There are things done under the name of science which are ridiculous. But there is

also stuff done which sounds funny but is really serious.
Margaret Geller

Nobody ever looked at me in Krasnodar. I'm not in the taste of the men there at all.
Anna Netrebko

Some writers, I'm told, look for their characters' surnames in telephone directories. I don't - it seems too obvious. Or too deliberate: if you go looking for names, you're bound to find them, of course, but I've always had a superstitious hunch that the names you find by accident are always going to be better and more satisfying somehow.
Sophie Hannah

While the old spiritual 'Slavery Chain Done Broke at Last' was sung by blacks in the hours following the Appomattox surrender, racism sadly continues to be a crippling national scourge.
Douglas Brinkley

I discovered Einstein said the same thing about his celebrated theories of relativity that writers say about their work when he said he didn't have any feelings of personal possession of these ideas. Once they were out there, they came from somewhere else. And that's exactly the feeling when you write. You don't feel possessive about it.
E. L. Doctorow

I'm a wall to wall geek. I love sci fi; I've had a crush on Spider-Man since I was five years old, and there's an uncomfortably large shelf in my living room just for my comics.
Katie Findlay

I think that with 'The Vampire Diaries,' you never know what's going to happen, and I don't think the characters necessarily know, either. So you can only weigh so much, and then it might just come down to 'kill or be killed.'
Kat Graham

I've a big bum and chunky calves. My husband says I've got elephantiasis of the legs.
Trinny Woodall

I think probably the first time I wanted to be an artist was when I was about six or seven years old. I used to get British comics and I clearly remember seeing my first American comic: an issue of 'Action Comics', with Superman on the cover with a treasure horde in a cave, and Lois saying something like 'I don't believe Superman is a miser!'
Dave Gibbons

I should tell you that many people think that authors just cut and paste from real life into books. It doesn't work quite that way.
Paul Fleischman

I was first imprisoned in Pretoria, and then, thereafter, I was taken to Robben Island. I stayed there for a couple of weeks. I was taken back to Pretoria when I was charged in the Rivonia trial, when I was then sent to Robben Island for life.
Nelson Mandela

Gemeoss

I would say that it's mainly about the director. It's a hard quality to find,

but I always know whether I want to do something or not. The character is important to me, as is getting to work with people that I feel like I can learn from and make a great movie with. Alden Ehrenreich Viewers make online requests to their favorite video-making whisperers to do the things that trigger their head tingles. Everyone's needs are different. It's like an interactive choose-your-own-adventure. Andrea Seigel As you know, I was a solo singer, something I just got very much used to. Turns out I'm quite enjoying being in a band! Gareth Gates When you're six years old, you do not appreciate that you're living in the Alps. My sisters and I, all we wanted was to go to Disneyland. Ahna O'Reilly I don't think Beethoven expresses religious truth. He expresses a human truth. John Tavener In the suffragist and abolitionist era, there were a lot of white women and some black men and women who argued for the old hierarchy and against universal ...

There is constant talk about the intermarriage crisis: who is a Jew and how

we define a Jew. That doesn't go over well with young Jews trying to figure out whether they want to be a part of this thing or not. Tahl Raz I've been studying voice for quite a while, especially opera, for at least seven or eight years. Shelly Burch Like anything, I remember who I work for. You work for the people who sent you to office. Darryl Glenn For the bourgeoisie, the main danger against which it had to be protected, that which had to be avoided at all costs, was armed uprising, was the armed people, was the workers taking to the streets in an assault against the government. Michel Foucault My grandmother is a huge part of my life. She's just a great woman: a woman of the church. Chance The Rapper I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords. Matthew Desmond One of my best friends since I was eleven years old is a gay man, and I knew his struggle. It was a tough life, you ...

I remember looking out into the sea of phone lights as Chris Martin belted 'Yellow' on the

piano and deciding that that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Daya Shopping for an annuity with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake can be daunting, even for an economist. Richard Thaler I wanted to do journalism, as I was an idealist. Then, in my second year of journalism, I realized that in real life, things don't work the way you expect them to. I realized that I could express my ideas better through films. Nithya Menen If your aim is to attack the United States, it is hard to imagine a more difficult way of getting here than by posing as a refugee. Samantha Power A lot of the O'Hare Modernization Plan may have been a mistake. Mike Quigley When someone shouts 'Skins' at you, its funny the first time. But after a hundred times, you think, 'I do have a name.' Kaya Scodelario There is no upside for the U.K. in Brexit. Only costs that can be avoided and advantages to be seized by remaining in Europe. No one should have to pay the Brexit ta...

I remember I was unsure about doing 'Shameless.' I'd never acted in anything so commercial.

I read the script in the garden with my mum, Mary. She said it's filthy dirty, but she said these people have love and sex and nothing else. That made me take the role. Anne-Marie Duff When you're mid-season, in very intense situations, it's hard not to take that home with you. Especially when you're sleeping, you can't control what you dream about. And it sneaks into the unconscious. Aaron Paul Millennials regularly draw ire for their cell phone usage. They're mobile natives, having come of age when landlines were well on their way out and payphones had gone the way of dinosaurs. Because of their native fluency, Millennials recognize mobile phones can do a whole lot more than make calls, enable texting between friends or tweeting. Chelsea Clinton 'Saw VI' has a really interesting theme about the ripple effect. Everything you do affects the guy next to you, which affects the guy next to him, which affects her over here. And you might think that ...

Persuasiveness is really just about getting your ideas across without being forceful.

It's a skill that can be learned and is useful for anyone who works in a team environment. Amanda de Cadenet I was an extra in a Tia Carrere music video. Adam Scott When people start to think they're figuring out 'The Vampire Diaries,' it switches on you. Kat Graham It's a huge blessing to know you've done something that has affected people the way 'The Matrix' has. It's like, there's 'Star Wars,' and then there's 'The Matrix.' It's cool to be a part of that. Laurence Fishburne Voters aren't asking to be pandered to and aren't asking to be tricked. Jason Kander I'm a pretty controlled and disciplined person, but my real vice is buying plants and food shopping. Zac Posen Barack Obama was a president who understood not only how technology could transform the way government services worked but also technology itself. He got it. Steven Levy Positivity, confidence, and persistence are key in life, so never give up...

I promise my students that if they take the time to figure out their life

purpose, they'll look back on it as the most important thing they discovered while at school. If they don't figure it out, they will just sail off without a rudder and get buffeted in the very rough seas of life. Clayton Christensen I've always loved fashion and, of course, enjoyed my experiences walking on runways, but I love watching the shows as well! Now I understand more why it's such a big deal for the industry and why people work so hard before and during fashion weeks. It's interesting to see the same things from a different angle. Tao Okamoto Most of us manage the fateful things that happen in our lives the best we can, certainly not to a Stalin-like 20-year plan. Jo Brand I have never once claimed that I have a Combat Action Badge. I have never claimed that I have a Purple Heart. What I have claimed is that I have served in a combat zone. Joni Ernst It is Method on 'This is England;' it is. But it can't be Method on every job becaus...

Songwriters aren't always performers, and even performing songwriters aren't always the kind of show-biz performers

you think they'd be. Lyle Lovett I need to eat a lot; otherwise, I feel faint. I get in the worst moods if I don't eat. Cara Delevingne I want a girl who lets me do my own thing, but who is going to be by my side the whole time, because I know I'd be supportive of her. And kissing is a big thing for me! You have to be a good kisser. Daren Kagasoff A lot of times, I go and face the top receiver, and that's a task... it comes with the territory, and I never back down from that challenge. Johnathan Joseph You want your lady to be a contortionist. What man wouldn't want a lady who's a contortionist? J. B. Smoove The kids today, they think they can dance with their faces. Ginger Rogers Each piece of jewellery tells a story of my life. Picking one particular piece as a favorite would be like taking a chapter out of a book. Erin Wasson One of my earliest memories is walking up a muddy road into the mountains. It was raining. Behind me, my village w...

Publishing, legacy or indie, is a vehicle, and you can't opine about whether someone has

chosen the right vehicle if you don't know where she intends to drive it. Barry Eisler Being a conglomerate, each of our businesses has a different challenge; business landscape is different for each business. It makes it challenging as well as exciting. Kumar Mangalam Birla When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions become necessary, when they aren't camp, that, to me, is magic. I've done musical comedies and enjoyed them, but subject matter that's deeper and more realistic is always what's appealed to me most. Kelli O'Hara I've written poetry since I was a kid. As the years went on, I got into writing stories and screenplays, but I always, always kept up with poetry as well. Blake Jenner Life smacks Tracy Morgan in the face, and I don't mean to talk in third party, but no, it doesn't stop raining when I come outside, no, absolutely not. I'm very in touch. Tracy ...

I don't get to do a lot of fight scenes on 'Sanctuary,' but I'm a

trained fighter; I've been doing martial arts for years and, you know, I'm very active physically; I used to be a circus performer. Ryan Robbins You have been called to be who you are - the whole luminous light. No one can dim your light when you are fully present to the depth and breadth of it. Debbie Ford Word of mouth is the most valuable form of marketing, but you can't buy it. You can only deliver it. And you have to really deliver. G-Eazy There's a small percentage of people who can act. There's a small percentage who get to do this for a living. There's a swath of the population that are able to keep a story in their head and fight all the battles against self-consciousness and the surreal unnaturalness of acting in a movie. The technical aspects you can learn fairly quickly. Tom Hanks I was raised in that generation where it was all 'Women can have it all!' and I don't think you can. I think something falls off the table. The good...

I think that Oprah's on a mission to improve the lives of the average American

in various ways. And one of them is to bring literature to people who would normally not be quite as demanding in their reading tastes, to show them writing that can be more than just entertainment. Janet Fitch You just let your lower self go, and then it takes on all these aspects of the society - the city with horns blowing, the people yelling things at each other, and the all-in-all violence and chaos of the city. Put that on stage with music, and that's what this is. Alice Cooper Today there are people trying to take away rights that our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers fought for: our right to vote, our right to choose, affordable quality education, equal pay, access to health care. We the people can't let that happen. Kerry Washington It's critical that we use a very dark brush to paint evil. When you bring the light into that darkness as characterized in John 1, that light is very vivid. When it dispels the darkness, we see the brilliance that...