Already 2008 has proved a tumultuous year in terms of global perceptions of China, and

there are still 59 days to go until the Beijing Olympics. The tragedy of the Sichuan earthquake followed hard on the heels of the riots in Tibet and the demonstrations surrounding the Olympic torch relay.
Martin Jacques

I've been writing since I was about thirteen but didn't start a book until 2007. I spent four years writing a sci-fi novel before I wrote 'The Bone Season' at nineteen.
Samantha Shannon

Just make the right estimation of your own strengths and weaknesses, and also that of your opponent.
Anatoly Karpov

People in the U.K. share my bemusement with the United States that America doesn't share with itself. They have a sense of irony, which America doesn't have, seeing as it's being run by fundamentalists who take things literally.
Bill Hicks

Whenever I have free time, I love to just lay in my bed and watch YouTube videos, watch movies. Just basically do nothing.
Bethany Mota

Of all the powers conferred upon government, that of taxation is most liable to abuse.
Samuel Freeman Miller

When you join the NFL, you start from scratch. As long as I've been playing - which has been since I was eight years old - the game becomes harder at every level. Little league, high school, college - they're different stages you have to go through, and professional sport is completely different again.
Reggie Bush

We are continually shaped by the forces of coincidence.
Paul Auster

When screening engineers from other companies, its smart to value engineers from great companies more than those from mediocre companies.
Ben Horowitz

It's honestly true that money means nothing to me.
Lady Gaga

Gemeoss

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 came to the United States in the early '80s and was welcomed with open

arms and given the opportunity to pursue my dreams. God has been very kind to us. My family and I are fortunate enough to be successful and we feel a tremendous responsibility and obligation to give back to our great country. Naveen Jain I like to move forward and notice things along the roadside that indicate where I should go. Josh Homme We knew that you don't get to be world champions without a struggle. Eric Cantona I can't speak for all women, but I do think that... I mean, me and my girlfriends, we definitely... we're in crisis on a continuous basis...or at least monthly, for sure, I don't know. Helen Slater I left school at 16 but I wish I'd gone to university - I think I would have studied English literature. I had a knack for that. But I don't think you have the kind of wisdom at 16 to make that decision. Brendan Coyle The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell. Simone We...

I remember when I was in third grade, I was in a classroom, and the teacher said,

'What do you want to do when you get older?' We were going around the room. I said, 'I want to be a professional basketball player.' She's like, 'That's not realistic.' I thought to myself, 'OK, watch.' Zach LaVine Professional wrestling is my first love, and I will continue to do that, but if I get a good offer for a film or a show, I would love to take it up. Sangram Singh I had this dream in my head of, if I got hired by 'SNL, what that moment would be like. And I dreamed that I would, like, collapse on the sidewalk and cry to the heavens. I got this call, and it didn't happen naturally. But I did it anyway because I wanted to have that moment. So I did collapse. Kate McKinnon It's funny: I don't feel like I have any particular privileged feeling for the Fifties. Todd Haynes Stock market goes up or down, and you can't adjust your portfolio based on the whims of the market, so you have to have a strategy in a position and s...

Mike Schur knows exactly what everything should look like but, at the same time,

is super collaborative and loves working with actors that make choices and bring stuff to the table. D'Arcy Carden Effective cybersecurity policy will depend on active and continued collaboration between public and private sectors. Dan Lipinski There was certain points shooting 'Spring Breakers' where I wasn't uncomfortable at all, and that let me be free. It allowed me to play with what I love, so that's what I wanted to do with my music. Selena Gomez Don't wait for inspiration. Learn to cultivate it. Nick Petrie All Western cities face significant challenges on social integration. Our populations are booming, but social integration is not keeping pace. Rapid growth is a sign of our success, but it also puts stress on housing, infrastructure - and on communities. Sadiq Khan What I tell myself is that there is never going to be another 'Gone Girl' for me. I mean, I really believe that. I think I'll write other good books; I have faith in that. Gilli...

We can't fool ourselves that they will ever be enough to overthrow Capitalism. If we're

serious about that we need to organise ourselves in our workplaces and communities, making the links with other workers internationally. John Blair I'll never get used to living without Mo, but the painful things that surround what happened to him aren't so painful any more-not so raw or so new. Robin Gibb When I was growing up, it was 'Communists'. Now it's 'Terrorists'. So you always have to have somebody to fight and be afraid of, so the war machine can build more bombs, guns, and bullets and everything. Cindy Sheehan We have to make sure that we are a force for peace and stability in the world, and that we're prepared to defend freedom and the security of the American people. Thad Cochran I think people are entitled to march without a permit. When you have a few hundred thousand people on the street you have permission. Tom Hayden Never rise to speak till you have something to say; and when you have said it, cease. John Witherspoon ...

I keep getting amazing things to bring to life. There's always something to discover with

'Dr. Bailey,' something that brings her home to the audience, something that makes people say, 'I know that woman. I work with that woman.' It's incredibly flattering and I'm still finding new things with her all the time. Chandra Wilson Writing a song is actually quite easy. Writing a good one is very, very difficult. Joe Elliott It is one of the most effective attitudes of the neurotic to measure thumbs down, so to speak, a real person by an ideal, since in doing so he can depreciate him as much as he wishes. Alfred Adler One travels so as to learn once more how to marvel at life in the way a child does. And blessed be the poet, the artist who knows how to keep alive his sense of wonder. Ella Maillart The power of imagination makes us infinite. John Muir Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' is my go-to song to pump myself up if I'm having a tough time or if I get really nervous right before a speech. Sara Blakely I get and read an enormous...

When my parents got divorced, I wanted to spend my time laying in the garage

listening to the washer and dryer. Loud, immersive, changing. It was music to me. Brian Reitzell A friend of mine encouraged me to try rapping, so I started experimenting with it, writing verses, seeing if I could fit an extra word or syllable into each line without tripping myself up. K. Flay The sleeplessness is proven; it eradicates your memory. Gaby Hoffmann I was a science fiction geek. That lets you know that they come in all sizes and styles, right? Mae Jemison Most middle-aged white men probably don't know about little old Stormzy from London. Stormzy I have some very dear friends I stalk consistently when I come home. Kim Rhodes When we finished 'Stop Making Sense,' we went right to the San Francisco Film Festival for the world premiere, and people swarmed the stage and started dancing before the first song was even finished. Jonathan Demme I wouldn't be where I am without Evolve. Rafael dos Anjos It has been a great working experience with Sreenu Vaitla. Ram...

When I was studying... there weren't any black concert pianists. My choices were intuitive, and

I had the technique to do it. People have heard my music and heard the classic in it, so I have become known as a black classical pianist. Nina Simone Creation implies authority in the sense of originator. The possibility of a 'Fall' is implied in a Covenant insofar as the idea of a Covenant implies the possibility of its being violated. Kenneth Burke Other people - they practice and they practice... these fingers of mine, they got brains in 'em. You don't tell them what to do - they do it. God given talent. Jerry Lee Lewis In this day and time, with no competition you are really walking a tightrope. I mean you may think that no competition is good, but in reality no competition is really bad. Jerry Lawler I played a heap of snow in a school play. I was under a sheet, and crawled out when spring came. I often say I'll never reach the same artistic level again. Stellan Skarsgard The wisest have the most authority. Plato Francis Webb is easily our gr...

I love the smaller clubs. I love the theaters. I love the festivals. There are

things I don't like. At certain theaters, people can't get up and dance. Sharon Jones Acting is a strange profession, and, yes, sometimes I struggle with its worth, its value in the world. Keri Russell I'd forget the piece just before I went out to do the concerto, the panic was too great. This was not anything that gave me pleasure. This was fulfilling somebody else's dream. Linda Lavin I really liked the Mariachi singing in Westerns. Harry Dean Stanton We are all born marked for evil. Charles Baudelaire Don't take anything from me because I'll track it down. Ursula Andress People here don't identify themselves by their sports team. Michael Wilbon Mumbai may not be my city. But it is my kind of city. Vikas Swarup I'm so obsessed and involved with my son. Tia Mowry I was assigned to the heavy cruiser Chicago. Jack Adams

Atheistic evolutionists believe that nothing created everything - a scientific impossibility. It couldn't

happen. So they redefine the word 'nothing' to mean 'something,' so that in their unthinking minds, they can justify their foolishness. Ray Comfort My life is unrecognisable compared to what it was - 'Game of Thrones' has opened doors that were never there before. But it can be dangerous to see it in those terms, I think. It's best to take it as it comes and work as hard as you can, and hopefully the other things fall into place. Emilia Clarke I think my broadcast partner Mike Gorman said it best. He said there's a generation of fans who know me as a player and there's a generation of fans who know me as a coach and now there's a generation of fans who think I'm Shrek! Tom Heinsohn And we can see the positive impacts right here at Solyndra. Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot. But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations. This new factory is the result of those loans....