Pressure, to me, was creating a 'Star Wars' film, then sitting alone in a theater

with George Lucas and showing it to him, the guy that created the word 'Wookiee' and R2-D2. That was pressure.
Dave Filoni

I know that I sound self-satisfied, and I know that I've got an ego, but I don't have an ego problem.
George Michael

One of the things is, in the writing process, if you do it enough, you have a sense of where you are. I didn't have that with the first book as I was writing it. Now, as I write books, I have a sense of where I am. Unfortunately, the sense of where I am is usually behind.
Daniel H. Pink

A ten- or twelve-page story seems too easy, which is a funny thing to say considering that writing a decent short story is devastatingly difficult. Yet it still seems easier than a novel. You can turn a short story on a single good line - ten pages of decent writing and one good moment.
Ethan Canin

You gotta make sure the listener is listening to you, so if you put it into a song, often times, if the song is striking enough, then you can really deliver the story most effectively while keeping the ear of the listener the whole time.
Frank Ocean

I love roasted beets with goat cheese. I am also a fruit addict.
Alex Guarnaschelli

I was living in New York. Sometimes, our gang of musicians would go to Louis Armstrong's home and play records. It was a lesson, like going to school at night. Ella Fitzgerald was an inspiration, too, a unique artist. When you had an opportunity to be with people like them, you cherished it.
Jimmy Scott

My time off is usually spent working out and getting better at football. When I come home and spend time with my little brother, we're out on the football field. We're working out or playing Madden. We're spending time with each other, but our quality time is football.
Stefon Diggs

I think kindness is actually under-rated. Especially with Silicon Valley - and probably in business in general - it's seen as being a pushover or ineffective as a leader.
Christine Tsai

My life hasn't been the norm. The most interesting parts are before I got into show business.
Jim Nabors

Gemeoss

Sisters are always drying their hair. Locked into rooms, alone, they pose at the mirror,

shoulders bare, trying this way and that their hair, or fly importunate down the stair to answer the telephone. Phyllis McGinley When our Lord says, we must be converted and become as little children, I suppose he means also, that we must be sensible of our weakness, comparatively speaking, as a little child. George Whitefield There's no dancing girls. We're kinda like secondary to the thing. It's a story about these two guys that are in love with this one girl and how it unfolds and what happens. Eric Carr There are men who would quickly love each other if once they were speak to each other; for when they spoke they would discover that their souls had only separated by phantoms and delusions. Ernest Hello If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won't, you most assuredly won't. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad. Denis Waitley Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting. John Russell If there is...

I remember, for the first time, sitting down and consuming books in a matter of

hours. This was such a new experience for me because reading, up until that point, had been such a struggle and source of stress. I think I just needed to find the right kind of stories with which I could identify. John Corey Whaley Having children showed me a whole different kind of love that I had never known. It was something that had always been missing. Complete love. I would die for them. Scott Weiland If I hadn't won at the Worlds and claimed so many ranking points, I would have been struggling for Rio. I'm in a good place now, though, and having the chance to fight for gold in Rio after everything I've been through would be a dream. Bianca Walkden To me, it is like a diabetic with insulin. If that diabetic stops taking insulin, they will die, and I believe that if I don't follow the 12-step programme, I will regress, and that could eventually be the death of me. Trinny Woodall There are maybe 100 actors I look up to, but my first two favourite actors...

Our present nuclear fusion reactors are classified by the methods used to support the nuclear

fusion reaction, which takes place at a temperature much hotter than the surface of the Sun. Wilson Greatbatch Going to a grammar school, you mixed with all sorts of different types and I used to listen to how they talked. When I did my imitations, I could sound like someone really rough, or I could sound like a cabinet minister. Steve Coogan When there's a terrible illness like AIDS sweeping through, you help people. Bernadette Peters I love myself. Anything that has my name I'm tickled to death. Barbara Corcoran My career in racing started at a very young age in California. Jeff Gordon People who believe in flying saucers are the scrapings from the bottom. Nigel Kneale Children often have a much stronger concept of morality than adults. Nina Bawden Most politicians aren't allowed to express themselves any more. Ken Livingstone I'm pretty good with not being afraid to just go up to people and introduce myself. Elle Fanning I just keep it simp...

I haven't always acted or reacted in a way that made me proud,

but I didn't make that same mistake twice, and I think that's what I love about adversity is that it always reminds me of what's really valuable in life. Sandra Bullock Many of the crew members I work with and continue to work with were friends or have become close friends, and so we keep working together. And I like casting friends of mine or people I know in parts I know would be perfect for them. I like to bring things and people that mean something to me in to my work. Noah Baumbach I've had shows as a painter, as a photographer, I've done shows as a sculptor. I've done a lot of different things and it all comes from experiences that you have in your life, in your creative environment. They all help - I don't even know if they help; maybe they make it worse but they all influence each other, for sure. Norman Reedus It's very different working with all adults. I have a swear jar so that, if they have a potty mouth, I make them pay. That's...

In order to be an actor you really have to be one of those types

of people who are risk-takers and have what is considered an actor's arrogance, which is not to say an arrogance in your personal life. But you have to be the type of person who wants the ball with seconds left in the game. Bryan Cranston One principle I've been fighting for that doesn't endear me to a lot of people is that black people can be just as complicated and screwed up as white people. Our motives can be just as base and violent. Suffering does not necessarily ennoble you. Henry Louis Gates I did have reconstructive plastic surgery and a tummy tuck. And from hip to hip, there's a very big scar. It looks better than it did... So I say, if you don't like that skin, have it removed. This is my advice: if you're gonna do it - just go for it. Carnie Wilson But what is striking about this, in a town that often talks about tax cuts, we could quite easily, Republicans and Democrats working together, do something that everybody in America desires, and t...

There is a great suspicion of saying that anyone, especially a child, is 'the product

of destiny,' or 'formed by fate,' or 'predestined for a certain life.' I am suspicious, too, of efforts to cage children or adults in preconceived ideas of who they are or should be. Michael Gurian I'm drawn to almost any piece of writing with the words 'divine love' and 'impeachment' in the first sentence. But I know the word 'divine' makes many progressive people run screaming for their cute little lives, and so one hesitates to use it. Anne Lamott Music is great; it all depends on what mood you're in, what you want to listen to. If it's party time, you listen to, you know, party music, if you want to dance with somebody. But then again, if it's a slow dance, you need something slow. Tom Jones Cars have a large engine in the front and you have a gearbox, which is cumbersome. Electric cars don't have this problem. The motor is much smaller, the battery is below you. This will allow you to play with different shap...

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...

By the time I land in Iowa, I feel like my mind is more open

to the reality of being back home and focusing on the problems of the people in my district. Bruce Braley How many artists subscribe to the notion that creative success depends on input from the fickle muse or her modern avatar, mental illness? Probably very few. Kathryn Harrison Before I was on 'Idol,' I just sat at home and played video games all day long. Now I get to travel and work towards my dream. It's the best feeling ever. Jessica Sanchez Harvard was also a little bit of a villain in my first book, 'The Dante Club.' I guess there might be a way to make Harvard more of a sympathetic presence, but it's such a powerful institution that it more naturally lends itself toward not necessarily a negative but an obstructionist element in a story. Matthew Pearl I've always been interested in invisible worlds, and I like to visit digital worlds, you know, any world that's imposed on us. Leos Carax I try to take normal things - whether it...

Police and firefighters are great, but they don't create wealth. They protect it. That's crucial.

Teaching is a wonderful profession. Teachers help educate people to become good citizens so that citizens can then go create wealth. But they don't create the wealth themselves. Rush Limbaugh I am persuaded that in the case of elected officials, the overwhelming temptation is to conclude that it is more important for your constituents that you be reelected than that you deal honestly with them. James L. Buckley I think to be - for me to be an American is - you know, it's one of the greatest things in the world for - you know, for me just because I've been able to grow up with everything. The freedom. You know, in my eyes this is the greatest country in the world. Michael Phelps I don't often know exactly what's coming next, and that makes it more fun. And you know, for me, this entire genre is all about that; it's all about having fun and getting away from the mundane world for just a little while. R. A. Salvatore We've had three big ideas at Ama...

Debates go on to this day about what caused the Great Depression. Economics is not

very good at explaining swings in economic activity. Eugene Fama There was a time when I could only relate to happy works. With time, my taste has evolved. Tina Ambani You can be obsessed with the bad things people say and the good things; either way, you're obsessed with yourself, and I'm not - you can become unhinged so easily. Taylor Swift I guess that in a lot of ways, my writing is more of a character to me than something that I feel personally attached to. Angel Olsen When I came to America, there was a lot of decadence in New York in the early '70s because the city was bankrupt and you could do whatever you want! Maripol Susan Boyle having a meltdown is not controversial. It's human for a 48-year-old recluse to get a little wigged out when she finds herself on the world stage overnight. Shawn Amos I love doing emotional scenes. As I've had a perfect life, I don't really have much to pull from. But it's really fun and not that challen...