For the Arab, the past does not merely live. The past defines the present.

God answered prayers first by teaching the need to ask, second by using friends as holy messengers.

Alex had cooked, and coaxed, and helped Mark form borders around the shapeless days. Alex had given meaning to the word "servant".

His eyes touched lightly, and passed on.

He used a minimum of words and no inflection whatsoever. It was a policeman's manner of speaking, direct and unadorned.

It was typical of the American to identify the one unfinished strand.

Mark felt eyes on him as tight as a sniper's aim.

Normal Iraqi etiquette was forgotten the moment drivers sat behind the wheel.

The distance had been evaporated by humor

My world is about stories that entertain

The enjoyment of power inevitably corrupts the judgement of reason, and perverts its liberty.

The whole vanity aspect of building up different muscles - I have no interest.

Well, I love what you would call boys' music, you know, the prodigy, banging techno, music that girls generally don't like.

Getting every employee's mind into the game is a huge part of what a CEO job is all about. Taking everyone's best ideas and transferring them to others is the secret. There's nothing more important.

Troops of heroes undistinguished die.

But it still feels like it's a reach for me. I am more comfortable doing a drama. I feel like I know what I'm doing a bit better there. But it's good to be scared.

I shoot my big mouth off; it just pops up! I have to learn to edit myself.

At the end of the Beatles, I really was done in for the first time in my life. Until then, I really was a kind of cocky sod.

Most of the time, creative entrepreneurs lose interest long before their marketing message loses its power.