I must have something to engross my thoughts some object in life which will fill this vacuum and prevent this sad wearing away of the heart.

'Eyes Wide Open' took shape from two real life events straight from my own past. One was the sad suicide of my young nephew a troubled kid who was found at the bottom of a landmark cliff in central California. The second was a chance encounter forty years ago with none other than ahem Charles Manson!

All pictures are unnatural. All pictures are sad because they're about dead people. Paintings you don't think of in a special time or with a specific event. With photos I always think I'm looking at something dead.

I think opera has gained a kind of glamorous appeal. It's a live performance that aligns all of the arts and when it is represented in the media in film in particular it is presented as something that is really a special event whether it's a great date or something that's just hugely romantic.

I had these kind of unrealistic expectations that were fueled by romantic comedies and it has both helped me and hurt me in many ways. It helped me because in general they've made me hopeful. I just figure things will eventually work out for me. But nobody is like any Tom Hanks character. Nobody is Hugh Grant. No one is Meg Ryan!

Is this not the true romantic feeling not to desire to escape life but to prevent life from escaping you.

What we call 'evil' doesn't necessarily deserve any kind of respect or understanding by any means it just deserves an acknowledgement of its complexity so we can better understand it - so we can help prevent it.

Science may eventually explain the world of How. The ultimate world of Why may remain for contemplation philosophy religion.

The memory of my own suffering has prevented me from ever shadowing one young soul with the superstition of the Christian religion.

The latest horror to hit the U.S. looks to have been caused by people of Middle Eastern origin bearing Muslim names. Again shame. This fuels more hatred for a religion and a people who have nothing to do with these events.

I especially object to having my character assassinated by reference to events from my past which bear absolutely no relationship to the question of who the anthrax killer is.

It would have been nice for Greg to eventually grow into a mature relationship with Laura. He was moving toward that already but then took a turn into the juvenile with Paige.

Every relationship that we have in our lives - our contact with each person place and event - serves a very special if yet to be realized purpose: They are mirrors that can serve to show us things about ourselves that can be realized in no other way.

People who supported Obama felt like they formed a relationship that they were being spoken to. The way that campaign worked and the way he's worked during his first term is to make people feel like he's grasping their hand whether it's by tweeting or email moments after an event sometimes during an event. It makes people relate to him.

The power which establishes a state is violence the power which maintains it is violence the power which eventually overthrows it is violence.

I have two daughters and I have done everything in my power to prevent them from assimilating even being aware of my idiocy about my weight.

No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes. On the contrary whatever the punishment once a specific crime has appeared for the first time its reappearance is more likely than its initial emergence could ever have been.

The term 'genre' eventually becomes pejorative because you're referring to something that's so codified and ritualised that it ceases to have the power and meaning it had when it first started.

The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others. His own good either physical or moral is not sufficient warrant.

I think that the power is the principle. The principle of moving forward as though you have the confidence to move forward eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you've done.

Next to enjoying ourselves the next greatest pleasure consists in preventing others from enjoying themselves or more generally in the acquisition of power.

One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.

'Smart power' is the use of American power in ways that would help prevent and resolve conflict - not just send our military in.

You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.

I not events have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day today and I'm going to be happy in it.

The nature of catastrophe is after all reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins destroys wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event - not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics - then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light.

I think the rise of China is one of the great events of all economic and human history and I think this will be overwhelmingly a positive thing for the region and the world.

Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event.

In the world of energy politics the sudden vanishing of the word 'coal' is a remarkable and unprecedented event.

We need to dig deep and give people a reason to be optimistic just as Obama is doing in America. Because in the same way that outcome of the U.S. elections will change the course of events there and around the world so too do politics here in Britain.