My grandad's a gospel singer, and his children were singers, too. But I don't believe

in God in the same way... not religion; it breaks us up too much. The same with musical styles - it breaks people up. I believe they are all one thing - why not put them together?Labrinth

I wasted the 1980s. I wasted every minute at Cambridge talking to people who knew more about music than I did.Nick Hornby

I feel like starring in a TV show is such a fun thing.Cobie Smulders

I came in to make a difference, to be a minister, to make policy.Jo Cox

I saw what religion did to people when I grew up, and I certainly didn't want any part of it. That turned me off it.Kristian Nairn

I consider the homeless just as important as the richest of the rich.Lauren Daigle

I started working in the oilfield upon graduating high school. I was on the service end of it, driving tank trucks for Johnny Geer for a couple years and learning about oil and gas production. I had a whole cadre of mentors.Harold Hamm

There's no special technological wizardry involved in what Groupon does.Daniel Lyons

I was an actor for a little bit. That's when I started to understand fiction - and that one of the great things about fiction is that you're dependent on the characters as much as they're dependent on you.Hilton Als

When we talk about 9/11 and 26/11 - which is the shorthand for the Mumbai attacks in 2008 - we're talking about the most successful terrorist attacks in history. When you start trying to study the most successful event of its kind, it actually doesn't make for great fiction because there isn't the kind of failure in it that fiction thrives on.Karan Mahajan

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...

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...

I love 'The Guardian' series. Bianca St. Ives is one of my favorite heroines ever,

and the combination of action, suspense, and romance makes her story pure fun to write. Karen Robards People talk about physical fitness, but mental health is equally important. I see people suffering, and their families feel a sense of shame about it, which doesn't help. One needs support and understanding. I am now working on an initiative to create awareness about anxiety and depression and help people. Deepika Padukone Americans mostly now believe the climate is changing. They believe that humans are causing it, and they believe that it is a risk. But in surveys, Americans are not willing to pay higher energy prices to tackle the problem. Ramez Naam I really like getting the person who is terrified of cooking into the kitchen and showing them that cooking can be both indulgent and fun. Chrissy Teigen Sometimes, you feel like, 'Am I going to be upset about this as a black person or as a woman first? Or am I gonna be both?' Because some things inherently affec...

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. ...

The monetary impacts of malaria from the household to the global level are significant.

Malaria tends to strike during harvest season, rendering families too sick and too weak to perform the work necessary to earn a living. Malaria-stricken families spend an average of over a quarter of their income on malaria treatment. Tedros Adhanom It's not in the interest of most mapping companies to make those changes as they occur, but if you give the power to local people, you can be sure that you're always getting the best information from the folks that actually drive those roads every day. Noam Bardin We are all pleased when our names are pronounced and spelled correctly. Russell M. Nelson Music and dance is part of everything in New Orleans. So I grew up appreciating it all. Dawn Richard I get things out of my system through my songs, but, because they can be about so many different things, it takes me a while to get through them emotionally. Sharon Van Etten I like to think I've changed the centre of gravity on lots of national debates. Nigel Farage I was a membe...