The whole path of American music has been so much about the recognition of stylistic diversity, and the recognition of the importance of music which was from one of the vernacular traditions.
I am on sabbatical as of right now, been too busy to think of about my OWN needs as of late.
It is true that short forms of poetry have been cultivated in the Far East more than in modern Europe; but in all European literature short forms of poetry are to be found - indeed quite as short as anything in Japanese.
I've been in enough films where the studio wanted that extra little cuteness to make it sellable.
Every year when I put away my winter clothes and get out my summer clothes, they fit. And I haven't been on a diet since the Reagan administration.
It's so easy for me to do a boy-bashing pop song, but to sit down and write honestly about something that's really close to me, something I've been through, it's a totally different thing.
Being a non-swimmer, I've never been excited by the sea so avoid it on holidays.
I don't want to be anything other than what I've been trying to be lately.
It's been crazy trying to tour with a baby. But it's actually working out okay.
I've always had a great respect for the picture business. It's been good to me.
Materialism has never been so ominous as now in North America, as management takes over.
I believe that every role that I have done this far has had quality and content. My roles have been very demanding and every role has been a challenge and a learning experience that has helped me mature as an actress.
I really don't care what people think of me. I've got my family. I've got my friends. Yes, I have been trained to be a little more aggressive if I need to be, but I don't go around thumping people.
There's no fun in a bag if it's not kicked around so that it looks as if the cat's been sitting on it - and it usually has. The cat may even be in it! I always put on stickers and beads and worry beads. You can get them from Greece, Israel, Palestine - from anywhere in the world.
Throughout my scientific career, my wife has been my most constant collaborator. Her experimental skill made major contributions to the work; she has eased for me beyond measure the difficulties of communication that accompany deafness; her encouragement and fortitude have been my strongest supports.
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
I don't seem to have ever had a plan, but I have always been quite good at walking through doors when they are opened. I am never any good at anticipating what will happen next, but I always go for it when it does.
What I say on a record and what I say off a record is two different things. And that's always been the case. There's a difference between confidence on a record and arrogance.
Your principal motive on a movie set is to get the film made, but on a Woody Allen set, there's an ulterior thing that goes on, which is, 'Did you have a conversation with Woody? How friendly have you been with him? Am I liked by him?'
What I've been able to do with my character, Madea, and the other characters, with the jokes, is use it as an anesthetic to get to the heart and soul of real issues. And what I've found on stage over the years is that, while making people laugh, I can drop in pearls of wisdom.
The truth is, I've been going pretty much nuts all year. I constantly have to fight being scattered. I feel like I'm on automatic pilot from fatigue. The hardest thing is trying to be present, living for the moment, for everybody in the family.
There is no question that America has been a nation that has been blessed by almighty God. There is no other nation in the history of mankind that has done what His nation has done - and it's because of God's hand and His blessing.
For me, modelling has been an advantage because if I hadn't been modelling, I would never have been spotted as an actress. I didn't have any intention of becoming an actress.
The President had every reason to believe that the text presented to him was sound... These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president.
I may be the only shark who hasn't been on QVC, but I have learned a lot from those folks about what it takes to get a product on store shelves.
What is also strange to me is that public libraries have always been in the forefront of opposing censorship.
Construction of the first gas pipeline system was started during the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, and for all those years, from the 1960s until this day, Russia has been fulfilling its contract obligations in a very consistent and reliable way, regardless of the political situation.
Magic, historically, has been a man doing tricks with no wider story behind it.
Thrillers have been traditionally very masculine books; the women characters often rather decorative.
After I'd been a lawyer for about five or six years, I started playing around with fiction.
One of my most vivid memories of the mid-1950s is of crying into a washbasin full of soapy grey baby clothes - there were no washing machines - while my handsome and adored husband was off playing football in the park on Sunday morning with all the delightful young men who had been friends to both of us at Cambridge three years earlier.
I'd rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I'd rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are.
Generally, I have a strong interest in trying to help people who are maybe not as lucky as I am. I've been well rewarded in this world. I'm more worried about the next one.
If I made a musical in the beginning of my career, it would have been crane shots and tracking shots and people coming out of cakes and whatever, but these techniques are something that I've left behind me.
I've never really thought of myself as an entrepreneur. I think of an entrepreneur as someone who wants to make a lot of money. That has never been at the top of my list.
The music industry isn't converging toward dance music. Dance music is dance music. It's been around since disco - and way before disco. But there's different versions of dance music.
