A dead tree, cut into planks and read from one end to the other, is

a kind of line graph, with dates down one side and height along the other, as if trees, like mathematicians, had found a way of turning time into form.
Alice Oswald

There are other types of public appearances a writer does in addition to book signings and readings. Each calls for different skills. None of these skills, needless to say, are those that go into writing books.
Jane Lindskold

I think that beauty can injure you to death. It can cause an injury that can never be cured. Or it can so traumatise you, your life changes direction. The beauty of the harmony of nature that is forever lost, or a daily rite that you perform, or diving into the sea for a swim. Those experiences are going to mark you.
Toni Servillo

I wanted to be a novelist from a very early age - 11 or 12 - but I don't think I ever thought I would write historical fiction. I never thought I might write academic history because I simply wasn't good enough!
Pat Barker

The ocean is the last frontier of human empirical knowledge; even the contours on that eighth-grader's globe are the product of a mix of scientific measurement, inference and conjecture.
Alan Huffman

I learned during all my career to enjoy suffering.
Rafael Nadal

You know, I think that people give you back what you gave them. I try to be... as I am.
Pierfrancesco Favino

I'm not the most confident dancer, to be honest. Dancing on film was very difficult for me because you can see it after it's been done.
Sarah Hay

Easy, simple and great laws, which await nothing but a sign from the lawgiver to spread prosperity and vigour throughout the nation, laws which would earn him immortal hymns of gratitude down the generations, are those which are least considered or least wanted.
Cesare Beccaria

I experienced the California Northridge Earthquake of 1994 and the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, and I have thus seen firsthand how terrible and awesomely devastating a force of nature can be.
Paul Watson

Gemeoss

I remember when I got my first (and only) iPad - excitement filled the air

as I opened the box and stared at what was essentially a big iPhone but without the phone part. I knew I really wanted it, and at the same time, I knew I didn't need it. Rhys Darby When I was 28 years old, I thought it would be great to have a movie about my life. I was egotistical and self-centered. Frank Abagnale The pitch that works best in tough economic times is, 'I can do that for less.' Greg Gianforte I think using anti-aging products really helps; the sooner the better, you know? Song Hye-kyo Being in Jamaica, I feel comfortable there. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce I think that, anybody with a strong will to tell a story, then that is fantastic. I think it's fantastic. I think sometimes people have what I'll call an ulterior motive with a story. John Lee Hancock If you really think about the fabric of the United States, or the finance of any economy, finance is a true underpinning of what makes the economy great - if it can be done successfully, ...

My first joke was about a company called Five Star Parking that was all over

Philadelphia: 'Who's reviewing parking lots?' Adam McKay I don't have to try to be perfect because I know that my fans like me for who I am. They like me because I am weird and kind of funky, but still really calm. Bella Thorne It's a funny feeling to work with people who you consider your colleagues and to realize that they actually are young enough to be your children. Alan Alda There was a time when cowboys respected their horses instead of riding them to death just to show off for a crowd. Tommy Lee My friends and family are amazed I've done so well. I was not a model student. No one expected that I'd build a Fortune 500 company at Symantec. John W. Thompson Before 'Moonrise,' I never thought I would be in a movie where I would be struck by lightning. Jared Gilman The theme of sisters - of missing sisters, of needing sisters, the special love that sisters share or the antagonism sisters share - is something that is very close to...

Photographic memory is often confused with another bizarre - but real - perceptual phenomenon called

eidetic memory, which occurs in between 2 and 15 percent of children and very rarely in adults. An eidetic image is essentially a vivid afterimage that lingers in the mind's eye for up to a few minutes before fading away. Joshua Foer One of my favorite films is 'Dumb and Dumber.' I'd love to do some really silly comedy someday. Paul Dano In my family, as in most middle-class Indian families I knew when I was growing up, science and mathematics were held in awe. Aravind Adiga I give the spectator the possibility of participating. The audience completes the film by thinking about it; those who watch must not be just consumers ingesting spoon-fed images. Michael Haneke Even The Impostors, as silly as it is, is a very intimate film, in a way. Stanley Tucci There's no doubt I'm emotional. Sidney Crosby Knowledge is ancient error reflecting on its youth. Francis Picabia I can only be who I am. Enya The South African government, unlike a lot of ...

I remember at 16 years old, growing up in Queens, we were punks, but hey,

when we went to the theater, we wore a shirt and tie! Similarly, I believe that to keep movie theaters in existence, they're gonna have to make 'em an event, have a couch, a table and drinks or something. Otherwise, there's no reason to get out of your bed! James Caan The only reason I went to college was to play basketball. I injured my knee and couldn't play. Jeffrey Dean Morgan Going out and playing football or baseball with the boys, when I was a tomboy, was a great way to learn about winning and losing, and most girls didn't have that experience. Hillary Clinton If I wasn't performing, I wasn't alive. That's the truth. My parents had absolutely no interest in the business, but they knew it made me happy, so they said 'Go for it, girl!' Samantha Barks When approved, the SAFE Port Act will make progress toward protecting the physical infrastructure of our seaports as well as our national economy which is so clearly dependent on the com...

You have to look for story. That's obvious. If that's not on the page, you

can forget it. But I also read whatever character I'm being offered. And if you can cut them out without it affecting the story, then I say no straight away. Liam Cunningham Partner dancing is a cultured act. Eve Babitz If the Planning Commission said those who live above Rs 5,000 a month are not at poverty line, obviously there is something wrong with the definition of poverty in this country. How can anybody live at Rs 5,000? Kapil Sibal The few times in my life where I had four or five movies in a row, it was a nightmare. I felt trapped. I felt like my life was planned for a year and a half or two years, and it was terrible. Most of the time, everything collapsed. Vincent Cassel It was on a trip to Africa with my family - I was eight - and an angry baboon jumped through the window of our parked car. As my siblings escaped, my foot got stuck in the seat. I froze and watched it steal the whole contents of our car around me. Cressida Bonas It's always the case th...

I never remember having a plan. All I could think about was how I was

going to afford to get into college or where I was going to stay because I hated being at home. I didn't really have time to think about anything in the future. I didn't think about a career or anything. I went to uni, got a couple of jobs, so I sort of funded it myself. Ellie Goulding I've always had great faith in the Man Upstairs. Wayne Newton The government can still conduct clandestine searches of innocent people's private information such as library, medical, and financial records. This is wrong and should have been addressed in a true compromise. Jose Serrano I had a job at a movie theater for like a year and a half and then a job at a health food store for, like, two years. Those were the only two jobs I ever had. Reggie Watts Clearly, high energy prices will have a large negative effect on the California economy and could possibly drag the rest of the nation into a recession. Doug Ose Every breath we take as human beings damages the planet. Kevi...

Early on in my life, I had a broken soul. I was abused by my

father, abandoned by my mother and ended up in a destructive first marriage. By the time I was 23, I was broken in my soul. I didn't know how to think right. I felt wrong about everything. But God stepped into my life, and I came out on the other side and didn't even smell like smoke. Joyce Meyer Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are ridiculous-looking - especially her. They're so strange and charismatic and weird. It's pretty hard to take your eyes off them. Chelsea Handler The fiction writer in me likes gaps in stories because I can jump into that gap and try to suggest something. Marlon James I'm allergic to chocolate. I never tried it, and I can't try it, ever. Tony Revolori I think that, by comparison with $2,000 bottles of grand cru Burgundies, first-rate barolos, which sell for under $100, are undervalued ten-fold. Joe Bastianich Not every artist is a role model. Iggy Azalea I drink a lot of juice and eat a lot of vegetables. Jean-Georges Vo...

Volvo has one weakness, and that is in the interior design. They have

not adapted to the Chinese people's perception of luxury when it comes to the interior design, and this has to be addressed. Li Shufu I do think from time to time that conceptual questions arise: What do we mean by equilibrium? What do we mean by this concept and that concept? Edmund Phelps Presidential biography is, by its nature, out of scale; no character is bigger, no action greater, than the person and the doings of the American president. Jill Lepore I like Kelela. I like Twigs. I love the more old school; I hate to say old school, but I love Peaches; I love Peaches, I love Cat Power. And there's constantly new things coming up. But there's something so beautifully powerful - for me being a woman, when there's a woman doing something, it really strikes a chord. Neneh Cherry America has been hit by Allah at its most vulnerable point, destroying, thank God, its most prestigious buildings. Osama bin Laden I live on my phone: I have a bunch of news and ...

If you look at firms like General Electric or other large companies, they don't just

do one thing; they do many different things to generate sources of revenue. Jan Koum The regions of the North Pole situated within the eighty-fourth degree of north latitude have not yet been utilized, for the very good reason that they have not yet been discovered. Jules Verne If Harvard is $60,000 and University of Toronto, where I went to school, is maybe six. So you're really telling me that education is 10 times better at Harvard than it is at University of Toronto? That seems ridiculous to me. Malcolm Gladwell Hard information on the quantity of bogus art sold is difficult to come by, in part because fraud, when discovered by dealers and auction houses, is usually kept secret to boost public confidence in the art market. Peter Landesman Few American presidents have been unhappier or lonelier in office than Woodrow Wilson. Jill Lepore Hollywood exists only for the B-movies. The best things are coming from Europe. Gerard Depardieu When I moved in, I said, ...

The biggest challenge to thriving in the marketplace is identifying the strategic moves that will

keep us ahead of the competition. Bonnie Hammer It's impossible not to constantly adjust the way you look at yourself. James Gunn I remember Karoi as a very hot, flat place, but in reality, it is all hills. We just lived next to an airstrip - the only flat piece of land around. That was my world as a three-year-old and sums up the indelible power of memory to a young child. Alexandra Fuller When I was a kid, getting on Lake Shore Drive from the south side to go downtown was magical. Jamila Woods You're not free in life until you're free of wanting other people's approval. Dawn Steel No one has to agree with everything that someone else says. But in state-to-state relations, we have to understand that we can help each other much more doing it that way. We have to be more generous. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva I've shown that if you dream and are willing to work hard, you can achieve your dreams. Mo Farah When I'm on the court, I feel all problem...