All of us, at some moment, have had a vision of our existence as something

unique, untransferable and very precious. This revelation almost always takes place during adolescence.
Octavio Paz

Ask your editor or ask your agent to find out what the house's goals are for your book before it comes out. Get some sense of expectations so you are prepared.
M. J. Rose

When I first put out music, people didn't know what I looked like. They called it a new type of something; they couldn't put a genre on it - it was where indie and urban kind of meet in the middle. I thought that was quite exciting.
FKA twigs

Changing from biochemistry to law was easy because I was rubbish in the laboratory. I could never decide how much to put in a test tube because I'm not very good at maths.
Michelle Paver

Here's the thing about lingerie: The only time we see it outside our own bedrooms, it is on women who are gloriously freakish in their physical perfection.
Lynn Coady

The defection of Hussein Kamel was a turning point in the U.N.-imposed disarmament of Iraq in the 1990s.
Barton Gellman

One person who has taught me a lot and inspired me a lot was Peter Falk. I was fortunate enough to have worked with him in this movie called 'Vig.' He brought my work to a place where it literally shouldn't have been for another two or three years.
Freddie Prinze, Jr.

I hate bullies. I hate them. I'm not good enough with words to describe how much I hate them.
Andrew Vachss

It's always beautiful to sing with other great voices. I like voices in general. It's a big privilege to have great singers next to me.
Andrea Bocelli

It's quite a pure relationship, designer and muse. I think a beautiful dress on the wrong woman could mean nothing. It has to be the right woman and the right clothes. That's why you need that personal touch.
Jason Wu

It is clear to me that one of the biggest obstacles we face as human beings is the pain we put ourselves through when we resist and wrestle with our emotions.
Debbie Ford

Gemeoss

When I was 17, I worked in a mentoring program in Harlem designed to improve

the community. That's when I first gained an appreciation of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African-Americans rose to prominence in American culture. For the first time, they were taken seriously as artists, musicians, writers, athletes, and as political thinkers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar I only make movies that are interesting to me. Brian Grazer I wouldn't say I was organised at all. I just have to prioritise. Is it more important for them to be organised, or to have their dinner, do you know what I mean? Jo Brand The courage in journalism is sticking up for the unpopular, not the popular. Geraldo Rivera A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. Bertrand Russell I think Mick Jagger would be astounded and amazed if he realized that to many people he is not a sex symbol, but a mother image. David Bowie I enjoy my job as long as I can create a character, otherwise it's boring. Jav...

All I've been a part of has been thanks to the Disney company: the job,

experience, travel, opportunities have come thanks to Disney. Working for Disney was not part of my original plan, but it was part of God's, and it shows that God is still moving. Jodi Benson It almost goes without saying that when you are a startup, one of the first things you do is you start setting aside money to defend yourself from patent lawsuits, because any successful company, even moderately successful, is going to get hit by a patent lawsuit from someone who's just trying to look for a payout. Charles Duhigg People always ask me about 'Girls' with this kind of hesitation. What do I think of it? I love it. It's awesome. I get a lot of Where do you come down on this? I come down on the side of 'Yay, Lena Dunham. Congratulations. I'm jealous.' She's doing something so fantastic. Maybe it's not for everybody, but it certainly is for me. Callie Khouri I've never really understood the term 'Post-Impressionism' as more tha...

Given Pounds and five years, and an ordinary man can in the ordinary course, without

any undue haste or putting any pressure upon his taste, surround himself with books, all in his own language, and thence forward have at least one place in the world. Augustine Birrell Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud, and that the major cancer research organizations are derelict in their duties to the people who support them. Linus Pauling A Bush Administration will, I believe, enjoy a better relationship with the new Congress, although President-elect Bush will be faced with real challenges in getting along with the Congress. Richard V. Allen I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for to believe the white man any more. Black Kettle When you finish a poem, it clicks shut like the top of a jewel box, but prose is endless. I haven't experienced an awful lot of clicking shut! Kenneth Koch I thin...

As a Midlander and a big walker, I'd always loved ridge and furrow

fields, the plough-marked land as it was when it was enclosed. It is the landscape giving you a story of lives that ended with the arrival of sheep. Jim Crace I think it's really rare to see women on television who are brilliant, selfish, vain, fallible - and I feel like I have all those capacities in myself, so it's good to see people in the media representing all of those things. Kerry Bishe I never went after fame. It fell into my lap. Caitlyn Jenner My mom and dad were actors when they were younger and had a horrible experience of it. My dad became a literary agent and my mom a casting director. Daniel Radcliffe I have this idea of trying to catalog all the genes on the planet. Craig Venter The wind from the Kingdom of Heaven has blown all over the world, and shall blow for centuries yet. George William Russell I always said if I played a drag queen, I'd want to create a template with the realness they talk about in 'Paris Is Burning.' Billy P...

I've grown to love Barack Obama. Hillary is no Bernie Sanders. But she's a politician,

and she understands Congress. And I think with that kind of twisted beauty, she could lead our country. Eileen Myles I think people need entertaining, and they like being entertained. That's all I do. I don't do anything important; I just work in entertainment. Martin Clunes Despite all the silver of Diana and Mercury, their images will be found on the lake. For the sculptor looking for new clay, he and his people will be flooded with gold. Nostradamus I've had a long career and I want to continue to have a long career. The way to do that is not to go away. Chris Cornell The Center for American Progress rates Maryland as the best state in the nation for women. I couldn't agree more. Martin O'Malley My position has always been that the House of Representatives does not take reservations. It's walk-in only. Eric Swalwell I want to put concepts in front of people that make them laugh or smile or even hate what I do. I'm not interested in just ...

Anybody who's read 'Pretty Deadly' knows that I tend to savor an immersive, 'You'll figure

it out as you go!' style. 'Pretty Deadly' really does not hold your hand. Kelly Sue DeConnick Porter is my eldest child, and I tended to be fiercely protective when he was criticized. He actually was not a big complainer about school. Simply selective in what he chose to do and say. Susan Shreve I do not like bad photographs. I don't like to be badly lit. There is a fashion, particularly on stage, for very 'toppy' lighting, which makes a child look 50. Ten o'clock is very good. If someone is taking a picture, you say, 'Lamps at 10 o'clock,' then everybody looks lovely. Joanna Lumley I've watched 'Ringu' probably three or four times before writing the first draft of 'The Ring.' And then I'd seen 'Ringu 2' I think once. Ehren Kruger A reputation as a hard worker is a good reputation to have. Kevin Hart My work is not so much a direct commentary as it is an open-ended observation of the absurdities arou...

I have always been fascinated by the human mind, conscious and unconscious - that is

what writing and reading is about, too. The why of your life and the why of your choices and the what has happened that you know and the what that you don't know is really riveting, and psychoanalysts share my wonder at how it all unfolds. Anne Roiphe In 1994, when I came to PepsiCo, there were really three businesses. They were soft drinks, which included both bottling and the concentrate company. There were salted snacks - Frito Lay. And restaurants where we had, we all talk of them, Pizza Hut, KFC and a whole bunch of casual dining chains. Indra Nooyi When I was just starting out in the business, I used to love to watch Lorne Greene doing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I said right then, 'That's what I want to do someday,' and it's been one dream that has come true. Willard Scott One thing I really envy about my friends who have kids is that as their children develop, they're able to revisit their own developmental stages and recognise thems...

I teach at the Stanford Business School, and about half of my students are foreign,

many of whom, I hope, will stay and build businesses in U.S. But I must tell you that they also have opportunities to come back to India and start great companies and operations. Safra A. Catz I knew I loved dancing with my friends. Amy Purdy Artists don't think archivally. Eva Hesse Rural voters believed the Democrats traded millions in campaign cash at their expense. Along came a guy named Trump to give these voters a political voice. Bob Beckel I think 2017 is going to be the year of the grand return of the nation-state, the control of borders and currencies. Marine Le Pen It's not what Apple and Beats are doing today. It's what we believe pairing the two together can produce for the future. Tim Cook I don't feel that as human beings we have an obligation to dislike someone based on their beliefs, and it's OK to have a human reaction to someone even if you feel what they do is hideous and objectionable. You can still enjoy their company and find...

The Who quite possibly remain the greatest live band ever. Even the list-driven punk

legend and music historian Johnny Ramone agreed with me on this. Eddie Vedder As for getting married, I don't have strong feelings, really - I can take or leave it. Katherine Kelly Can I just make a special request in the magic lamp? Can we get, like, Netanyahu or, like, Putin in for 48 hours, you know, head of the United States? Kimberly Guilfoyle Don't get me started on Americans and war. One of the things I learnt over in Italy is how they mythologised the war so that it's all good old gung-ho guys from Omaha and ignored everyone else's role. James McBride Women have to control their fertility for 30 years. Thirty years is a long time not to make mistakes. Katha Pollitt Mass incarceration will have to be dismantled the same way it was constructed: piecemeal, incrementally and, above all, locally. James Forman, Jr. You know the trait of a crocodile, don't you? It never hunts outside water. It always goes into the water to catch its prey. It never goes in the vill...

I reside in a new colony for the Chinese-singing banjo player, with a population of

one. At least I have something I have to do with my life. Abigail Washburn I don't like apartments - the idea of other people living, copulating and defecating above me - they make me feel as trapped as a slice of ham in a sandwich. When I was a student in Paris, I always rented attics right at the top of buildings, and as soon as I was making enough money, I bought houses. Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt The best part of the high school in Hastings must have been the Music Department. Its orchestra and concert band did well in county competitions, and the dance band formed by its students was the best in the region. I played lead trumpet in all of them. Edmund Phelps Everyone knows the link between the environment and their own health. Ma Jun As users replace usage of the web with a mobile, app-centric ecosystem, the phone becomes the center of gravity. In this mobile world, Facebook is just one app on the phone. Keith Teare What was the American Revolution? The people who jo...