What is character? It is that quality of man which is going to make a

man, in an hour of strain, do the just and, if possible, the generous thing.
Douglas Southall Freeman

I see myself as a scientist who is interested in what's going on inside of us.
Susumu Tonegawa

History is rich with adventurous men, long on charisma, with a highly developed instinct for their own interests, who have pursued personal power - bypassing parliaments and constitutions, distributing favours to their minions, and conflating their own desires with the interests of the community.
Umberto Eco

I love stage work. The thing about plays is that they're perfectible. With film, you shoot that take and maybe another. During 'Spamalot,' I rewrote Act II three times.
Eric Idle

I'm in a business that invites narcissism, self-involvement, and egos being blown out of proportion.
Michael Keaton

We used to have front-row seats for the Grand Opera House pantomime every year, and once the dame May McFettridge got me up on-stage.
Rachel Tucker

For me, theory has always opened things up to where I can walk into a room and just by hearing something I know exactly where to go on the guitar. I have a better time playing because I have a variety of colors to bring to the table.
John Frusciante

Ever since 'Strange Heaven,' I haven't really reread my old work. Not so much because I don't like the writer I was, or because I find flaws in the writing, but more because I get so burnt out on a novel once I've finished writing, revising, editing and copy editing it that I genuinely never want to look at it again after it's gone to press.
Lynn Coady

I began my writing life as a poet, so poetry has always been fundamental. I evolved from poetry to journalism to stories to novels. But poetry was always there.
Ben Okri

We are very luck to be women, so even if we're wearing trousers, I always wear them with some lace underwear or a very feminine bra - I like that.
Carine Roitfeld

Whether it's the experiments on 'MythBusters' or my earlier work in special effects for movies, I've regularly had to do things that were never done before, from designing complex motion-control rigs to figuring out how to animate chocolate.
Adam Savage

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...

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...

I like that I'm in shape but still look like a woman. I don't feel

like I've had to give up my femininity to be an athlete. I feel good about my body because I work hard every day, and I still look and carry myself as a woman - a strong woman. Miesha Tate People become writers in the first place by those things that hurt you into art, as Yeats said it. Then they become separated from what started out affecting them. Journalism forces you to look at the world so you don't get cut off. Pete Hamill Every revolutionary poet or lyricist has been criticised for something. If you come up with something new, there will always be people who will object to it. Yo Yo Honey Singh It's no secret I'm a shy person. Britney Spears My mom and dad have always, always, and continue to be the most incredible citizens of the world and most generous in quiet ways, that I strive to do even a fraction of what they do. Gavin Creel I had to want to lose weight myself. Nell Carter I wouldn't apply high frame rates to a love...

Music was the one thing that was just mine, and no one could take it

from me. I created it, dictated it, and it made me not able to let go of it. Mitski I'll be reaching across the aisle to find opportunities to work with Democrats on the issues that desperately need to be addressed. Thom Tillis Any sympathy won for Aileen Wuornos based on a lie is not sympathy at all. The question is, can we have sympathy for the circumstances of someone's life? That's what I was interested in. Patty Jenkins God only made one thing in this world that's perfect - and that's my boxing record. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. The fan mail I get every day is incredible. It piles through the door from not just Britain but everywhere. It is so great to have that support behind me - everyone says I am an inspiration. It is great. Charlotte Dujardin I'm not a natural. I had to teach myself - or be taught - everything I do. I just spent hours and hours in the mirror mimicking Michael Jackson. Ne-Yo For me, age doesn't matte...

As a lawyer, I've dealt with really serious offences, and the public rarely hear what the true

impact is on the victims' families. When you hear it from the mouths of victims, your entire approach changes, because it could happen to anybody, and they articulate that in such a powerful way. Robert Rinder Self-imposed discipline with a bent towards results rather than 'creative' and sustainability spending is unfortunately not the norm in the marketing industry. Ryan Holiday The Libertadores is sensational, but the Champions League... The first time I heard the anthem was a really special feeling. It's like being in a video game; it's living the dream of every child. Neymar You can't reason with gang violence: you can't talk to it, sit it at the table, and negotiate with it. Greg Boyle Growing up, I did not have many friends with parents who were together. Adam Scott The TV mini-series is kind of a lost genre because the networks have given up on it. Bonnie Hammer The 'Bolton News' is the best place for online comments. They say I'm an abs...

Yet, so far from laboring to know the forbidden tree of worldly pleasures and its

various fruits, man gives himself up to a careless and thoughtless state of life, and yields to the lust of the flesh, not considering that this lust is really the forbidden tree. Johann Arndt When we speak the word 'life,' it must be understood we are not referring to life as we know it from its surface of fact, but to that fragile, fluctuating center which forms never reach. Antonin Artaud The young think that failure is the Siberian end of the line, banishment from all the living, and tend to do what I then did - which was to hide. James A. Baldwin It's the government's obligation to look really to the third parties to get the support to govern. Stephen Harper I once dated a weather girl, we talked up a storm. Jay London We're comic. We're all comics. We live in a comic time. And the worse it gets the more comic we are. William Gaddis It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it. ...

My mom is one of those women... she don't take no mess. She is very

vocal about what she wants and what she doesn't want. Ciara I know that Lorenzo Snow was God's mouthpiece upon the earth, that he was the representative of the Lord, and that he was, in very deed, a prophet of God. Heber J. Grant Family matters, friends matter, love matters. Those you love and who love you matter. That's what writing does - it allows you to say all those things. Richard Flanagan I had never confronted my parents with the true feelings I had for them, and I had certainly never expressed the depth of my feeling for my mother, being too selfish to try when I should have. Brooke Hayward I always try to make sure that I stay connected to theater so I continue to be inspired. Not that I'm not inspired by television. Rutina Wesley There's no place like home. And I do miss my home. Malala Yousafzai It's feast or famine in showbiz. Joan Rivers We can improve our relationships with others by leaps and bounds if we become encouragers i...