I love a well-plotted story. But I'm just not that kind of writer, and it's

not necessarily by choice. When I manipulate plot, I feel I lose authenticity.
Alice McDermott

I made three short films of my own which I wrote, produced, directed... you did everything in those days. My favourite one was something I shot on VHS... a little documentary.
Asif Kapadia

Everything comes out in blues music: joy, pain, struggle. Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance. It's about a man and a woman. So the pain and the struggle in the blues is that universal pain that comes from having your heart broken. Most blues songs are not about social statements.
Wynton Marsalis

There's still a lot I'm angry about, a lot of human behaviour that's appalling and despicable, but you choose what you can fight against. I always thought if I could just put something in words perfectly enough, people would get the idea and it would change things.
Neil Peart

I'm not specifically attached to anything other than trying to, in my personal life, fight against where I see right wing thinking. Whether it be around my dinner table or on the street or somebody reading the New York Post.
Janeane Garofalo

Sloppy language leads to sloppy thought, and sloppy thought to sloppy legislation.
Dick Cavett

It's interesting - a lot of what you accomplish in your lifetime either as an individual or as a company is determined by other people. I mean, you can do interview after interview and defend a point of view, but more often than not, the collective kind of opinion will be the one viewed historically and taken as gospel.
Jim Lee

Mike Matheny, Fernando Vina, Edgar Renteria, Mark McGwire and Darryl Kile... before he died. Those guys took me under their wing and taught me the way to play the game the right way.
Albert Pujols

One thing that I get from a lot of people with 'American Gods' is people saying that they would love some kind of glossary with a list of all the Gods and who they are, so that they can look them up.
Neil Gaiman

In order for Obamacare's cost structure to work, millions of Americans must sign up to pay inflated prices; that would help pay for the subsidies to cover insurance company costs on those with pre-existing conditions.
Ben Shapiro

Gemeoss

I would have to say the most challenging thing about directing is the sheer stamina

because... as a director, you're always doing something. Someone always needs to talk to you. There are always decisions to be made and every day for as long as the movie goes on. So it's a marathon... You don't have to look nice, but it's all day every day. Michael Urie It's been a joy to be a part of other people's journey, to be able to inspire and be a part of new singers coming up in this business. Christina Aguilera It wasn't that I got pinned against my locker, but I was intensely aware that the things I valued weren't shared by anyone. Girls didn't like me, and I had few friends. Josh Groban We must also win really sufficient and, above all, practical, guarantees for the freedom of the seas and for the further fulfilment of our economic and political tasks throughout the world. Bernhard von Bulow For thugs from the ghetto, violence is a way of life - it's what helps you survive. Suge Knight Now we are using the body scanner to s...

I becan acting when River was doing this TV series and they needed two kids

for the show, so they got me and my little sister, Summer, to do it. After that I did some really weird guest spots with orangutans and stuff. Joaquin Phoenix The voice will guide you-will tell you what to do. In order to do that, you must be quite sensitive with the instrument and accept this daily conversation with your voice. Cecilia Bartoli My wife is always trying to get rid of me. The other day she told me to put the garbage out. I said to her I already did. She told me to go and keep an eye on it. Rodney Dangerfield In the garment trades, on the other hand, the presence of a body of the disfranchised, of the weak and young, undoubtedly contributes to the economic weakness of these trades. Florence Kelley The most powerful person is he who is able to do least himself and burden others most with the things for which he lends his name and pockets the credit. Theodor Adorno America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy. John Updike You know, it was just another pr...

I try to surround myself with the people who genuinely believe in changing things, that are

angry about it and want to make changes and want to make a change and are willing. Lauren Southern Each holiday season, as family members arrive and couches are unfolded, my household settles into a palpable nostalgia. Poorly designed photo albums are pulled from the shelves. Home videos of prepubescent siblings in matching pajamas dance across the television screen. Clint Smith I think movies are overdeveloped in Hollywood. There's a big benefit to not overdeveloping and not being so precious about what you're doing. I think you lose a kind of vitality if you develop something into the ground. Jason Blum I like mash-ups, taking contemporary songs and making them old... old songs, making them new. Bria Skonberg Living in L.A. keeps me in my car a lot, and I'm constantly flipping back and forth between the following Sirius/XM Radio stations: NFL Radio, MLB Radio, POTUS, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. R. J. Cutler We're part of creating this world in which we live, but we...

You know, I love all kinds of activism. I certainly think blacks deserve

to have something whether it is affirmative action or an opportunity that should be opened up to them. But at the same time I believe that people of color are not the only poor people in America and all over the world. Russell Simmons No one will remember that President Obama supported the Arab Spring if it eventually fails and the region collapses back into the political Dark Ages. If we actively engage these movements with advice, with money, and, when necessary, with military force, then we get a vote in how it all turns out. Sebastian Junger One of the things I learned is that you've got to deal with the underlying social problems if you want to have an impact on crime - that it's not a coincidence that you see the greatest amount of violent crime where you see the greatest amount of social dysfunction. Eric Holder I'm not a big gore hound but monster gore is different to me than killing a teenager in any way that you can when another human-like person does it....

I think one of the funniest things about '30 Rock' is that Liz Lemon is

sort of like Buster Keaton - she's always the fool, the joke is always on her. Cristin Milioti There is this sense of David Cameron leading a Government that's badly out of touch with ordinary people's lives. I'd absolutely welcome the opportunity to show all political leaders what life is like for most people. Frances O'Grady This sweet, blessed, God-inspired place called America is a champion that has absorbed some blows. But while we bend, we don't break. This is no dark hour; this is the dawn before we remember who we are. Artur Davis As far as I'm concerned, I didn't dream - ever. Theodore Sturgeon Words fall short sometimes. Jeff Bridges Consciousness is the glory of creation. James Broughton I am very, very anti-slasher. Cassandra Peterson I try to avoid barbecue potato chips. They're my weakness. Gwyneth Paltrow All things are lessons that God would have us learn. Iyanla Vanzant I listen mostly to classical music. ...

That's my personal view I would say most in my caucus agree with that but

there are some who don't and I've always said that on these kinds of moral issues, people have the right to their own opinions. Stephen Harper When you're not blond and thin, you come up with a personality real quick. Kathy Najimy The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit. William Temple I would hope they would be our fellow artists, rather than trying to emulate or idolize clowns like us. Maynard James Keenan Let me give you a definition of ethics: It is good to maintain and further life it is bad to damage and destroy life. Albert Schweitzer The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority. Stanley Milgram Life is not over because you have diabetes. Make the most of what you have, be grateful. Dale Evans I am certainly not an intellectual relativist, nor a moral relativist. Edward Tufte

All my graduation money went to paying for bartending classes so I could

have a side gig. I bartended for two months before I was supposed to move to New York and then two months later I got the job as an understudy in 'Sister Act' and haven't looked back since. Patina Miller Potentially significant, by the way, because we don't know exactly what's in Matt Cooper's notes, and we don't know - and we don't still know the answer to the crucial question of whether it was Rove or somebody else that revealed Valerie Plame's name to him. Michael Isikoff I was playing little league baseball when Bruce Jenner was winning the gold, but I don't think I was really paying attention at that time. It wasn't until 1980 - I think I was 12 years old - that I thought, 'Wow that's what I want to do. I want to be on the Olympic team.' Dan O'Brien A corporation is organized as a system - it has this department, that department, that department... they don't have any meaning separately; they only can functio...

I love the idea that we put in jokes the kids don't get. And that

later, when they grow up and read a few books and go to college and watch the show again, they can get it on a completely different level. Matt Groening Brainy folks were also present in Lyndon Johnson's administration, especially in the Pentagon, where Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's brilliant 'whiz kids' tried to micro-manage the Vietnam war, with disastrous results. Thomas Sowell The most interesting guy I've ever played with was King Hassan of Morocco. I went over there on a trip in the early 1970s, and the King and I played five holes. I've never been that nervous in my life. Lee Trevino George Martin is an incredible writer. Peter Dinklage I do come from a strong family. Arlen Specter I think any cancer patient, if you dig not too deeply, they want to live. Charles Jencks We believe in personal choice, rather than society dictating how we must live our lives. Mike Peters Yeah, I've only been acting since I was 18 out of high...

At first, it was hard to sit down and read the things that people were

saying. A lot of people would've worked their way up to this position and would've gotten a thick skin over a few years' time. For me, though, all this happened in a few months. Carrie Underwood We can never fully repay the debt of our proud nation to those who have laid down their lives for our country. The best we can do is honor their memory, ensure that their sacrifice is not in vain, and help provide for their families. Susan Collins Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. Henry Ford The world is governed by opinion. William Ellery Channing I love to mix it up. I love to keep doing different things. Clive Owen The one thing that disturbs me about Alec is that people don't realize that he's really funny. Daniel Baldwin Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it. Baltasar Gracian