At the age of nine, I simultaneously fell in love with two Dutch sisters because

they seemed so beautifully strange, and their clothes were mysterious and alluring - added to which, they could not speak a word of English. More than anything, I wanted to connect with them and embark on a vast journey of exploration.
Michael Leunig

I was told when I went for a life-insurance exam when I was 18 that I was not likely to live past 50, so I refused to pay the premium.
Jeffrey Tate

There is no worse situation to be in than Oscar night. Not knowing whether you've won is completely draining.
Nick Park

I don't think I was a year too late or a year too early in retiring. If the Seahawks had been in the playoffs a year later, I might have had some regrets.
Steve Largent

I grew up in dance studios. I was forced to be in several numbers in recitals and dance competitions. I took one tap class - literally one class - and then I quit.
Michael Angarano

My husband is pretty particular about his cars. In his opinion, the Mercedes are the best of the best.
Lauren Lee Smith

Slavery didn't break up the black families as much as liberal welfare rules.
Andrew Young

When I was younger, I was drawn to Ayn Rand books and other works of fiction celebrating individualism.
David Harsanyi

Performing is my passion. Being onstage is at once exhilarating, beguiling, and fulfilling. But it's hard.
Monica Raymund

Man, double-faced by nature, is placed by Revelation under a sharp, precise external rule, controlling his actions and his thoughts.
Sabine Baring-Gould

Gemeoss

While the past asks only to be remembered, a woman's memory alters on her behalf

and in her best interests. Memory - the vain old biddy - cannot resist penciling a few slight, cosmetic revisions in the margins of the past.Sarah Ban Breathnach Between 1958 and 1963, I sold about 40 million records - to the shock of my mother and father because I was always playing Beethoven. But I bought my mother a mink stole. She was very happy, and she said, 'I think this is better than Beethoven.'Neil Sedaka I am a huge advocate for anti-bullying in our youth. What I have seen with the rise of social media is that children are not facing bullying on a playground, they are facing it on their cell phones.Whitney Wolfe Herd I enjoy fighting. It's one of my favorite things to do in the world, so I'm just enjoying every minute of it.Donald Cerrone No American should have to live in constant fear that their employer can fire them just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.Jared Polis There's a lot of stuff out there that government s...

Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds,

there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God. Pope Francis Somebody captures an incredible video, shares it online, and inspires millions of other people to go and do the same with their GoPros, and then it happens again and again - and what you've got is this incredible snowball of stoked customers capturing and creating rad content with their GoPros. Nick Woodman In my life, I'm just looking for that life of integrity that my father had. I have a good heart; I'm not a heartbreaker. Johnathon Schaech 'Titanic' made me want to tell stories... To have all these characters and costumes and have ambition and think big and have dreams... It came at a very troubled period of my life. Xavier Dolan We had a great dramatics department in school, so I did a lot of plays and theatre there. Later, when I was the captain of our student's ward, I figured out that if you find something you really love to do, you don't have to ...

The negative effects of combat were nightmares, and I'd get jumpy around certain noises and

stuff, but you'd have that after a car accident or a bad divorce. Life's filled with trauma. You don't need to go to war to find it; it's going to find you. We all deal with it, and the effects go away after awhile. At least they did for me. Sebastian Junger Kids are falling through the cracks and nobody notices it. That to me is what's wrong with the school system. Melinda Gates Of course in the first matches you are more careful, perhaps more careful than you should be. Diego Maradona The songs were really complicated. I used to meet people in bar bands who were trying to play our songs and they were really struggling with it. Technically it was really difficult stuff. Kip Winger We all have sadness in our life and things that we can draw upon. Sherilyn Fenn My greatest life lesson has been that life can change in a second. This is why it's important to always live your best possible life and to do what you can for others. Niki Taylor When I ...

Marriage of attraction is a gamble anyway, so you might as well marry into a

family that is similar to your own, and make that much less of an adjustment. But the 'love marriage', as it is called, is equally common in India now. But it would be interesting to do a comparison of what would work better. Marriage is hard work, and it is a gamble. Mira Nair Democracy fascinates me. Lee H. Hamilton What is human warfare but just this; an effort to make the laws of God and nature take sides with one party. Henry David Thoreau A lifetime of training for just ten seconds. Jesse Owens I think one ages and one dates. I tend to have a good deal of difficulty in liking some of the new poets. James Laughlin I also write poems, so that is something that I really enjoy. Billy Sherwood This principle is old, but true as fate, Kings may love treason, but the traitor hate. Thomas Dekker It becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realize that the only vehicle for change are these people who have lost their personality. Steven Biko T...

Right now, there is no way that the federal government can prevent someone who's on

the terror watch list from buying a gun - none. Ted Deutch Of course we want to pocket Fisker. But we will bid rationally. Whatever the result, nothing can stop us from making electric cars. Lu Guanqiu Next to religion, baseball has had a greater impact on our American way of life than any other American institution. Herbert Hoover One of the favorite conservative themes is that the cure for poverty is more marriage and earlier marriage. We hear that all the time; there have been billions of dollars now, between the Bush administration and the Obama administration, which has continued the marriage education program, on trying to get more people to get married. Rebecca Traister It's troubling that by eliminating weekend voting hours, the state of Ohio specifically banned a popular voting time of choice for minorities. In Cuyahoga County, which I represent, 56 percent of weekend voters in 2008 were African American while adult African Americans comprise 28 percent of the ...

Remember that we can only in our forebrains handle 5-7 items. Our backbrains can handle

massive amounts. So when you're given a problem, think about it before you go sleep, and chances are you can solve it by the next morning. Nolan Bushnell I got one letter at the very beginning, like, in the first season, saying - from a woman who was very religious, very Christian, saying how wrong she thought the show was, but she thinks it's the funniest show on television. Sean Hayes The way I look at - speaking as a woman - I understand what it means to be a daughter, and to be a wife, and to be a mother, and also to be a career woman. The multiple roles that women can play in a society if given the opportunity is really a tremendous asset. Margaret Chan Being chronically shy I needed to create a persona for myself and be involved with a band where I could be ruler of my own kingdom. Then Pulp became hugely popular and I lost control of it, which is when it all went wrong. Jarvis Cocker The advanced levels which the democratic world has attained at the end of le...

Remember the rights of the savage, as we call him. Remember that the happiness of

his humble home, remember that the sanctity of life in the hill villages of Afghanistan, among the winter snows, is as inviolable in the eye of Almighty God, as can be your own. William E. Gladstone It's nice to have a lot of people in the field. Independent, third party, Libertarian, Reform and other party candidates can do what they want to do. I welcome them to the race. John Murray To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good but that most people can't eat it. Leo Tolstoy We're aligning ourselves with Kerry. Our allegiance will be for peace, against war, no more deaths for oil, and for a dialogue between the government of Spain and the new Kerry administration. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero I endeavor to be wise when I cannot be merry, easy when I cannot be glad, content with what cannot be mended and patient when there be no redress. Elizabeth Montagu Someti...

Seeing Taylor Swift live in 2013 is seeing a maestro at the top of her

or anyone's game. No other pop auteur can touch her right now for emotional excess or musical reach - her punk is so punk, her disco is so disco. The red sequins on her guitar match the ones on her microphone, her shoes and 80 percent of the crowd. Rob Sheffield On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Directive Number 21, better known as Operation Barbarossa. Leopold Trepper Let nobody be fooled, the next two quarters are not going to be easy either in terms of growth or employment. Luis de Guindos And, gentlemen, they have not yet done so, and it is quite clear that no Americans, no people in the world probably, are going to war with the Soviet Union. Paul Robeson I love New York City. Li Na I do more work in Britain than I do anywhere else in the world. Edwin Starr I've never made any money off of any of my films. Statement of fact. So without commercial work, I would be in big trouble. Errol Morris I love being black in America, and especially being black in Hollyw...

I think airports are places of huge human drama. The more I see of it,

the more I am convinced that Heathrow is a secret city, with its own history, folklore and mythology. But what has surprised me is the love the people who work there feel for the place. Everyone seems to think they are plugged into something majestic. Tony Parsons A lost of people recognize me and maybe will ask for an autograph, but it's nothing like if Elvis would've done something like that, 'cause he's so popular, or maybe The Beatles 'cause they stirred up a lot of action. Mickey Gilley Conscience is a coward, and those faults it has not strength enough to prevent it seldom has justice enough to accuse. Oliver Goldsmith I'm not someone who believes in wasting my vote. Robert Carlyle It's going to be very interesting to see somebody playing me. Tippi Hedren I could be wrong, but I think heterosexual marriage is threatened more by heterosexuals. I don't know why gay marriage challenges my marriage in any way. Elizabeth Edwards The cl...

I can play guitar - but I can't really. I wouldn't say I'm talented at

it. I just kind of watch videos on YouTube, and I follow the instructions... OK, yeah, my hidden talent: I'm good at following instructions!Chloe Kim I change my beauty routine every six months, but I make sure to use products that are light and gentle.Chiara Ferragni I loved playing with a doll as a youngster. I liked dressing her up and combing her hair. This one doll had a really big face and hair and earrings. I had her for a long time and only got rid of her when I was at high school.Michelle Carter In 2008, Senator John McCain forbid his staff from using an ad that referred to his opponent Barack Obama's inflammatory former pastor Jeremiah Wright or from raising that issue in any other way. He believed it was a sneaky way to use Obama's race against him.John Dickerson Nom is a place for food lovers.Steve Chen I thank Secretary Clinton and her team for recommending me to serve as the permanent chair of the 2016 Democratic National Convention. It is an ho...