As much as I love the Western genre, I figured if I kept doing those, I’d eventually run out of steam on that, and that would’ve been the end of it.

I wake up every day inspiring myself, because God gave me life.

Labor gives birth to ideas.

An author writes a book, and that’s the book at that point. And if the author writes the book again, then somehow something has gone wrong, if you see what I mean.

The good parts of a book may be only something a writer is lucky enough to overhear or it may be the wreck of his whole damn life and one is as good as the other.

Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last.

I never wanted to stay in one genre; I never wanted to be pigeon-holed or defined as the actor who only worked in one genre. I want to be able to work in all different genres. For me it’s fun, and that’s how I grow as an actor.

I think sometimes – not always – I write songs that are accessible.

The dreams and passions stored within hearts are powerful keys which can unlock a wealth of potential.

We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

If I’m inspired to make a certain kind of song, I’m going to make that kind of song, no matter if it’s what they know me as or think I am.

Actions are the seed of fate deeds grow into destiny.

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

When you write your first book aged 25 or so, you have 25 years of experience, albeit much of it juvenile experience. The second book comes after an extra year sitting in bookshops. Pretty soon, you begin to run on empty.

Here’s the thing: every office I’ve run for I was the first to win. First person of color. First woman. First woman of color. Every time.

Writing makes you feel that there is a reason to go on living. If I couldn’t write, I would stop breathing.

I just think overall there’s not as many female ministers than there are male ministers.

The men I idolized built their bodies and became somebody – like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger – and I thought, ‚That can be me.‘ So I started working out. The funny thing is I didn’t realize back then that I was having a defining moment.

Having listened to great songwriters like James Taylor and Carole King, I felt there was nothing new that was coming out that really represented me and the way I felt. So I started writing my own stuff.

My inspiration is R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Prince – for the vocals, anyway.

I’ve never been a very prolific person, so when creativity flows, it flows. I find myself scribbling on little notepads and pieces of loose paper, which results in a very small portion of my writings to ever show up in true form.

The true artist is not proud: he unfortunately sees that art has no limits; he feels darkly how far he is from the goal, and though he may be admired by others, he is sad not to have reached that point to which his better genius only appears as a distant, guiding sun.

I’m trying to show everybody that I’m a girl, and I’m five foot four, and you can do anything you want, no matter your gender. It’s your world, too!

My favorite literary heroine is Jo March. It is hard to overstate what she meant to a small, plain girl called Jo, who had a hot temper and a burning ambition to be a writer.

Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model.

Genius is a potential that lives within you and every other human being. You have many moments of genius in your lifetime. These are the times when you have a uniquely brilliant idea and implement it even if only you are aware of how fantastic it is.

I have so many designs and video ideas and lyrics in my head, so I always try to be productive.

And poets, in my view, and I think the view of most people, do speak God’s language – it’s better, it’s finer, it’s language on a higher plane than ordinary people speak in their daily lives.

There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.

My passion is bringing storylines around and constructing a full body of work rather than just a 16-bar verse.

Editing is now the easiest thing on earth to do, and all the things that evolved out of word processing – ‚Oh, let’s put that sentence there, let’s get rid of this‘ – have become commonplace in films and music too.

Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.

There are as many opinions as there are experts.

Personally, I think the best motto for an educational establishment is: ‚Or Would You Rather Be a Mule?‘

You need a certain amount of nerve to be a writer.

Music is this divine thing, the closest that we can get to something divine. It’s like this instinct we all own, and some of us have found a way to hear that music and write it down and share it with people.

There is no great genius without some touch of madness.

Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.

I think New York has evolved in my work just the way the city has.

Women are the engine driving the growth in California’s economy. Women make California’s economy unique.

My superhero has always been Tendulkar, and it will be Tendulkar for life. He is someone who has inspired me immensely. Just watching him play for India, I used to dream of winning games for India, because he used to do it single handedly.

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

I hope my story inspires everyone out there to keep hustling and chasing their dreams.

I’ve been trying to… Having been an English literary graduate, I’ve been trying to avoid the idea of doing art ever since. I think the idea of art kills creativity.

I was always interested in choreography – in making people think and feel something.

To write it, it took three months; to conceive it three minutes; to collect the data in it all my life.

With my childhood, it’s a wonder I’m not psychotic. I was the little Jewish boy in the non-Jewish neighborhood. It was a little like being the first Negro enrolled in the all-white school. I grew up in libraries and among books, without friends.

It’s kind of like a challenge to myself to be able to hear somebody else’s hook and kind of interpret the words. Because my own hooks, I already know what I mean when I write them.

Kitty Wells was the first and only Queen of Country Music, no matter what they call the rest of us. She was a great inspiration to me as well as every other female singer in the country music business. In addition to being a wonderful asset to country music, she was a wonderful woman.

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.

If thou art a man, admire those who attempt great things, even though they fail.

Our goal in the ’70s was to end the closed door era. There were so many things that were off limits to women: policing, firefighting, mining, piloting planes.

I would get out of school and go straight to my computer to create beats.

I really started writing music to challenge myself, to see what I could write.

At Microsoft there are lots of brilliant ideas but the image is that they all come from the top – I’m afraid that’s not quite right.

When I am putting looks together, I dare myself to make something work. I always look for the most interesting silhouette or something that’s a little off, but I have to figure it out. I have to make it me. I think that’s the thrill in fashion.

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

I do love being in my studio. Especially at night.

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.