“I was able to work out all sorts of attitudes to style and event and character, all of which affected the way I came to think about my own writing. I believe that all good writers are original.” ThinkingWayWritingBelieveCharacterAbleI BelieveMy OwnAttitudeStyleEventsOriginalsWork OutAffectedGood Writers Author:Margaret Mahy
“I think one thing that kids who grow up on farms really have going for them is they have exposure to death and birth in a totally different way. I think it takes away a little bit of the mystery and a little bit of the fear, and I do wish I had that. And I wish I was able to grow my own food.” ThinkingWayLittlesDifferentKidsAbleWishGrowsBitsMy OwnGrowing UpOne ThingMysteryBirthLittle BitDifferent WaysFarmsExposure Author:Rachel McAdams
“As far as expense, I think if 'Twilight' does well enough, then we should be able to do the big expensive stuff for the sequels. I mean, we have to have werewolves, there's no way around it. They have to be there.” IfsThinkingWayShouldWellsMeanDoeEnoughBigsAbleStuffExpensiveExpensesTwilightWerewolfSequels Author:Stephenie Meyer
“I just think it's a blessing that I was able to have the gift of words and to be able to put them into music. I was given a great gift all the way around. I didn't ever have to really go out and look for songs, you know.” ThinkingKnowsWayLooksAbleSongGivenBlessingGreat Gifts Author:Teena Marie
“Thankfully, I was able to go to Marquette University and get my education, a Catholic education, so I could please my family, because I think they wanted me to be a priest.” ThinkingAbleWantedPleaseMy FamilyCatholicUniversityPriestsCatholic Education Author:Danny Pudi
“Success gave me confidence as an artist. And now I'm able to do what I want without anybody thinking it's dumb.” ThinkingWantAbleArtistDumb Author:Amy Lee
“I think more things are becoming socially acceptable. I think that just by having more media, whether that's TV or Internet, we're able to see more things.” ThinkingAbleMediaTvsBecomingInternetAcceptable Author:Brie Larson
“For me, the moment the mic is on and it's rolling, it's impossible to vocally relax for some reason. But one day, I'm going to be able to sing the way I sang when I was a little kid, completely open and free. That's, I think, the one thing that's changed: Growing older, I'm not ashamed to hear my voice.” ThinkingWayLittlesReasonMomentsKidsAbleVoiceGrowingImpossibleOne ThingChangedOne DayAshamedRelaxRollingLittle KidGrowing OldGrowing OlderMics Author:Cat Power
“I think every fiction writer, to a certain extent, is a schizophrenic and able to have two or three or five voices in his or her body. We seek, through our profession, to get those voices onto paper.” ThinkingTwoBodyAbleCertainThreeVoiceFictionFivePaperProfessionFiction WritersSchizophrenic Author:Ridley Pearson
“Sometimes I think on television, you use maybe a tenth of what you are able to do. So it’s nice to go, Well, I’m gonna take two months and reinvest in acting and storytelling. You don’t get to do that on television.” ThinkingWellsTwoSometimesUseAbleActingNiceTelevisionMonthsStorytellingTwo Months Author:Sarah Paulson
“If we just allowed women and men more leeway in our culture and more acceptance, I think they would be able to make better compromises.” IfsThinkingMenWould BeAbleCultureAcceptanceMen And WomenCompromise Author:Tamora Pierce
“I think it's an amazing quality to be able to roll with the punches and not be totally ruined as a person because life's been rough for you. That's a really admirable way to go through your life.” ThinkingWayPersonsAbleQualityRoughRuinedAdmirable Author:Anna Paquin
“I had a baby with no pain medicine, mainly because most people I talked to didn't think I'd be able to do it. So there!” PeopleThinkingAblePainBabyMedicineNo Pain Author:Busy Philipps
“I like what I see now in China, but I think the Japanese are a step ahead into craziness and weirdness. I go to galleries there that are the size of a New York elevator, and every time I'm surprised by the amazing things I find. I really hope I'll be able to promote some of these artists, to show their work in the West.” ThinkingShowsAbleArtistStepsNew YorkWestSizeChinaGalleryAmazing ThingsElevatorsCrazinessWeirdness Author:Jean Pigozzi
“On 'Swingtown,' I think that's when I was able to blend the character-slash-leading lady roles, and that's what I'm doing on 'Once Upon a Time' as well. She's a leading lady, but she's also this character.” ThinkingWellsCharacterAbleRolesOnce Upon A TimeLeading Ladies Author:Lana Parrilla
“I think to be - for me to be an American is - you know, it's one of the greatest things in the world for - you know, for me just because I've been able to grow up with everything. The freedom. You know, in my eyes this is the greatest country in the world.” ThinkingKnowsWorldCountryEyeAbleGrowsGrowing Up Author:Michael Phelps
“But if you want to be a songwriter-based musician, whether you play punk or rock or country or jazz, whatever, you have to work on your songwriting and you have to work on being able to play in front of people, I think. That performance is how you create the groundwork for a lasting career.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantCountryPlayAbleCareersRocksFrontsMusicianPerformancesJazzLastingSongwritingPunkSongwritersGroundwork Author:Amy Ray
“In my Olympic history I don't think I have achieved my potential as an athlete. That's what I want when I look back at my career. I want to be able to say I gave it my best shot.” ThinkingWantLooksAbleCareersShotsAthleteBest Shot Author:Paula Radcliffe
“I think it's become an economic necessity for people to be able to learn and grow throughout their lives, because most people can't get through their entire career with one skill set. We have to keep reinventing ourselves.” PeopleThinkingAbleGrowsCareersEconomicSkillsReinventing Author:Chesley Sullenberger
“The idea that you can live off the grid and just do your own thing is a very American idea - that you should be able to do your own thing, if you want to, if you're willing to pay the price for it. I think the price has gotten higher and higher.” IfsThinkingWantShouldIdeasAblePayWillingHigherPay The PriceGrids Author:Dana Spiotta
“As an ambiguously non-white actor, I've been able to play light-skinned African American guys, Latinos, and I don't think that I've ever had to play some kind of ethnic stereotype or something that was typed specifically for a person of color.” ThinkingKindPersonsPlayLightAbleGuyActorsWhiteColorAfrican AmericanStereotypeLatinoAmerican GuysEthnic Stereotypes Author:Daniel Sunjata
“I actually think some of my best moments in life have been while I was with people from Instagram - whether it's super late nights getting a release out or being able to travel to places I'd never visited and meeting some of the most interesting people I've ever met.” PeopleThinkingHas BeensMomentsAbleNightInterestingMetsLateMeetingsReleaseMost InterestingInstagramLate NightBest Moments Author:Kevin Systrom
“I think if you're good and you can persuade people you're going to be able to do that role and ultimately the audience buys it, then it doesn't matter whether you were really a chimpanzee in disguise! You've done it.” PeopleIfsThinkingMatterDoneAbleRolesAudienceDisguiseChimpanzees Author:Alexander Siddig
“I think I'm a global citizen. My parents came from China, were educated in France and emigrated to the United States. And I think that opened up my mind to be able to live and work anywhere.” ThinkingMindStatesAbleParentUnitedUnited StatesCitizensChinaEducatedFranceGlobal Citizen Author:Anna Sui
“I like to be able to control which players I'm working with. Because it doesn't matter how good a coach you are if the guys you're working with think they already know it all. You need a response, you need to feel they're trying. I want players who are always striving to improve.” IfsThinkingKnowsWantNeedsFeelsTryingMatterAbleGuyPlayerResponseStriveCoachesKnow It All Author:Gordon Strachan
“Part of writing a novel is being willing to leap into the blackness. You have very little idea, really, of what's going to happen. You have a broad sense, maybe, but it's this rash leap. It's like spelunking. You kind of create the right path for yourself. But, boy, are there so many points at which you think, absolutely, I'm going down the wrong hole here. And I can't get back to the right hole. I'm not going to be able to get this section back to the right hole - so I'm just going to have to cut it.” ThinkingWritingKindLittlesI CanIdeasHappensAbleBoysNovelPathCuttingWillingHolesLeapGet BackBroadsSectionsBlacknessRight Path Author:Chang-Rae Lee
“What can be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an oyster!” ThinkingArtAbleEarthLiteratureHeavenChanceStupidSkillsArt IsAtheistFoolishFabricHeaven And EarthOysters Author:Anatole France
“I think I've learned more from women than anyone else, and perhaps from love - what a wonderful testing ground, what a wonderful place to see and sense our limitations, to know that the pain reflects your state of awareness and not being able to hide from it.” ThinkingKnowsStatesAblePainWonderfulAwarenessBuddhismSexualityLimitationI've LearnedTestingWonderful Places Author:Frederick Lenz
“I like to be able to come and go as I please, and I don't really like having my face and name plastered around. I think it's a bit weird to have your name plastered on every page in a magazine, where in each case you're using a different piece of equipment.” ThinkingDifferentAbleFacesNamesBitsCasesPiecesPleasePagesMagazinesEquipmentComes And Goes Author:Geddy Lee
“I think once every person on the planet sees 'New Moon' and there's nobody left who hasn't see it, then I think they'll be able to go see 'Ninja.'” ThinkingPersonsAbleLeftPlanetsMoonNew MoonNinja Author:Joel Silver
“'I think as a guy you need a little bit to be on your own from early on, to start to live your own life, and try to understand what is going on around you, you have to be able to survive...” ThinkingNeedsTryingLittlesAbleGuyBitsLittle BitLive Your Own Life Author:Marat Safin
“A lot of guys are very intimidated by an attractive woman, and they dehumanise her because our culture perceives beautiful women as commodities. But I think if you're able walk up to a person and get to know them, and you see their flaws and their impurities, and realise that they're like you, then you can humanise them again.” IfsThinkingKnowsPersonsAbleBeautifulGuyCultureWalksLike YouPerceiveAttractiveFlawsRealisingCommodityBeautiful WomenIntimidatedImpurityAttractive Woman Author:Neil Strauss
“I think every singer should be able to jump in for a singer who has been sick, for instance, and learn an opera in two days. I know people who can do it.” PeopleThinkingKnowsShouldHas BeensTwoAbleCan DoSickSingersInstanceOperaTwo Days Author:Bryn Terfel
“But, I think it's great to be able to work with established directors, and then also first-timers. I feel like you learn from both of them, but then you can go and share your knowledge with each of them. That's really fantastic!” ThinkingFeelsFirstsAbleShareLike YouDirectorsFantasticTimer Author:Juno Temple
“I don't think of myself as being disabled, or able-bodied.” ThinkingAbleDisabled Author:Natalie du Toit
“I think all television has to be about relationships and I don't think horror for the sake of it can work unless you're able to ground it in some kind of relationship.” ThinkingKindAbleTelevisionHorrorSake Author:Rachael Taylor
“There are many things that, if I have to relive, maybe I will do it another way. But I would not like to look back and think what I have not been able to.” IfsThinkingWayLooksAbleAnother Way Author:Ratan Tata
“I think I'm drawn to more villain-type characters, because it's so cool to get to say all the things you want to say. In Hollywood, you get to this position where you have to bite your tongue so much. You take all your experiences of not being able to say what you really want to say, and channel that through your character.” ThinkingWantCharacterAblePositionTypeHollywoodTongueBitesVillain Author:Gabrielle Union
“I think most Americans would agree people should be treated equally and everyone ought to be able to pursue a fulfilling life with the ones they love.” PeopleThinkingShouldAbleOughtAgreeTreatedPursueFulfillingFulfilling Life Author:Mark Udall
“For a while I thought about studying medicine at school and becoming a doctor because I've always been interested in psychology and how people's minds operate. But I'm able to explore some of that as an actor and ultimately I think it seems more interesting.” PeopleThinkingMindSeemsAbleSchoolActorsInterestingStudyPsychologyBecomingDoctorsMedicineBecoming A Doctor Author:Rumer Willis
“I'm never argumentative for the sake of being argumentative, I don't think. And more than ever, I've had to be willing to fight just to get records released, or just to be able to walk away with a little bit of self-respect and pride.” ThinkingLittlesSelfAbleFightingBitsWalksRecordsWillingPrideLittle BitSakeSelf Respect Author:Ryan Adams
“Nashville has always felt perfect. I don't think Third Man Records could exist in any other town that I know of in America. Anything smaller or larger than the size of Nashville, and also the music - the attention that's paid to music in that town is sort of the right kind. It's not too hipster and it's not too fake; it's something in the middle, which is really good ground for a place like Third Man Records, that aims to be genre-less. It's great to be able to have that kind of access.” ThinkingKnowsMenKindAbleAmericaFeltPerfectAttentionRecordsMiddleThirdsPaidTownsAimSizeAccessGenreFakeHipsterNashville Author:Jack White
“It's not possible to advise a young writer because every young writer is so different. You might say, "Read," but a writer can read too much and be paralyzed. Or, "Don't read, don't think, just write," and the result could be a mountain of drivel. If you're going to be a writer you'll probably take a lot of wrong turns and then one day just end up writing something you have to write, then getting it better and better just because you want it to be better, and even when you get old and think, "There must be something else people do," you won't be able to quit.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantWritingDifferentEndsMightAbleYoungTurnsResultsToo MuchOne DayMountainQuittingAdviseParalyzedYoung WritersWrong TurnDrivel Author:Alice Munro
“You can teach almost anyone determined to learn them the basics required to write sentences and paragraphs that say what you want them to say clearly and concisely. It's far more difficult to get people to think like a writer, to give up conventional habits of mind and emotion. You must be able to step inside your character's skin, and at the same time to remain outside the dicey circumstances you have maneuvered her into.” PeopleThinkingWantGivingWritingMindCharacterAbleDifficultEmotionStepsTeachHabitCircumstancesGiving UpSkinsDeterminedSentencesWhat You WantConventionalParagraphBasicsHabits Of Mind Author:Anne Bernays
“I'm afraid of coaching, of writer's classes, of writer's magazines, of books on how to write. They give me centipede trouble - you know the yarn about the centipede who was asked how he managed all his feet? He tried to answer, stopped to think about it, and was never able to walk another step.” ThinkingKnowsGivingWritingBookAbleLanguageAnswersWalksStepsClassTroubleFeetGive MeMagazinesCoachingYarnCentipedes Author:Robert A. Heinlein
“I think I don't sing as hard as I used to sing. I used to kind of hit the accelerator a lot back in my youth, but now it's just being able to control it, and not work it so hard and use more of an emotional or sub textual kind of approach to singing.” ThinkingKindHardUseAbleUsedYouthEmotionalApproachSingingWorking ItJust Being Author:K. D. Lang
“I think that everyone is saying all kinds of things about 'rich.' Not only am I rich from doing some of things I've been able to do, but I'm rich in spirit. I'm rich in health. I'm rich in every way possible.” ThinkingWayKindAbleSpiritRichAll Kinds Author:NeNe Leakes
“I’ve never understood why we would want to deny all the joys - and the challenges - of marriage to anyone. Which is why I think any loving, committed couple — gay or straight — should be able to get married.” ThinkingWantShouldAbleJoyChallengesCoupleGayMarriedUnderstoodCommittedDeny Author:Al Franken
“I would just like my children to be able to eat fish when they grow up. Now, I don't think there's anything controversial about that.” ThinkingChildrenAbleGrowsGrowing UpFishesMy ChildrenControversial Author:James Murdoch
“I've run out of mates that haven't had a baby now. It does make me think of my parents having a family so young and the fact that I've been able to avoid it for so long. It does make me a feel a little bit selfish.” ThinkingFeelsLittlesLongDoeFactsRunningAbleYoungBitsParentHavensBabyLittle BitSelfishMates Author:Nick Moran