I was never a good student. I had to be dragged into kindergarten. It was

hard to sit and listen to somebody talk. I wanted to be out, educated by experience and adventure, and I didn't know how to express that.
Robert Redford

My mother wanted me to be a writer. But she was a child of the Depression and never understood that she wasn't poor. So, you know, the idea of not having a job, it would creep through. But she tried very hard to be subtle about it.
Richard Greenberg

It's better to be happy than to be well-dressed.
Iris Apfel

I was the only kid who anybody I knew has ever seen actually walk into a lamppost with his eyes wide open. Everybody assumed that there must be something going on inside, because there sure as hell wasn't anything going on the outside!
Douglas Adams

Reading an audio book is a very odd experience because there are three people sitting out there while you're reading in this glass booth, and you can see their reactions.
Ruth Reichl

Barack Obama has been the architect of policies that have hurt our country domestically as well as foreign.
Robert Pittenger

In the story I eventually called 'Archangel' and published in 2008, Eudora MacEachern, working as an assistant to a surgeon at a hospital in Archangel, one night finds outside the gates an exhausted and frostbitten soldier crouched over the reins of a pony sleigh carrying the body of another soldier.
Andrea Barrett

People used to say, 'Andy Serkis lent his movements to Gollum,' and now they say, 'Andy Serkis played Caesar.' That's a significant leap.
Andy Serkis

I grew up pretty much entertaining myself. So I know what its like to be in a room by myself and having fun with something.
Cheri Oteri

Writers collect stories of rituals: John Cheever putting on a jacket and tie to go down to the basement, where he kept a desk near the boiler room. Keats buttoning up his clean white shirt to write in, after work.
Mona Simpson

Gemeoss

We live in a society bloated with data yet starved for wisdom. We're connected 24/7,

yet anxiety, fear, depression and loneliness is at an all-time high. We must course-correct. Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey While not my personal favorite of the Disney princess films, 'The Little Mermaid' wins hands-down in my book for best Disney adaptation. Little girls waited for more than 150 years for Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid' to have a happy ending. Walt Disney finally gave it to her. Alethea Kontis We cannot get by Auschwitz. We should not even try, as great as the temptation is, because Auschwitz belongs to us, is branded into our history, and - to our benefit! - has made possible an insight that could be summarized as, 'Now we finally know ourselves.' Gunter Grass In countries operating a largely capitalist system, there does not appear to be a wide understanding among its actors and overseers of either its advantages or its hazards. Edmund Phelps Mix CDs are interesting. I'm known more for my artist albums...

It's nice coming to Nashville, and we have four-bedroom house and a dog, and we

go swimming a lot. We get down here and spread out a lot, and I miss my sweet tea and my cornbread and my good southern cooking - but I'm down here eating pretty for two weeks and I'm ready to go back to New York City. Justin Townes Earle I hope everybody will go back to the negotiating table. I've always said this is the only way forward. Mohamed ElBaradei I'm the type of artist who touches people, that's the type of artist that I am. Jacob Lusk Writing is a fine therapy for people who are perpetually scared of nameless threats... for jittery people. William Styron Comedy wasn't something I chose - it chose me. Pauly Shore When I heard Aretha, I could feel her emotional delivery so clearly. It came from down deep within. That's what I wanted to do. Whitney Houston When I see old photos of me on the beach I don't look too bad... but it's hard trying to breathe in for such a long time when I spot the photographers! Gary Lineker St...

'Clueless' is an adaptation of 'Emma' by Jane Austen. It works either way: if you

know the book and if you don't. Jason Moore Civilization never recedes; the law of necessity ever forces it onwards. Jules Verne My favorite foods are things that aren't great to eat, like pizza. Stephen Pagliuca My martial arts came a lot from my uncle, who actually taught martial arts through the military. He was a black belt in tae kwon do, but also, he used a lot of military-style fighting where it's not the high kicks or anything like that. It's basically defeat your opponent as fast as possible. Brian Tee Memory is not pure. Memories told are not pure memories; memories told are stories. The storyteller will change them. I've always been interested in that. Alice McDermott It was always a dream as I was growing up. I would watch movies, mostly American movies, and be so engrossed in those stories, all I wanted to do was be there. I wanted to be part of that romance or that fantasy or be that warrior or that struggling soul who finally makes it g...

I grew up listening to John Coltrane and jazz, so they were subtle influences. I

sometimes think about doing some kind of weird jazz record, but I don't know... It's on my list of things to do. I don't want to have to then go promote it. Kim Gordon Fly flight is just a great phenomenon to study. It has everything - from the most sophisticated sensory biology; really, really interesting physics; really interesting muscle physiology; really interesting neural computations. Michael Dickinson Before 'Local Hero,' I'd been knocking about Glasgow in rock bands, drinking too much and generally being 21. My opinion of actors was that they were straight and boring, so you see, I was completely unprepared for being one. Peter Capaldi I think I'm the same dancer everywhere. But I've learned a lot with Bolshoi - the history of the theater, the technique of the theater, different nuances in my technique. David Hallberg Electronic Accounting Systems processed my little payrolls like one big payroll. I did the selling, and the people I ...

I think what I bring to the table is a lot of heart, a lot

of energy, and somebody that works hard. Somebody who hates to lose. Manti Te'o I don't want to start producing dressing gowns and cuff links with the Purdey name stamped on them. Making Purdey the leading gunmaker is our priority. Once we have succeeded in doing that, then we might look at some accessories, but it is a long haul. Johann Rupert I think the power of Stieg Larsson's stories is that he has the guts to show the hidden spots in the side of Sweden. That gave us a push to say that for the first time. That they can't have with the American version. Michael Nyqvist Our brain, our body, craves fat. We cannot help it. That's why a kid will eat a hot dog quicker than a piece of broccoli. Jose Andres Pop stars are so busy having a career that they don't really have a lot of time for activism. Annie Lennox There is no money in the world that would compensate me for writing a lousy book. David Lagercrantz Hawthorne sucks... It's a crazy p...

Before they got vengeful, conservatives had some useful points to make about welfare. Government 'help'

is too often guilt-assuaging gesture. It creates layers of wasteful bureaucracy. Too much help of the wrong sort creates a culture of dependency that swamps our ability to provide. Donella Meadows My husband and I have kept a good balance between the work and the rest. I feel so lucky having a job, and I know so may people who focus too much on work, and their home lives suffer. Jewel Knowledge has always flowed upwards to bishops and kings, not down to serfs and slaves. Julian Assange Am I a Republican? Yes. Am I a Democrat? Yes. Am I a conservative? Yes. Am I a liberal? Yes. John Catsimatidis With my writing, I can still play inside an enchanted castle or live inside an old fort. I can run from ghosts or ride dolphins any day of the week. Mary Pope Osborne To get promoted, company executives need to be able to see you as one of them. Dale Dauten Flirting all starts with eye contact! You can tell a girl is into you if she's across the room and still making eye co...

I remember my brother Nash had just directed me in 'The Square,' and I was

sitting in Australia going: 'No one's called me about working for ages. I don't know if I'm ever going to get another job.' Joel Edgerton For me, being a starter doesn't matter. Of course, I'd like to be in at the end of the game, to be a big part of the team, and to play as many minutes as I can play. But starting and coming off the bench are two different challenges. Sue Wicks Now while the German money is over for Hollywood, I still have $80 million to make movies, and we will have two things coming up: less major movies and the price for actors will go down. Uwe Boll They put chains on me; they chained my waist, my legs. Put me in the back of a squad car, and I literally blacked out. I didn't even - there's whole pieces missing. Jim Bakker Obama has been attacked repeatedly for not wearing a flag pin, with Republicans claiming that his patriotism is in question. It's all a bit silly. Will Thomas I understand why people achieve ...

Both my parents said they never got so many emails from friends and colleagues -

with all the theater work that I've done - than when I was on 'The Good Wife.' Sarah Steele I'm not interested in seeing dance die. It's not to my advantage. Nor is it to our culture's advantage or anybody else's. Twyla Tharp You can be creative in anything - in math, science, engineering, philosophy - as much as you can in music or in painting or in dance. Ken Robinson I actually came to New York because it was very tolerant. You know, it seems preposterous, ludicrous thing to say in an interview, but I came for the anonymity particularly. Deborah Eisenberg There is no doubt in the sanctity of Mecca, but a donkey won't become a Hajj pilgrim by just going through the motions. Rahman Baba One afternoon, on my way to the campus - I was majoring in political science at Nairobi University - a photographer by the name of Peter Beard stopped me in the street and asked me if I'd ever been photographed. Iman Being in the pop group Eternal g...

The majority of the high schools and the public schools in N.Y.C. don't even have

band programs. Hip-hop in a lot of ways is an outgrowth of a lack of instruments and a desire to play music, so we can't really fault the kids for that. Wynton Marsalis It's a choice - there are two different sorts of photographer: those obsessed with the technicalities and those obsessed by the subject. Mario Testino I see film roles as lovely presents that come along now and again. I feel really lucky and say thank you very much. And if they fly me to L.A., I think, 'God, I must really be doing well.' I've worked with De Niro and Brando and Pacino, and that's made me feel very lucky. But the films have never meant a lot to me. Michael Gambon I auditioned nine times for 'Delhi Belly,' and it was torturous! Vir Das We wish Pakistan both stability and security; we expect them to understand our legitimate concerns of preventing people from using its soil to inflict problem in India. Salman Khurshid I have not grown up on movies. I didn't...

Borderline embarrassing fact: I used to have a pseudo line when I was seven called

Zizzy Fashion. I love clothing, and I would eventually like to design as well as act. Zoey Deutch When I was growing up, my family was so poor we couldn't afford to pay attention. Mr. T People who know your work and know your personality, they know your strengths and weaknesses. A director like Guillermo del Toro, he knows more about me than I do. I trust him when he tells me what part I'm going to be playing in something, because he's envisioned that that can only be done by me. He knows it. Doug Jones I love to write. I used to be a math teacher. And I like the idea that other people could write about the same subjects, but no one would write it just the way I do. It's very individual: a child could write the same story as somebody else, but it wouldn't come out the same. David A. Adler I have either run private equity funded companies or been a partner in a private equity fund since 1982. I've had a front row view of the vital role private equity ...