linus Pauling A Bush Administration will, I believe, enjoy a better relationship with the new Congress, although President-elect Bush will be faced with real challenges in getting along with the Congress. Richard V. Allen I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for to believe the white man any more. Black Kettle When you finish a poem, it clicks shut like the top of a jewel box, but prose is endless. I haven't experienced an awful lot of clicking shut! Kenneth Koch I thin

As a Midlander and a big walker, I'd always loved ridge and furrow

fields, the plough-marked land as it was when it was enclosed. It is the landscape giving you a story of lives that ended with the arrival of sheep. Jim Crace I think it's really rare to see women on television who are brilliant, selfish, vain, fallible - and I feel like I have all those capacities in myself, so it's good to see people in the media representing all of those things. Kerry Bishe I never went after fame. It fell into my lap. Caitlyn Jenner My mom and dad were actors when they were younger and had a horrible experience of it. My dad became a literary agent and my mom a casting director. Daniel Radcliffe I have this idea of trying to catalog all the genes on the planet. Craig Venter The wind from the Kingdom of Heaven has blown all over the world, and shall blow for centuries yet. George William Russell I always said if I played a drag queen, I'd want to create a template with the realness they talk about in 'Paris Is Burning.' Billy P

You can't do anything if a person says no. In such a case, there's nothing

you can do - unlike the popular cliche that pressure is exerted, or that maybe an unwilling source is done away with. Markus Wolf Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true. Julius Caesar If you start to think of your physical and moral condition, you usually find that you are sick. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Self-respect: the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious. H. L. Mencken The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo. Desmond Morris At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time. Ovid I have no inflated ideas about success anyway. Trevor Dunn

There is nothing on earth so easy as to forget, if a person chooses to

set about it. I'm sure I have as much forgot your poor, dear uncle, as if he had never existed; and I thought it my duty to do so. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Regaining the Champions Cup is not going to be easy. Luis Figo I think anyone would want to see their favorite band in a small club over a large stadium. Bill Wyman I'm told leather drives men up the wall. I like wearing it because it because it feels nice. Honor Blackman There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds. Alfred Lord Tennyson The trouble with baseball is that it is not played the year round. Gaylord Perry The luxury of our position now is that we can almost assemble any team to address any issue. Rem Koolhaas

You could lose hundreds or thousands one day on paper and gain it all back

the next, and it has literally no effect on your immediate future, provided the money you have in the market is money you're investing for the long haul (meaning at least three to five years). Jean Chatzky My fans are pretty spot-on with their gifts. This girl that was super into baking had made this entire batch of cookies - there were one with a dandelion on it, one with a trailer, and some had my face. Kacey Musgraves As president, I would promote a Fair and Flat Tax plan, known as the 'EZ Tax.' My tax plan would be the largest tax cut in American history, reforming individual, business, and worker taxes. Rand Paul My kids' books all have a darkness to them. David Small Broken families not only affect the people involved, but they have an impact on public policy decisions in Washington, D.C., and state capitols around the nation. James Lankford My parents are a wonderful mixture of bohemian eccentric, but also incredibly practical and not airy-fairy.

We try to make the name longer and longer every year. First, it was 'Larry

the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular.' Then it was 'It's a Very Larry Christmas.' Now it's 'Larry the Cable Guy's Hula-palooza Christmas Luau.' I'll tell you what it is: It's funny. That's what it is. Who cares what the name of it is? It is a funny special. Larry the Cable Guy You shouldn't feel guilty about taking time for yourself. Every so often, everyone needs to give themselves a big ol' bear hug and treat themselves to some TLC. Sean Covey I'm in the NFL now, and it's nothing like what we did at USC. Not at all. The only difference between my college and other colleges is the games we won and the attention we got because of it. Obviously being in Los Angeles plays a huge role in the publicity. We don't have a football team in L.A., so we kind of are like the pro team. Ryan Kalil People call me a hermit. But I'm happy. Sage Stallone Do glassmakers not have the ability to knead their own agates, ma

We have teams of people working on electric cars. So you never know - you may find

Virgin competing with the Tesla in the car business as we do in the space business. Richard Branson The demons you have are what motivate you to make your art. This is what drives the detective, this is what drives the painter, this is what drives the writer: a conflicting urge to forget pain and at the same time remember it and fight for some kind of justice. I know these powerful things are inside of me and everyone in some way or another. Tom Reiss Would it be a big step forward for the LGBTQI community if there were same-sex couples on 'Strictly?' Do me a favour. Some things ain't politics, and 'Strictly' is one of them. Robert Rinder I haven't made a career off my looks, thank God, but hopefully how I've moved people emotionally, the directors I've been able to work with, and the stories I've been a part of. Juliette Lewis Diverse groups do best at complex problems and innovation when the facts aren't clear: each individual's perspecti