Everyone is given one gift, a reason for being, and it's our obligation to do something with it. Obviously, it's a challenge - but if you're not taking the bull by the horns, I have no patience for you. You're just taking up space.

A woman whose smile is open and whose expression is glad has a kind of beauty no matter what she wears.

Anne Roiphe

As for charity, it is a matter in which the immediate effect on the persons directly concerned, and the ultimate consequence to the general good, are apt to be at complete war with one another.

John Stuart Mill

Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest things in the nicest way.

Isaac Goldberg

When you believe in what you're doing and use your imagination and initiative, you can make a difference.

Samuel Dash

Every now and then I read a poem that does touch something in me, but I never turn to poetry for solace or pleasure in the way that I throw myself into prose.

J. K. Rowling

I was lucky enough to be the lady that was asked to be Maria in the Sound Of Music, and that film was fortunate enough to be huge hit. The same with Mary Poppins. I got terribly lucky in that respect.

Julie Andrews

In politics, there are no friends.

Marian Wright Edelman

Deregulation created this epidemic of greed which according to the rules of capitalism was OK. Beyond that there was criminal behaviour. There have been no repercussions and it's hard to make your peace with.

Brad Pitt

The simpler the food, the harder it is to prepare it well. You want to truly taste what it is you're eating. So that goes back to the trend of fine ingredients. It's very Japanese: Preparing good ingredients very simply, without distractions from the flavor of the ingredient itself.

Joel Robuchon

I wish you all manner of prosperity, with a little more taste.

AlainRene Le Sage

Vanity plays lurid tricks with our memory.

Joseph Conrad

I've dealt with many crises in my life, but few will ever happen.

Mark Twain