Angelina Jolie // "I have never understood why some people are lucky enough to be born with the chance that I had to have this path in life, and why somewhere across the world, there's a woman just like me, same abilities and the same desires and the same work ethic and love for her family, who would most likely make better films and make better speeches, only she sits in a refugee camp, and she has no voice. She worries about what her children will eat, how to keep them safe and if they'll ever be allowed to return home. I don't know why this is my life and that's hers. I don't understand that. But I will do as my mother asked and I will do the best I can with this life, to be of use..."
Arundhati Roy // "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."
Anais Nin // "You live...sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book…or you take a trip…and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure... Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this...without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death."
Bob Marley // "Possessions make you rich? I don't have that type of richness. My richness is life, forever."
Ernest Hemingway // "Being against evil doesn't make you good. Tonight I was against it and then I was evil myself. I could feel it coming just like a tide... I just want to destroy them. But when you start taking pleasure in it you are awfully close to the thing you're fighting."
Tilda Swinton // "Hello, I am away until 01/01/2070 and am unable to read your message."
Jack Kerouac // "What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? It’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."
Neil Gaiman // "I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something. So that’s my wish... Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever."
Jean-Luc Godard // "Are you in a film or in reality?"
Nick Cave // "I would like to start by thanking you all for the support you have given me over recent years and I am both grateful and flattered by the nominations that I have received for best male artist. The air play given to...my latest album...has not gone unnoticed and has been greatly appreciated. So again my sincere thanks. Having said that, I feel that it’s necessary for me to request that my nomination...be withdrawn and furthermore any awards or nominations for such awards that may arise in later years be presented to those who feel more comfortable with the competitive nature of these award ceremonies. I myself, do not. I have always been of the opinion that my music is unique and individual and exists beyond the realms inhabited by those who would reduce things to mere measuring. I am in competition with no-one. My relationship with my muse is a delicate one at the best of times and I feel that it is my duty to protect her from influences that may offend her fragile nature. She comes to me with the gift of song and in return I treat her with the respect I feel she deserves...in this case this means not subjecting her to the indignities of judgement and competition. My muse is not a horse and I am in no horse race and if indeed she was, still I would not harness her to this tumbrel...this bloody cart of severed heads and glittering prizes. My muse may spook! May bolt! May abandon me completely! So once again...I appreciate the zeal and energy that was put behind my last record, I truly do and say thank you and again I say thank you but no...no thank you."
Ernest Hemingway // "I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, 'Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.'"
Nina Simone // "I had spent many years pursuing excellence...now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important."
