The thing about inspiration is that it takes your mind off everything else.
I could take all the cartoons in the tabloid newspapers, but I couldn't take my daughter punching me in the belly and asking why I was so fat. That was my inspiration to lose the weight. And probably the last time anyone hurt my feelings.
I find as much inspiration from the forerunners of jazz as I do the modern-day innovators of jazz.
Whether being battered by the surf or swimming through the gentle undulating surface of lakes, I find inspiration in the movement of water. Sometimes I think about the journey the water has traveled, reconnecting me to the larger cycles of nature.
I don't read many popular histories like the ones I write. The building blocks for my research are scholarly monographs, and the inspiration for my storytelling style are folks like Chekhov.
I am interested in the idea of 'taste.' And by 'taste,' I mean opinion, inspiration and the craft of creating a personality through fabric and design.
I couldn't hope to be in anything better than 'Misfits.' The reaction from fans has been mental. The weirdest thing is when people tell me I'm their inspiration. I can't believe I get fan mail, and loads of free clothes. Adidas sent me lots of stuff; it's wicked!
CERN is a centre of scientific excellence and a source of pride and inspiration for physicists from all over the world, a cradle for technology and innovation, and a shining concrete example of scientific cooperation and peace.
I think the inspiration came from the fans. Whenever I'm online or whenever I get a chance to really communicate with the fans and the audience, they always say that they would love to have all of the remixes on one CD.
I love to experiment with fashion. A lot of my inspiration comes from my mom. She is fearless with fashion! I love colors and anything daring.
Sometimes I can sit at my computer and find a cool sound, or a new synth patch, and get super-inspired by that and make a track based on that sound. But the piano is where I find the inspiration and come up with the melody.
The cool thing about designers is they have very specific points of view, and because my inspiration is always changing, it's easy to go, 'This feels right.' But just because I wear fancy dresses on weekends doesn't mean in my heart of hearts I'm not a jeans and T-shirt person.
I don't actually have a one wellspring of inspiration. Though I'm most often inspired while reading - both fiction and nonfiction.
In the 1880s, people all over the world looked to America for inspiration. Its very existence was proof that it was possible to have a relatively free and peaceful country. No income tax, no foreign wars, no welfare state, no intrusions on civil liberties.
My inspiration is endless; I can't define it. It is a constant flow and evolution. In general, I'm taking it from everywhere. People get nervous when they walk with me, as I'll see something and suddenly have to text it to myself.
My big inspiration for hope is the courage that I read about from people from all over the world, or that I see on a daily basis from the kids I get to work with.
I don't expect to find inspiration. It just sort of comes. Sometimes you step on a bug and you get inspired.
'Humans of New York' did not result from a flash on inspiration. It grew from five years of experimenting, tinkering, and messing up.
My friends are my inspiration, and all of them are true friends that support me. On a daily basis, I know that I have my friends to rely on.
I've been so lucky, received so much help and inspiration in my life, so I want to help give aspiring North Koreans a chance to prosper with international support.
History will record not only the transformational changes President Obama brought about, but also that in 2008, he was elected president with 69 million votes - the largest popular vote for any one person in the history of this country, based on a campaign of hope and inspiration.
For people who believe that they can't do it, I hope I'm an inspiration to others to get out there and try swimming. You might be pretty good at it.
I feel like I pull inspiration from everyone, and I feel like I'm honored and grateful that people feel that they can pull inspiration from me, be inspired by me. But I definitely don't think I'm a role model. I'm not someone to be imitated.
I realise I have inadvertently become a source of inspiration and hope for people in India simply by the fact that I grew up there, went to my local university, but could go on to do well internationally.
Better beware of notions like genius and inspiration; they are a sort of magic wand and should be used sparingly by anybody who wants to see things clearly.
I'm heavily influenced by European and American cinema, but the further I get in my career, the more I find myself looking back East for inspiration.
I know that a lot of people take inspiration from the fact that I was just a common man with no film background who turned into a star.
Though I didn't quite plan it that way, I had my two sons at just about the same ages my mother saw me and my sister off to college, and my first novel was published when I was 46. This 'tardiness' isn't something I'm proud of, but I'm happy to be an inspiration to others who arrive at these milestones later than most of us do.
My entire childhood was steeped in poverty. For me, poverty, in a way, was the first inspiration of my life, a commitment to do something for the poor.
I've been very fortunate to work for great people - so even when the political process gets ugly, I find inspiration in the people around me.
I've always written pop songs. I tend to take inspiration from more experimental genres, like ambient music, but at the root of the song, it's verse-chorus-verse.
I've never been a big fan of subtle art. I like art that gets deep into my head and starts my brain spinning with new ideas and inspiration and my whole body is full of energy.
My greatest inspiration is my coach, Maggie Haney.
I took inspiration from 'Fountainhead,' the way in which Ayn Rand conveyed her political philosophy through an immensely popular novel.
Causes brings over 140 million people together to form the world's largest giving community. The belief that everyone has something to give is at the core of what we do; people just need a little inspiration, and to know that whoever they are, there is something meaningful they can do.
Inspiration can hit you in the head at any time in any context. It could happen in a conversation. Talking to someone at a party, you can get an idea. But you've got to remember those inspirations.
