They turned their desks into a trigonometric war room, poring over equations scrawling ideas on blackboards, evaluating their work, erasing it, starting over.

Women, on the other hand, had to wield their intellects like a scythe, hacking away against the stubborn underbrush of low expectations.

For twelve school years, every morning, she had turned left out the front door to get to work. Now the taxi turned right, spiriting her off in the opposite direction.

There was virtually no aspect of twentieth-century defense technology that had not been touched by the hands and minds of female mathematicians.

West Virgina never left Katherine's heart, but Virginia was her destiny.

Their dark skin, their gender, their economic status--none of those were acceptable excuses for not giving the fullest rein to their imaginations and ambitions.

Expertise in a subfield was the key to a successful career as an engineer, and expertise was becoming a necessity for the mathematicians and computers as well.

If you are born to lead, be a leader!

I've learned from experience that if you work harder at it, and apply more energy and time to it, and more consistency, you get a better result. It comes from the work.

By nature of definition only the coward is capable of the highest heroism

Whilst you live a very little religion seems enough; but believe me, it requires a great deal when you come to die.

When you shoot in America, you have huge beams of sunlight in the windows, very vivid sunlight - it's faster in a way.

A liberally educated person meets new ideas with curiosity and fascination. An illiberally educated person meets new ideas with fear.

The Brits was an amazing place to get a broad musical education. But I never really thought I was going to be a singer because there was always someone better than me in my class.

Of course I got lipstick all over my lil' nose in about 5 seconds, nothing's changed.

True courage is to stand against evil, even when we stand alone.

COUGHS. These are symptoms, not diseases. Take them to your doctor and he can give you something serious to worry about.