Being a slave meant never having the stability of knowing your family would be together

as many years as God designed it to be. It meant you could come back from picking cotton in a field to find that your children are gone, your husband's gone, your mother's gone.Colson Whitehead

In every community in Illinois, same-sex couples have chosen to join together and, in many instances, to raise families of their own. These couples are our relatives and friends, our neighbors, co-workers and parents of our children's classmates. They deserve the same rights and responsibilities that civil marriage offers straight couples.Lisa Madigan

My mom was a dance teacher, so she put me in dance school when I was a kid. I did everything. I used to take ballet.Chris Messina

I didn't really start going to see a lot of musicals and live theater probably until I was in seventh or eighth grade, maybe my first year of high school, and by that time I'd probably seen 'Grease' twice a year every year of my life.Thomas Kail

The way my father worked altruistically and the manner in which he used to go behind bars and come back home smilingly was inspirational.Asma Jahangir

We are all somewhere or the other a little grey, not black and white. We have our imperfections.Kriti Sanon

I would say to Republicans that when you look at civil rights legislation that took place in the 1960s, it took a bipartisan effort to get those things done, and so what I would tell my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, is let's come together, and let's be for fairness.Marc Veasey

As Attorney General of Alabama, I have never hesitated to stand up to the EPA before when it was wrong.Luther Strange

There are days that I love just devoting to going to the park and playing with my son, but then sometimes you have to leave out other things, or if work is a full day of work, perhaps I miss the play time with my son, and I guess the only struggle is trying to not shortchange any of the things that you want to do.Jane Krakowski

I'm relieved that after all these years of doing atrocity work, I still cry my eyes out every time I read the paper in the morning. It's surprising, actually.Samantha Power

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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 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...

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...

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...

When my parents got divorced, I wanted to spend my time laying in the garage

listening to the washer and dryer. Loud, immersive, changing. It was music to me. Brian Reitzell A friend of mine encouraged me to try rapping, so I started experimenting with it, writing verses, seeing if I could fit an extra word or syllable into each line without tripping myself up. K. Flay The sleeplessness is proven; it eradicates your memory. Gaby Hoffmann I was a science fiction geek. That lets you know that they come in all sizes and styles, right? Mae Jemison Most middle-aged white men probably don't know about little old Stormzy from London. Stormzy I have some very dear friends I stalk consistently when I come home. Kim Rhodes When we finished 'Stop Making Sense,' we went right to the San Francisco Film Festival for the world premiere, and people swarmed the stage and started dancing before the first song was even finished. Jonathan Demme I wouldn't be where I am without Evolve. Rafael dos Anjos It has been a great working experience with Sreenu Vaitla. Ram...

When I was studying... there weren't any black concert pianists. My choices were intuitive, and

I had the technique to do it. People have heard my music and heard the classic in it, so I have become known as a black classical pianist. Nina Simone Creation implies authority in the sense of originator. The possibility of a 'Fall' is implied in a Covenant insofar as the idea of a Covenant implies the possibility of its being violated. Kenneth Burke Other people - they practice and they practice... these fingers of mine, they got brains in 'em. You don't tell them what to do - they do it. God given talent. Jerry Lee Lewis In this day and time, with no competition you are really walking a tightrope. I mean you may think that no competition is good, but in reality no competition is really bad. Jerry Lawler I played a heap of snow in a school play. I was under a sheet, and crawled out when spring came. I often say I'll never reach the same artistic level again. Stellan Skarsgard The wisest have the most authority. Plato Francis Webb is easily our gr...

I love the smaller clubs. I love the theaters. I love the festivals. There are

things I don't like. At certain theaters, people can't get up and dance. Sharon Jones Acting is a strange profession, and, yes, sometimes I struggle with its worth, its value in the world. Keri Russell I'd forget the piece just before I went out to do the concerto, the panic was too great. This was not anything that gave me pleasure. This was fulfilling somebody else's dream. Linda Lavin I really liked the Mariachi singing in Westerns. Harry Dean Stanton We are all born marked for evil. Charles Baudelaire Don't take anything from me because I'll track it down. Ursula Andress People here don't identify themselves by their sports team. Michael Wilbon Mumbai may not be my city. But it is my kind of city. Vikas Swarup I'm so obsessed and involved with my son. Tia Mowry I was assigned to the heavy cruiser Chicago. Jack Adams

Atheistic evolutionists believe that nothing created everything - a scientific impossibility. It couldn't

happen. So they redefine the word 'nothing' to mean 'something,' so that in their unthinking minds, they can justify their foolishness. Ray Comfort My life is unrecognisable compared to what it was - 'Game of Thrones' has opened doors that were never there before. But it can be dangerous to see it in those terms, I think. It's best to take it as it comes and work as hard as you can, and hopefully the other things fall into place. Emilia Clarke I think my broadcast partner Mike Gorman said it best. He said there's a generation of fans who know me as a player and there's a generation of fans who know me as a coach and now there's a generation of fans who think I'm Shrek! Tom Heinsohn And we can see the positive impacts right here at Solyndra. Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot. But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations. This new factory is the result of those loans....

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 ...

I think it's definitely beneficial for these characters to have good acting voices behind them

and it affects the characters in a way that people can feel like they're part of the game and that they know these characters. Tara Strong My novels aren't really generated by a single conceptual spark; it's more a process of many different elements that come together unexpectedly over a long period of time. Donna Tartt No period of history has ever been great or ever can be that does not act on some sort of high, idealistic motives, and idealism in our time has been shoved aside, and we are paying the penalty for it. Alfred North Whitehead It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get. Confucius Promoting the interaction of orders remains one of the most difficult, but crucially important, challenges we face concerning our national market system. Arthur Levitt I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Isr...