I was given the opportunity to write the kind of book that I wanted to

write, rather than one that catalogues where I sang and what I sang and what I wore. I wanted to write a book about an American family, the family that has produced me. The longer I live, the more I realise the incredible support and love we were given as children.
Jessye Norman

I want to knock on people's doors and preach. But I also meet a lot of people on planes and in restaurants, and you can preach with them or place some literature with them.
Serena Williams

Get a really good coat that will last a couple of years and that you can't wait to put on when the weather starts to turn.
Amber Le Bon

I first started writing historical fiction in the late '70s and kept pictures of Kathleen Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rogers on my refrigerator until my first book was published by Avon in 1982. The biggest advantage of this genre for me is that it allows me to blend fact and fiction.
Virginia Henley

Unlike other young actors I've worked with who will remain nameless, Zoey Deutch and Lucy Fry would never go out partying after work, but would immediately hunker down to start working on the reams of labyrinthine dialogue they had to navigate for the next day's work.
Mark Waters

I'm not a follower.
Jon Lester

I believe in doing what I am best at.
N. T. Rama Rao, Jr.

Nothing else is as fulfilling as playing a part in which you are able to have a significant say in the creative process all the way through. How many actors get to do that? It's extremely rare.
Tom Hollander

Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure.
James Altucher

I grew up in a retirement community in Florida.
Megan Boone

If nobody trusts you as president, then you can't get anything done.
Robert Dallek

Gemeoss

This battle for 'common-sense' gun control laws pits emotion and passion against logic and reason.

All too often in such a contest, logic loses. So, expect more meaningless, if not harmful, 'gun control' legislation. Good news - if you're a crook. Larry Elder I drive a lot. Just for pleasure. Sometimes I'll get in the Cadillac and drive around the city or the country, kind of trying to get lost basically. Y'know, just see where roads lead. Frank Black You and I will meet again, When we're least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won't say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again. Tom Petty We must dare to think 'unthinkable' thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world. J. William Fulbright Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. Mary Shelley Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such fr...

We hope and we've made clear that the forces need to come out. It needs

to be full and complete withdrawal. Our position is it needs to be done as soon as possible so that the elections can be free, fair and free of outside influence. Stephen Hadley Parks said, he's guilty and that's the end of the story. Tommy Bond We know that the nature of genius is to provide idiots with ideas twenty years later. Louis Aragon Welcome to the Salvation Army. I've never been associated with an offense so nice about giving the ball away. Hayden Fry I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections, and the truth of imagination. John Keats Russia has gone through eight years of continuing economic pain. Jeffrey Sachs It's nice to get a response from the artists that I cover. Joe Cocker

If you're poor, you don't often live near a good school. If it's a competitive

public school program, our kids are not prepared to enter those programs. Sonia Sotomayor I'm a middle-class, middle-brow novelist. And that's it. It amuses me. Anita Brookner I have always had a very natural connection to the water, and that connection stems from the ocean itself. Aaron Peirsol I got married at a very young age, and of course, for all the wrong reasons, and ended up divorced and lost everything. It was a very difficult time in my life. Willie Aames We have 11 great potato flavors, and customers have been clamoring for tortilla. For over a year, we worked to develop the four flavors of tortilla popchips: chili limon, nacho cheese, ranch and salsa. They're made with traditional stoneground masa, are gluten-free, and have less than half the fat of other chips. Keith Belling I never won anything by myself. I was always strong because of help that gave me extra strength to win. Dan Gable There's a toxicity within gaming culture, and also i...

With hacky sack, somebody brought one to recess in sixth grade and it kind of

all went downhill from there! The same with the yoyo's! One kid brought a yoyo one day and people started getting them. I just kept at it and found that I really loved it. Jason Dolley Shooting movies has changed, and me too - I have changed. And then, every film I do, something in my mind, my soul, changes. My natural change, I change at the same time as the films, I think. Dario Argento It's different as a guest as opposed to being a star of a series. A guest star is a whole different responsibility. It's much different than being a regular. You come in, and it's a lot of unfamiliar faces, and you want to try to fit in as best you can, but also you want to stay there without making waves. Donnie Wahlberg I like to focus on making the music sound simple and true, and very lush and full. I think music should take you to somewhere else where you have the space to contemplate or exercise your imagination. All the while you should be feeling real good, like when y...

The future of the television industry is changing at an unstoppable rate, and it is

exciting to share my experience and thoughts on how this will change the value of content in the digital space. Dana Brunetti I did a pilot for Fox years ago called 'Faceless,' with Sean Bean. I always thought it was such a cool show because it was really raw. I thought we were pushing it. This was back at a time before there was the 'cable standard.' Joe Carnahan I wear two hats. The one is business and increasing my shareholders' value; the other is social responsibility. Guler Sabanci Analysis of soil, grave goods and skeletons has been key to our understanding of archaeology and the migration of peoples, as well as their daily lives. But in mainstream history, we tend to stick to documents. Kate Williams If the nation is rich but people are poor, the country cannot be strong, and society will be unstable. Zong Qinghou I was undeterred by the danger of traveling as a single American woman through Taliban-governed land. I believed in the stories I w...

My hunch is that people often affiliate with causes online for selfish and narcissistic purposes.

Sometimes, it may be as simple as trying to impress their online friends, and once you have fashioned that identity, there is very little reason to actually do anything else. Evgeny Morozov The App Store has democratized the creation of content. As a 12-year-old kid, I was able to put my application on the store. No one knows who's behind the screen so you can't tell I'm a 12-year-old. Nick D'Aloisio It is one of the more striking generalizations of biochemistry - which surprisingly is hardly ever mentioned in the biochemical textbooks - that the twenty amino acids and the four bases, are, with minor reservations, the same throughout Nature. Francis Crick Why is it that our young kids all across America can solve the most complex problems in a video game involving executive decision making and analytical thinking, yet we accept the fact that they can't add or read? Naveen Jain I care so passionately about improving the quality of life for women and girls...

If I'm going to go out to be a solo artist, it's because I want

to do something different without having to wait on someone else's schedule or hobbies or be limited by other people's prejudices. I'd be kind of stupid not to exercise that. Chris Cornell Fear seems to have many causes. Fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of being hurt, and so on, but ultimately all fear is the ego's fear of death, of annihilation. To the ego, death is always just around the corner. In this mind-identified state, fear of death affects every aspect of your life. Eckhart Tolle If you talk about an issue, what comes back is a description of what you're wearing. Reporters only want to know how tall you are and if your teeth are capped. Robert Redford Pay off your mortgage before retirement, and that's one less bill you'll have to worry about when you're on a fixed income. Suze Orman When you think about it, 'Avatar' is almost completely an animated movie. Ridley Scott My personal ambition remains the same - to be crea...

Years ago, when I first started being a big star, I had fans that were

fanatical. It was when 'Jolene' was a big hit. Dolly Parton Books externalise our brains and turn our homes into thinking bodies. John Updike For me, the source material can come from anywhere. It can be a poem, it can be a dream, it can be a movie, as long as the end part of it is interesting - that's what it's about for me. Baltasar Kormakur Netscape was able to get the government working on its behalf. Bill Gates Political novels are full of pitfalls, particularly for a novelist with strong political leanings. Phil Klay I don't say I was 'proceeding down a thoroughfare;' I say I 'walked down the road'. I don't say I 'passed a hallowed institute of learning;' I say I 'passed a school'. Maeve Binchy What you do by having an income tax rate reduction across the board, you really provide great incentives for people to work, produce, and increase output. So I would support a carbon tax in replacement for a progres...

I first came to Brazil in the Sixties. Then I started coming back every year

since touring most of the country. I grew to love it, the people, the music. I thought this is where I belong. I've been living in Brazil for the past 23 years. I call it my stress-free country. Dionne Warwick I think the reason these readers come back to me is because I represent their points of view. It may not be my point of view, but that's OK. Everyone still deserves to have their say. Jodi Picoult Social psychology is especially interested in the effect which the social group has in the determination of the experience and conduct of the individual member. George Herbert Mead I wish all critics, no matter their color, were more sophisticated when it comes to the moral questions a film like 'St. Anna' is trying to raise. James McBride I live with my family. I moved to L.A. eight years ago, and it's the same room. But I'm looking now. I might get a condo. Taylor Lautner The most meaningless term in the English language is 'I take full respo...

Tim Tebow is one of my biggest inspirations. I actually want to be able to

do some of the things that he does in terms of the amount of charity work and the non-profit work, and the way he impacts people off the field. I think that is what is most inspiring to me about him. Jeremy Lin The biodiesel we use is 100 percent, it has no petroleum in it. It was already used in fryers throughout our local area. It's already had one life and now it's going to be used again, which is nice. Daryl Hannah But I've always been fascinated with that prettiest-girl-in-the-class person that I never was, getting inside her head and showing that she's just as tormented and messed up as everybody else. Cecily von Ziegesar Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. I don't think that word - the word pirate - has any real meaning. Or it's something that's had meaning imposed on it. Will Oldham Of cours...