“When I originally wrote "Jealousy," it was more like an exercise to try to write a girl-group kind of pop song. It was really contrary to most of the material I'd ever written. I didn't pay much attention to the song after I'd recorded it. I didn't really perform it at all the last 20 years. When it came time to make the new record, I decided to make peace with the song and have fun with it.” WritingTryingYearsKindLastsSongGirlFunPayAttentionRecordsWrittenGroupsMaterialsExerciseDecidedPopsContraryHaving FunMaking PeacePop SongGirl Groups Author:Natalie Merchant
“As president, I decided that a strong, confident America could advance our national security by engaging directly with the Iranian government. We've seen the results.” GovernmentAmericaStrongPresidentResultsSecurityDecidedNational SecurityEngagingIranian Author:Barack Obama
“That was a general impression that one got, that she [Eleanor Roosevelt] was always flitting around the country and descending on some place in the Ozarks that she decided was disadvantaged, and announcing that something had to be done. And she had a very active social conscience, which I think in general is to her credit, although it tended, as many people thought, to just be overdone to the point where it gave rise to this crack that she regarded the whole world as one vast slum project” PeopleThinkingWorldCountryDoneWholeSocialProjectsConscienceDecidedCreditActiveImpressionWhole WorldCracksSlumsEleanorDescendingAnnouncingDisadvantagedOzarks Author:William A. Rusher
“Well I've made no secret of my life long love of MAD Magazine, it's probably my first and greatest influence in terms of my comic sensibilities. I've known John [Ficarra] for many years, and we've been friends. About four or five months ago, at a dinner in New York, John made the very nice offer of my being guest editor for an issue of MAD and I thought about it for about half a nanosecond and decided that was a pretty good idea.” YearsFirstsWellsLongMadeIdeasTermSecretHalfKnownIssuesFiveFourNiceInfluenceNew YorkMonthsOffersDecidedMadDinnerMagazinesComicEditorsGood IdeasGuestsSensibilityLong LifeVery NiceLong Love Author:Al Yankovic
“I'm not just retiring from the runway, I'm retiring from all modeling. God, I love saying that! When I was 18, my mom said I have to have a plan. I decided I'd leave on top. I want to be like the athletes who seem stuck in time. When you see them at 50, you say they probably can still run like a champ.” WantSaidStillsSeemsRunningPlansMomDecidedAthleteMy MomStuckRetiringModelingRunway Author:Tyra Banks
“I always tend to say "no" to everything, but now I've decided to say "yes" to everything. Now, I'm doing all sorts of things that I would've said "no" to before.” SaidDecided Author:Charles Busch
“I was born in Mount Kisco, New York-although my family was living in the Bronx at the time. That's just where I decided to be born.” BornNew YorkMy FamilyDecidedBronx Author:Danny Burstein
“I was like 14 and decided I wanted to be a rapper, so I needed a hip rapper name. I was with one of my friends in class and literally went through a thesaurus. I saw "temper" and thought, "I like this, but it's too much." My friend was like, "What about Tinie for tiny," and that was that.” WantedNamesClassSawsToo MuchNeededMy FriendsDecidedTinyHipsTemperRapperThesaurus Author:Tinie Tempah
“The president [Barack Obama] decided to leave more troops than he had originally planned in Afghanistan. We have a very cooperative government there, with Ashraf Ghani and his top - his top partner, Abdullah. And they are doing their very best. And the Afghan army is actually fighting. The Afghan army is taking heavy losses defending Afghan territory.” GovernmentFightingPresidentLossDecidedArmyHeavyPartnersBarackTerritoryAfghanistanTroopsPresident Barack ObamaCooperativesAfghan Author:Hillary Clinton
“When I was a model, actually, for a little while, my friend that I worked with a lot, she had horrible self-esteem too. We decided that the exact moment when we actually thought we were attractive, we wouldn't be anymore. We would just, like, miss it.” LittlesSelfMomentsMissingSelf EsteemModelsMy FriendsDecidedHorribleEsteemAttractive Author:Geena Davis
“My daughter decided to embrace and celebrate who she was. She was a size 2 at one time, but she decided she didn't want to be hungry anymore. I think that's how you turn it around. Today, more and more designers are recognizing how lucrative that market is.” ThinkingWantTodayTurnsDaughterDecidedEmbraceSizeHungryCelebrateDesignerMy DaughterOne TimeRecognizing Author:Beverly Johnson
“hough I was creative, I also liked math and science. At Knox College, I studied creative writing and earned a degree in chemistry, thinking I would attend medical school. Ultimately, I decided that a career in nursing would allow more time for pursuing other creative interests. While I worked as an RN, I wrote stories inspired by my patients, designed t-shirts, and made hand-painted sandals.” ThinkingWritingMadeStoriesHandsSchoolInterestCareersCreativeCollegeDegreesDecidedInspiredPatientMathMedicalShirtsMore TimeChemistryT ShirtCreative WritingNursingMath And ScienceMedical SchoolSandals Author:Mary Pope Osborne
“While I was drawn to the Renaissance, my first (unpublished) novels took place in modern times. When the subject of alchemy started creeping into my stories, an astute mentor observed that the bits about alchemy might fit better in another time frame. When I finally decided to weave the pieces about the medieval science into historical settings, a successful novel began to emerge. (And I dusted off that art history book, and put it to use once again.)” FirstsArtBookStoriesUseMightBitsNovelSuccessfulPiecesModernSubjectsFitDecidedHistoricalSettingSettingsMentorMedievalRenaissanceAlchemyArt HistoryHistory BooksModern TimesAnother TimeAstute Author:Mary Pope Osborne
“As a matter of fact, I constantly tell audiences all over the world that the single greatest icon of American culture from the publication of "To Kill A Mockingbird" was that novel so that if we say, what conversation can we have that would lead us on a road of tolerance, and teachers have decided that if you're going to teach values in a school in America, the answer that American teachers at all kinds of schools have come up with, just let Harper Lee teach "To Kill A Mockingbird." And then all the teacher has to do is stand back and guide the discussion.” IfsWorldKindMatterFactsSchoolAmericaValuesCultureAnswersTeachNovelAudienceTeacherConversationDecidedCome UpGuidesToleranceAll KindsDiscussionAmerican CultureIconsPublicationMatter Of FactHarperMockingbirdKill A Mockingbird Author:Wayne Flynt
“I was at home waiting for projects. I was on Parenthood and there was one season left, and I was thinking, "What's next?" I'm at this age where I'm trying to write my own script, and they sent this over and I decided to put myself on tape.” ThinkingWritingTryingHomeAgeNextLeftWaitingMy OwnProjectsDecidedSeasonsScriptsParenthoodTape Author:Ray Romano
“Well, the film initially - we had decided to pair joy with fear because I don't know about you - for me fear was a major motivator in junior high. So we thought there's probably some good stuff there... As the film went on, we had developed all these great scenes that were really funny, but in the third act, it wasn't adding up to anything.” KnowsWellsFilmJoyStuffSceneMajorsDecidedThirdsPairsJuniorsJunior High Author:Pete Docter
“If, as we decided in Munich, there will be a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian assistance can flow into Syria - then this will open the door for the beginning of the political transition process.” IfsPoliticalProcessDoorsFlowDecidedHumanitarianTransitionSyriaAssistanceHostilityMunich Author:Adel al-Jubeir
“Since the president's [Barack Obama] lost all of that [majority in Senate], he now has decided he's just going to write laws on his own. He's going to give us edicts, as if he's a king. And that is a petulant child. He's refusing to listen to the will of the American people, which is they reject his policies.” PeopleIfsGivingWritingChildrenLawLostPresidentPolicyKingsDecidedMajorityBarackRejectsSenate Author:Chris Christie
“In the morning I'd write these essays, anything that I'd feel like writing, and in the afternoon, I'd spend time with my guitar. I had decided after listening to my last four or five albums that my biggest weakness musically was melody. the reason I had been singing in a monotone over the chord patterns in my songs was that I never practiced doing melodies.” FeelsWritingReasonLastsSongMorningFiveFourListeningSingingWeaknessDecidedGuitarPatternsAlbumsMelodyAfternoonSay AnythingEnd TimesEssaysChordsSpend TimeDoing Me Author:Iggy Pop
“You can actually muck with history and think about what if, why not. What if there were dragons in the Incan Empire that allowed them to resist colonization? What if there were a massive dragon empire in the middle of the interior of southern Africa that decided to take objection to the slave trade?” IfsThinkingMiddleDecidedTradeSlaveEmpiresDragonsWhat IfMassiveWhy NotSouthernInteriorsObjectionsColonizationSlave TradeSouthern Africa Author:Naomi Novik
“In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an art student. I also studied the visual arts at Lancaster University. I then decided to become an actor as he was becoming a musician. And then as an actor/performer, we have similar sort of interests - music hall and that whole world. So, there's a lot that I felt connected with.” WorldWayKindArtWholeActorsFatherFeltInterestStudentsSonBecomingMusicianDecidedRegardUniversityConnectedWhole WorldArtisticVisualsHallsPerformersFather SonVisual ArtArt StudentsLancasterFather Son RelationshipMusic Hall Author:Andy Serkis
“I decided to try to make a show of my own where I could invite an audience to obsess about race the way I sometimes do. So it was an attempt to dig into the race and history in America, and to make it personal and dramatic.” WayTryingSometimesShowsAmericaMy OwnRaceAudienceDecidedDramaticInvites Author:Steven C. Harper
“I decided to write Leadership BS because I was irritated by the hypocrisy in the leadership literature and the fact that many of the people writing leadership books exhibited behavior that was precisely the opposite of what they advocated and also what they claimed they did. Stories did not seem to be a good foundation on which to build a science of leadership.” PeopleWritingBookFactsStoriesSeemsLiteratureBehaviorDecidedOppositesFoundationHypocrisyIrritated Author:Jeffrey Pfeffer
“When I got to college, I planned to be a math major, and, in addition to signing up for some math courses, I decided to take some philosophy. Quite by chance, I took a philosophy of science course in which the entire semester was devoted to reading Locke's Essay. I was hooked. For the next few semesters, I took nothing but philosophy and math courses, and it wasn't long before I realised that it was the philosophy that really moved me.” LongPhilosophyCoursesReadingNextChanceCollegeMajorsDecidedMovedMathDevotedEssaysRealisedHookedSigningPhilosophy Of ScienceSemesterSigning Up Author:Hilary Kornblith
“When I first decided to be a writer, that meant dealing with preoccupations and concerns that took little account of Indian traditions. I saw India's past as part of an antiquity rendered irrelevant by modernity, which with its science, nation states, free enterprises, and consumer societies was supposed to have solved all problems.” FirstsLittlesStatesProblemPastNationsSawsConcernTraditionDecidedAccountsIndiaConsumersIndianEnterpriseIrrelevantModernityAntiquityPreoccupationFree Enterprise Author:Pankaj Mishra
“I decided to do philosophy at university, with a view to becoming a professional philosopher. Being a rather unstable character, at some points I had doubts about becoming a professional philosopher, but the example of two of my teachers, Ezequiel de Olaso and Juan Rodriguez Larreta, made me confirm my original decision.” MadeTwoPhilosophyCharacterDecisionViewsDoubtTeacherExampleBecomingDecidedOriginalsUniversityPhilosopherUnstableJuan Author:Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra
“I just realized, sometime early on in college, that I wanted to be a philosopher. I basically decided that I wanted to spend my life thinking as deeply and carefully and reflectively as I could about the nature of reality and our human engagement with it, and that taking a philosophical approach was the best way to go about doing this.” ThinkingWayHumansRealityWantedCollegeApproachDecidedPhilosophicalPhilosopherBest WayEngagementJust Realized Author:L.A. Paul
“I debated whether or not to pin the setting down to a particular date but in the end I decided to leave things vague. It depends how fast technology improves.” EndsTechnologyParticularDependsDecidedSettingSettingsVaguePins Author:Jonathan Trigell
“I am a man who used to wear the tights. We traveled the country doing two Shakespeare plays for bored college students for about a year. I think I'd probably still be doing it now if I hadn't just randomly decided to go to a sketch group audition. That led to doing improv, which led to the Daily Show. But it was fun while it lasted.” IfsThinkingMenYearsStillsTwoCountryPlayShowsUsedFunGroupsStudentsCollegeDecidedBoredTraveledAuditionsCollege StudentsTightsDaily ShowShakespeare Play Author:Rob Corddry
“When Bernie Sanders came along, and I liked his tweets and I read more about him, researched him more, I decided I like him and his policy, even more than just I like another guy in the Democratic Party, I really believed in it. And when you believe in something, you get out and work for it.” BelieveGuyPartyPolicyDecidedDemocraticDemocratic PartyTweetOther GuysI Like Him Author:Killer Mike
“There are good guys, and there are congressional people who are good guys, and I certainly vote in those elections. You know, my fondest dream would be if Obama, when he got out of office, decided he was going to go back and organize on the streets. He'd be the only person I could imagine who could really create a movement similar to what King did, and God knows we need that now.” PeopleIfsKnowsNeedsPersonsDreamWould BeGuyImagineStreetsMovementKingsOfficeDecidedVoteElectionOrganizeGod KnowsGood Guy Author:Joan Baez
“I knew very well that I could not stay. Everything collapsed. Everything in my life just collapsed, and it started with the kidnapping of three teenaged settlers and then judging the life - the young Palestinian from Jerusalem. That was the day that I decided that I have to go now.” WellsYoungThreeJudgingDecidedPalestinianJerusalemKidnappingSettlers Author:Sayed Kashua
“When I decided to pursue a career as a Muppet Performer when I was in college, it was my hope to be able to play a wide range of Muppet characters in all areas and genres of television and film.” PlayCharacterAbleFilmCareersTelevisionCollegeAreasDecidedWidePursueGenreRangePerformersMuppet Author:Stephanie D'Abruzzo
“I decided I wanted to be a painter, and then that moved into wanting to be an animator. By adolescence, I just wanted it to be something that was important...something that would make a difference in people's lives or leave an imprint in history.” PeopleImportantWantedDifferencesDecidedMovedPainterMaking A DifferenceAdolescenceAnimator Author:Evangeline Lilly
“I decided to pursue an acting career after having had an incredible experience working on a play in high school.” PlaySchoolActingCareersHigh SchoolDecidedIncrediblesPursue Author:Pawel Szajda
“[My friend and I] decided, we'll go to Corsicana, and we'll see what the people in Corsicana say. ... We just started meeting people and talking to them, and the more I heard the stories, the more red flags kept popping up. There was this disconnect between this person [Todd Willingham] that I'm reading in the court records, the prosecutor's statements, and this person that I'm learning about.” PeoplePersonsStoriesReadingTalkingRecordsHeardMy FriendsRedDecidedCourtMeetingsStatementsFlagsProsecutorPoppingRed Flags Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
“I went to university and studied English literature, and I forgot about music. I was gonna be a journalist. But then I decided to try and be a backing singer, and my mum was like, "Go for it." If that didn't work, I was gonna go to law school. I was just being boringly sensible; trying to be a singer felt a bit indulgent.” IfsTryingSchoolLawLiteratureFeltBitsDecidedUniversitySingersJournalistSensibleMumJust BeingLaw SchoolEnglish Literature Author:Jessie Ware
“Because I'm a "strong person," the symptoms hit me by surprise. It was, as I write in the book, stinging in my eyes after Sunday that I thought was an allergy, until one day I sat in the car and decided to just let my eyes tear up so that whatever was in them would come out, and what came out were tears that wouldn't stop. It was literally a physical reaction that was my first indication there was anything wrong.” WritingFirstsPersonsBookEyeStrongCarTearsOne DayDecidedSurpriseReactionsSatSundaySymptomsIndicationAllergiesStrong Person Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“I decided I got to say whether I was Christian or not, and so I've relaxed enormously since then. I'm the one who gets to say that, and not someone else.” ChristianDecidedRelaxed Author:Barbara Brown Taylor
“The United Nations was the thing I wanted to work for. Like the United Nations Commission for Refugees is what I was interested in. And then people said if you do that you'll hit glass ceilings all the time, because you are not Ghanian or Nigerian and that's the way to progress though a multinational organization like that. In any event, they said do five years' legal experience and come back. And after five years I decided to stay where I was. So I am really an accidental lawyer.” PeopleIfsWayYearsSaidWantedNationsUnitedFiveProgressEventsDecidedOrganizationGlassesLawyerFive YearsThey SaidRefugeeUnited NationsCeilingsMultinationalsGlass Ceiling Author:John Gimlette
“There's actually a time when I got cast in something and it was announced that someone else was cast. I hadn't been told yet if I had the role and I had a breakdown because I really wanted it and it was announced on this website that this other girl had gotten it. I was so sad and called my agents and said, "You guys didn't tell me this other person got the role!" They were like, "No, they haven't decided yet." Then two hours later I got the call that said I had the role.” IfsPersonsSaidTwoWantedGuyGirlHoursRolesHavensDecidedCastsAgentsWebsiteBreakdownOther GirlSo Sad Author:Mary Elizabeth Winstead
“I've decided to keep working until my last kid is thu college.” KidsLastsCollegeDecided Author:Michelle Singletary
“Since I knew I was going to make a film that was purely about emotions, and I knew that I ran the risk of being accused of amnesia relating to the social film, to prevent this I decided it would be good to have characters who were on the margins of society. These are characters for whom love is really the only way to know that they're alive.” KnowsWayCharacterWould BeFilmSocialLove IsEmotionAliveRiskDecidedBe GoodRanAccusedMarginsAmnesiaBeing Accused Author:Louis Garrel
“After I finished the Tycoons - on post-Civil War development - I realized how much I didn't know about the first half of the century, even though there had obviously been an enormous amount of development, so I read about and thought about that for a couple of years before I decided I was ready for a book.” KnowsYearsFirstsBookWarHalfCenturyReadyDevelopmentAmountCoupleDecidedFinishedI RealizedEnormousPostsCivil WarTycoons Author:Charles R. Morris
“I've tried over the years all kinds of ways of going about writing and even just thinking about the idea of writing. There was a time when I decided to try to write a song each day. Whether it was good or bad wasn't important.” ThinkingWayWritingTryingYearsKindImportantIdeasSongDecidedAll KindsEach Day Author:Kurt Wagner
“I don't really know. I think the first test is when you're very little and you fart, and you laugh at it and so do your friends and family. I knew before I was funny I was very annoying so I have that covered. I think it was because I was not very good in school I used humor as a defense mechanism. When I started doing plays and stuff at school I decided that I was going to keep doing it until someone tells me to stop and get a real job.” ThinkingKnowsFirstsLittlesRealPlaySchoolJobsUsedStuffLaughingDecidedTestsVery GoodDefenseCoveredAnnoyingMechanismFamily And FriendsFartReal JobsDefense Mechanisms Author:Joel McHale
“Nobody's cooler than my two girls. They just seem to take whatever comes with, you know - happiness and - steadiness. And they're loving school. They're making friends... and - they've already joined some clubs. And Sasha, you know - I think maybe to endear - myself to her, she - she decided she wanted to join a basketball team. So - what more could I want?” ThinkingKnowsWantTwoSeemsWantedSchoolGirlTeamBasketballDecidedClubsBasketball TeamMaking FriendsSteadiness Author:Barack Obama
“For many years I wanted to be a rock star but of course that didn't work out. I did however write on napkins and pieces of paper sentences and occurrences. I decided maybe I should write a book because I had been writing so much. I'm actually writing a book based on The Room that will hopefully be published soon.” ShouldWritingYearsBookWantedCoursesStarsRoomsPiecesRocksPaperDecidedWork OutSentencesHopefullyRock StarWriting A BookNapkins Author:Tommy Wiseau
“I didn't have song rights for the first video because I didn't know that it was going to do what it did. So for the second video, I decided better safe than sorry. It is a really gray area as to whether or not you even need song rights to make a video like that.” KnowsNeedsFirstsSongRightsSafeAreasDecidedSorryVideoGrayGray Area Author:Judson Laipply
“I know what the counterterrorism feels like because I was there. But I also operated within limits. And within the United States government, we've decided long ago that there are limits on what we're going to do in the war against terrorism.” KnowsFeelsLongWarStatesGovernmentUnitedUnited StatesLimitsDecidedTerrorismLong AgoState GovernmentUnited States Government Author:Barack Obama