Can you rework your past, the grit that rubs in you, until it is shiny and smooth as a pearl?

I like trains. I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose taken care of: for this moment I know where I am going.

There are no people who are whole" he says. "Everyone has issues of their own to deal with. Mine might be a little harder, but the main thing is how on deals with them.

The cynic sees only cynicism, the depressive can taint creation with one glance

Most people have no imagination. If they could imagine the sufferings of others, they would not make them suffer so.

Betrayal clearly has its own reward: the small deep human satisfaction of having one up on someone else. It is the psychology of the mistress, and this regime used it as fuel.

Memory, like so much else, is unreliable. Not only for what it hides and what it alters, but also for what it reveals.

one does not remember one’s own pain. It is the suffering of others that undoes us

At the end of our lives it is our loves we remember most, because they are what shaped us. We have grown to be who we are around them, as around a stake.

I am a woman on her way to eat cake.

Per capita the East Germans drank more than twice as much as their West German counterparts.

The challenge, really, on any new film is to try to avoid that and achieve a few moments that aren't cliche.

And then of course, obviously as far as issues such as global warming, something has to be done on the corporate side, there has to be some mandate or some legislation.

What we need are lots of girls who aren't as good as us, who'll treat us with the proper respect and reverance.

Even though I make those movies, I find myself wishing that more of those magic moments could happen in real life.

There is always going to be competition. When you play for a top club, you're going to attract top players. It's part and parcel of football.

Creativity is as important as literacy and numeracy, and I actually think people understand that creativity is important - they just don't understand what it is.

Sometimes you can forget about who you are in a relationship. But you can also be inspired by the person you are with to become something you always knew you wanted to become.

I'm the only one that can take the debate to Barack Obama and win and be elected.

It is vital that government leaders and financial leaders take heed and broaden their horizons, working to ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education, and healthcare.

Between grief and nothing, I will take grief.