I always thought, 'I could go the route of saying some controversial things and have it explode, just do it like that. But I don't do that.' But of course, it wasn't really up to me.
People come up to me on the street and make some little joke - like they'll say, 'Excuse me, sir, what time is it?' And I'll say, you know, '5:15,' and they'll say, 'Hey! Made you talk!' And that's merely a way of saying, 'I know your work and I like you.'
Hugh Grant has that magic in real life, so when he's saying these lines, 'It's always been you,' it's just devastating.
I get so much mail from young women saying that they are so insecure when they look at me, but they don't realize all of the flaws that I have.
Scientifically speaking, if I say something, or it gets misquoted, or people put a spin on it... I mean, are you interested, really, in what people are saying?
People saying, 'Life didn't turn out the way I wanted it to.' Welcome to the club. I wanted to be the starting center-fielder for the Boston Red Sox, for chrissakes!
When you have energy companies like Shell and British Petroleum, both of which are perhaps represented in this room, saying there is a problem with excess carbon dioxide emission, I think we ought to listen.
I have a policy of not saying anything negative about anything another magician does.
If I had to describe my sense of humor, I would say it's contemporary wit, you know what I'm saying?
I really believed Obama when he spoke in 2008, but I remember watching his victory speech after this last election and it was the same speech. Exactly the same speech. I felt like he didn't even believe it anymore. He seemed to be tired of saying the same thing.
Sometimes I say working on a story in a writers' room is like saying the same word over and over and over again until it doesn't make sense anymore. Like, you say it until you don't know what you're saying.
There's always a part of my brain saying: 'Stop getting comfortable. Don't relax.' Because I find it difficult to write when I'm happy. I have to go out there and get battered up and bruised to write anything. I have to feel something.
I get a lot of people that say, 'You know what, I heard that you're a painter, and I thought, 'Oh, another model who is saying she's an artist.' They assumed it was going to be a few splashes on a canvas.
I never, ever want to be in a position where people are sitting round a table, saying, 'We've got this book. I don't really get it, but we paid for it, so we've got to sell it.' I'm not Tony Parsons; that's not right for me.
The leadership of Christine Rampone goes without saying. She is the definition of a what a leader is.
The most wonderful thing I hear is people coming up and saying 'Thank you for my childhood', which still blows my mind but is very sweet.
Just don't let the hype of what people are saying and how much they love you, y'know, just take the compliment and be thankful that people are complimenting you, but don't let it consume you; don't let your circumstances around you and the way people view you make you act a certain way.
I get a lot of letters from people saying, 'How do I get into radio, how do I get into telly?' and I wish there was an answer, because there's no ladder. There are no parameters. You've just got to go in wherever you can, make the tea, and slowly make your way up the ladder.
I definitely intend to create my own work in the future so that we don't have to keep saying, We don't have work for black women.'
There's a danger of some of the best people saying, 'I don't want a career in science.'
Facebook is not very good at dealing with named groups; they're not very good at saying, 'We've got this book club and I'm a member and you're not.' But membership is one of the precursors to a lot of social action.
It's frightening to be facing an audience. There is always the fear of what they think of you, what they are saying about you.
It seems like every year Hollywood makes an attempt to retell the Manson story, and I just couldn't be less interested in it. It's not really our crowning achievement as a civilisation. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but it just bores me.
You have a generation that is saying we are tapping out of religion in many ways. But what they are not saying is that we are tapping out of a serious search for meaning in life.
It's disappointing that President Obama - who ran for office in 2008 saying he was going to be a fiscally responsible president - has caused the largest deficits and the largest debt in American history.
DMX wasn't checking what his fans were saying to him on Twitter or Facebook. Jay-Z is on a boat in Saint-Tropez. I'm hands-on. Girls write to me like I'm their diary. That's a huge responsibility. I don't take it for granted.
Since I did the SK Project and I partner with the United Nations World Food Program, I got a lot of different feedback from people online. Through social networks and through the Twitter. I read the comments and see 'em saying, 'People hungry here, Fif.'
My experience in relation to taking on the preachers of hate was saying to them it's compatible being British, being Western, being Muslim.
I remember Mitch Miller saying every week, This rock and roll stuff will never last. But one doesn't like to bring that up to Mitch.
Three-6 Mafia, we were always doing different kinds of things, and we like rock music, we like whatever - not saying they was rock, but they had a little rock-n-roll with some of their music, a little rock with it.
I don't personally consider myself Dr. Doom. I call myself Dr. Realist, even though it's less exciting and more boring than being called Dr. Doom. If you are consistently saying 'the world is going to end,' who is going to listen to you?
People are asking us, 'Why have you gone country?' And we say, 'Man, we were born country.' They gave us the tag 'Southern rock' years ago as a way of not saying country.
The police who did our training said 'Happy Valley' is one of the only police programmes they can watch and not burst out laughing, saying, 'As if you'd do that.' They think it's really authentic.
There is an incredible love in creating art unless somebody is saying, 'Hey, let's just make money,' because it doesn't work when you do it that way. If you are aiming for that, forget it.
A man does not know what he is saying until he knows what he is not saying.
I'm saying that you can create success for yourself but also understand that you have a responsibility to others.