I think public intellectuals have a responsibility - to be self-critical on the one hand,

to do serious, nuanced work rigorously executed; but to also be able to get off those perches and out of those ivory towers and speak to the real people who make decisions; to speak truth to power and the powerless with lucidity and eloquence.
Michael Eric Dyson

Complexity excites the mind, and order rewards it. In the garden, one finds both, including vanishingly small orders too complex to spot, and orders so vast the mind struggles to embrace them.
Diane Ackerman

Corporations are created by the people, acting through their governments. We grant them corporate charters that confer certain legal rights and privileges, like the ability to enter into contracts, limited liability and perpetual life.
Jim McGovern

Because I am really interested in gardening, I do really interesting plants, not even always flowers. And because I have grown them, I really know them like friends. I paint everything from exotic orchids to rosehips growing wild in a hedge. They just have to speak to me.
Emma Tennant

Prior to Magellan, due to the fact that we knew it was so hot on Venus, we thought that the rocks at the surface would behave more plastically, more like Silly Putty than like solid rock in the way that we think of it, like the rocks that I'm sitting on.
Ellen Stofan

I've had a lot of disappointments. I think my biggest disappointment is the failure of elected officials to make good on their promises in regards to the environment or anything else, really. I have very little faith in politicians.
Paul Watson

Our eyeball hours are scarce, indeed. That's why Google wants us to do as much as possible online, in range of their ads, and is willing to spend billions creating more reasons and ways for us to do so.
Douglas Rushkoff

Businesses have come and gone at Homeboy Industries. We have had starts and stops, but anything worth doing is worth failing at. We started Homeboy Plumbing. That didn't go so well. Who knew? People didn't want gang members in their homes. I just didn't see that coming.
Greg Boyle

We can choose a path that leads us into trouble. It all comes down to our decisions at the end of the day.
Gabby Douglas

The separation of church and state was meant to protect church from state; a state that declares religion off limits in public life is a state that declares itself supreme over all religious values.
Ben Shapiro

I've played a lot of villains. The villains are always fun because you can just go fractionally bigger than life. It's always a grey area because you don't want to end up mustache-twirling and making them a little false, but you always get to play a little more, whereas the lead guy has to be a little more straight.
Neil Jackson

Gemeoss

The calls that I have received from President Bush and Vice President

Cheney, the fact that there are other people that are suffering every bit as much as I am, and that our whole nation is going through a tragedy together, I think we have to think about those things. Ted Olson In the beginning, it wasn't even a question of deciding I'm going to do independent film and not commercial films - I wasn't being offered any commercial films, and there wasn't an independent scene. Steve Buscemi Thousands across America are glued to their web cast to hear this. And actually, I've never met one human being who said that they had seen one of those. Spencer Abraham When I left HEEP I didn't know what I wanted! It took me a long time to adjust to life away from the band and the only thing I knew was that I didn't want to repeat my mistakes! Ken Hensley I used to work a lot on food issues and every time somebody predicted that production would be inadequate they got egg on their face a year or two later. Susan George Someti...

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 ...

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 was a Scout years ago, before the movement started, when my father took me

fishing, camping and hunting. Then I was sorry that more girls could not have what I had. When I learned of the movement, I thought, here is what I always wanted other girls to have. Lou Henry Hoover I thank the Creator of the universe to have discovered the discipline of music was the greatest gift that I could have been given, the possibility to be a student working in the world. Anthony Braxton You know, it's not the world that was my oppressor, because what the world does to you, if the world does it to you long enough and effectively enough, you begin to do to yourself. James A. Baldwin It now becomes clear why the Bush Administration has been vigorously opposing congressional hearings. The Bush Administration has been engaged in a conspiracy of silence. Cynthia McKinney I was obsessed with romance. When I was in high school, I saw 'Doctor Zhivago' every day from the day it opened until the day it left the theater. John Hughes Just what you want to be, y...

A friend of mine had his own theater company, and he jumped me in like

I was in a gang. And once I came in, it was just that simple. For the first time in my life, I felt, 'This is a career, this is a life that I think I can grow old doing.' It was love at first sight. I loved being on stage and reading these plays. It was great. David Alan Grier In school all I wanted to do was build technology. That's what I loved. Marc Benioff I tend to build bulk and muscle easily, and running seems to make sure I stay kind of stringy, if that makes sense. Apolo Ohno That's one of the reasons I moved to Florida. Of course, the main reason is the weather and the training. But there's more jealousy in Switzerland because it's so little and they don't have so many athletes. Martina Hingis But we can also take the radical view that the test of an economy has to do with the extent to which it is providing everybody with a decent means of living. David Korten I think I came to see Islam, or at least one part of Islam, as an importa...

The idea of physical strain and discipline, the question of how and when you leave

that life behind - they're things I'm familiar with on one level or another. Katie Kitamura In politics, you've got to have a fallback in our line of work because your career can be over in an instant. Not that I would make much money playing a harmonica. Tim Kaine I get a stack of scripts, like, once a month, and most of the time, you find these placeholder girls that are there to provide a bounce for the male character. So we know he's funny because she's serious and she's mad at him. We know he's strong because she needs saving. So really, her job is to validate this personality trait of our hero or male. Amber Heard Germans have an understanding of history and cannot allow themselves to forget it. It may be a curse, but in some ways, it's a blessing. It makes them cautious. Simon Rattle If the angel Gabriel came to me and said, 'Look, I'm willing to take your soul now and give it back to you at any period of time in the history of...

It's not a country of articulate people, sophisticated people. There's too little subtlety. Men and

women don't enjoy each other very much in Australia. I don't find very many men sexy in Australia. Of course, I'm married and out of it, but still. Judy Davis We asked ourselves and the world to base decisions on good science, and I really believe the United States can be the leader in delivering that message to our international trading partners. Mike Johanns Preaching is effective as long as the preacher expects something to happen-not because of the sermon, not even because of the preacher, but because of God. John Hines You know, this is a business where only 15% make a living wage and only 9% of those are women. But I figured somebody has to be that 15%, somebody's got to be one of those women. Marcia Wallace Family trips to Yellowstone and to what are now national parks in Southern Utah, driving the primitive roads and cars of that day, were real adventures. Paul D. Boyer The dread of criticism is the death of genius. William Gilmore Simms A mask...

Indians mock their corrupt politicians relentlessly, but they regard their honest politicians with

silent suspicion. The first thing they do when they hear of a supposedly 'clean' politician is to grin. It is a cliche that honest politicians in India tend to have dishonest sons, who collect money from people seeking an audience with Dad. Aravind Adiga Be able to recognize the dangerous snakes, spiders, insects, and plants that live in your area of the country. Marilyn vos Savant I might survive a few days at sea. Probably not as long as Pi. Suraj Sharma I want to show little girls that the possibilities are endless. That's my goal - to not only do it for myself, but to show them I can do whatever I put my mind to. Nicki Minaj If I had my way, I'd wear jewelry, a great pair of heels and nothing else. Jada Pinkett Smith Bangalore has become a centre for healthcare. Geoff Mulgan I'm not actually teaching any more, but I am writing pieces for schools all the time, and for kids. Peter Maxwell Davies To be great we need to win games we aren't 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 ...

Show business is one of the few businesses that the devil will actually agree to

own just a portion of your soul because he knows if you have a performer's ego you were probably working for him all along. Marc Maron I like everything perfect. Everything has to be neat. My sister is 5, and she's more messy than I am. I make my bed every morning, everything's perfect. My shoes are all arranged. It's sad. I'm a little like Ray, a little bit. Dakota Fanning All we know is that, at times, fighting the Russians, we had to remove the piles of enemy bodies from before our trenches, so as to get a clear field of fire against new waves of assault. Paul von Hindenburg Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year - and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade! Tony Robbins My politics are of a practical kind - the integrity of the country, the supremacy of the Federal government, an honorable peace, or none at all. Winfield Scott Hancock He who knows ho...