How do you solve a mystery? How do you write a book? The techniques for

starting both are surprisingly similar. Find an intriguing question and, pen and dagger tucked under cloak, search for clues.
Claire Cameron

If everyone's just saying what they feel and doing whatever they want, there's no drama in the world. And there's also no truth to it, 'cause that's just not the truth.
Martin Freeman

Say what you will about Queen Eleanor, she was a savvy, quick-witted woman who made her mark on history. And as the founder of the Courts of Love, what better patron monarch could there be for a romantic novelist?
Lauren Willig

Life should not be a funeral march to the grave. We should have the capacity for being able to lift up not just public dialogue, but lift up each other in a greater cause of nationhood.
Dennis Kucinich

A core part of Teach For America's mission has always been affecting positive change in the traditional public school system.
Wendy Kopp

I don't think things happen for a reason, but I think it's perfectly possible to experience life meaningfully.
Glen Duncan

The experience of being a young, blonde, naive but well-intentioned young producer was both intimidating and eye-opening.
Clarissa Ward

While I can see how the government has, at times, wasted taxpayers' money, and I can admit that too often its programs are ineffective, I also can see the good that government does.
Tony Campolo

The real mariachis in Mexico are singers like Agustin Lara and Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete - the Golden Era of Mexican Filmmaking. Mariachis sing very soft and very beautiful. That's old-school mariachi. They are caressing the songs.
Jaime Camil

I'm a winner; I win most of the time. But in order to be a winner, you have to lose some of the time. I'm a terrible loser.
Coolio

It's time to open the space frontier to citizen explorers.
Buzz Aldrin

Gemeoss

I came to the United States in the early '80s and was welcomed with open

arms and given the opportunity to pursue my dreams. God has been very kind to us. My family and I are fortunate enough to be successful and we feel a tremendous responsibility and obligation to give back to our great country. Naveen Jain I like to move forward and notice things along the roadside that indicate where I should go. Josh Homme We knew that you don't get to be world champions without a struggle. Eric Cantona I can't speak for all women, but I do think that... I mean, me and my girlfriends, we definitely... we're in crisis on a continuous basis...or at least monthly, for sure, I don't know. Helen Slater I left school at 16 but I wish I'd gone to university - I think I would have studied English literature. I had a knack for that. But I don't think you have the kind of wisdom at 16 to make that decision. Brendan Coyle The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell. Simone We...

If you... scaled down human beings, scaled down society, if you land with a group

of little boys, they are more like a scaled-down version of society than a group of little girls would be. William Golding I've been performing since I was a child; my mother would have to pull me aside and tell me that I wasn't onstage. I was a cheerleader, president of choir, and in the school play. Aja Naomi King I am a very strong supporter of our government's view that it is important to engage with all countries around the world - very much including Russia. Chrystia Freeland I was wrapping up my stint on 'Daredevil' co-writing with Andy Diggle during the Shadowland story, when Marvel asked if I was interested in doing something else with DD but a bit different. When they explained the purpose of the 'Season One' books, I was intrigued - I'm a big advocate of books for people new to the medium - and said yes. Antony Johnston Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw ...

I remember when I was in third grade, I was in a classroom, and the teacher said,

'What do you want to do when you get older?' We were going around the room. I said, 'I want to be a professional basketball player.' She's like, 'That's not realistic.' I thought to myself, 'OK, watch.' Zach LaVine Professional wrestling is my first love, and I will continue to do that, but if I get a good offer for a film or a show, I would love to take it up. Sangram Singh I had this dream in my head of, if I got hired by 'SNL, what that moment would be like. And I dreamed that I would, like, collapse on the sidewalk and cry to the heavens. I got this call, and it didn't happen naturally. But I did it anyway because I wanted to have that moment. So I did collapse. Kate McKinnon It's funny: I don't feel like I have any particular privileged feeling for the Fifties. Todd Haynes Stock market goes up or down, and you can't adjust your portfolio based on the whims of the market, so you have to have a strategy in a position and s...

The PhD system is the real root of the evil of academic snobbery. People who

have PhDs consider themselves a priesthood, and inventors generally don't have PhDs. Freeman Dyson I don't know nothing about communism. But I know the Albanians loved me. Same reason as anyone else loves me. Because I made them laugh. Norman Wisdom I am proud to be an American, and proud that such beliefs are at the core of our country and its citizens. John Linder I have tried for much of my life to write as if I was composing my sentences to be read posthumously. Christopher Hitchens I think it's not inaccurate to say that I had a perfectly happy childhood during which I was very unhappy. Joss Whedon People that have been interested in our work for awhile... those are the last people you want to disappoint. Joel Coen I write music people enjoy playing and listening to, and I have a group that loves playing the music. Chuck Mangione Our choices are going to determine the future for our children, our children's children, and their children. I take ...

Mike Schur knows exactly what everything should look like but, at the same time,

is super collaborative and loves working with actors that make choices and bring stuff to the table. D'Arcy Carden Effective cybersecurity policy will depend on active and continued collaboration between public and private sectors. Dan Lipinski There was certain points shooting 'Spring Breakers' where I wasn't uncomfortable at all, and that let me be free. It allowed me to play with what I love, so that's what I wanted to do with my music. Selena Gomez Don't wait for inspiration. Learn to cultivate it. Nick Petrie All Western cities face significant challenges on social integration. Our populations are booming, but social integration is not keeping pace. Rapid growth is a sign of our success, but it also puts stress on housing, infrastructure - and on communities. Sadiq Khan What I tell myself is that there is never going to be another 'Gone Girl' for me. I mean, I really believe that. I think I'll write other good books; I have faith in that. Gilli...

Santa is our culture's only mythic figure truly believed in by a large percentage of

the population. It's a fact that most of the true believers are under eight years old, and that's a pity. Chris Van Allsburg No man or woman is an island. To exist just for yourself is meaningless. You can achieve the most satisfaction when you feel related to some greater purpose in life, something greater than yourself. Denis Waitley There is only one thing I want. I would like to be seriously ill, and to hear nothing more about him for at least a week. Why doesn't something happen to me? Why do I have to go through all this? If only I had never set eyes on him! Eva Braun The very greatest things - great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty. Samuel Smiles A playwright must be his own audience. A novelist may lose his readers for a few pages; a playwright never dares lose his audience for a minute. Terence Rattigan Our bodies are shaped to bear chi...

I didn't understand the Weber bar and how gravitational waves interacted with it.

I sat and thought about it over a weekend, trying to prepare for the lecture for the following Monday. I asked myself how would I do it. The simplest way... was a thought experiment. Rainer Weiss Bollywood is getting bigger and better. Jacqueline Fernandez I've always loved magic. Elliot Knight In a sensibly organised society, if you improve productivity, there is room for everybody to benefit. Geoffrey Hinton As I explained when I announced that I was turning down a potential opportunity to serve as Secretary of Education, I voted for Hillary Clinton and was sorely disappointed she didn't win. Eva Moskowitz We have too few college graduates. We also have too few people who are prepared for college. David Autor One of the things I've always loved about genre, comic books, science fiction and fantasy is that there's a certain level of playfulness to them, and pure imagination and creativity. Noah Hawley There will always be a place for 'The Ultimate Fighter.' Mi...

I like challenges, and thus, I keep trying something different and new every time. And

these challenges and interests turn into passion. Shaheer Sheikh Miyazaki movies were what I was raised on. I've watched them since I was very young, and I've been greatly shaped by them. Mitski How come women are treated differently from men all the time? Not only handicapped people, but women - and handicapped women, forget it! Teri Garr If you reach a point where your entire farm system is in the big leagues, you've traded a couple guys for players who are now in the big leagues, you know what you do? You start over in your farm system, and you keep developing the talented players you have. Theo Epstein Voter suppression anywhere hurts our democracy everywhere. Jason Kander My mother often tells me not to drive back home late in the night. But like all youngsters, I suggest that there is nothing to worry. I tell her I have my driver, I have my security. Rakul Preet Singh Although it's depressing to admit this, more than a handful of post-'Donnie Brasco' Al ...

We can't fool ourselves that they will ever be enough to overthrow Capitalism. If we're

serious about that we need to organise ourselves in our workplaces and communities, making the links with other workers internationally. John Blair I'll never get used to living without Mo, but the painful things that surround what happened to him aren't so painful any more-not so raw or so new. Robin Gibb When I was growing up, it was 'Communists'. Now it's 'Terrorists'. So you always have to have somebody to fight and be afraid of, so the war machine can build more bombs, guns, and bullets and everything. Cindy Sheehan We have to make sure that we are a force for peace and stability in the world, and that we're prepared to defend freedom and the security of the American people. Thad Cochran I think people are entitled to march without a permit. When you have a few hundred thousand people on the street you have permission. Tom Hayden Never rise to speak till you have something to say; and when you have said it, cease. John Witherspoon ...

I keep getting amazing things to bring to life. There's always something to discover with

'Dr. Bailey,' something that brings her home to the audience, something that makes people say, 'I know that woman. I work with that woman.' It's incredibly flattering and I'm still finding new things with her all the time. Chandra Wilson Writing a song is actually quite easy. Writing a good one is very, very difficult. Joe Elliott It is one of the most effective attitudes of the neurotic to measure thumbs down, so to speak, a real person by an ideal, since in doing so he can depreciate him as much as he wishes. Alfred Adler One travels so as to learn once more how to marvel at life in the way a child does. And blessed be the poet, the artist who knows how to keep alive his sense of wonder. Ella Maillart The power of imagination makes us infinite. John Muir Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' is my go-to song to pump myself up if I'm having a tough time or if I get really nervous right before a speech. Sara Blakely I get and read an enormous...