Women born in the 1980s

"It's high school, man. They compare it to prison in the movie."

"To be honest, I haven't even seen the film yet. Tobey, if you're reading this, I apologize."

"When I'm shooting, I just try to make sure I wouldn't be embarrassed of it later, because in Watertown, you don't get away with anything."

"I'd like to go back to Buffy, but I've been in a coma, I've jumped off a building, I've been in prison - how many other ways can they bring me back? But those guys are geniuses, so who knows?"

"Rhymes with push-koo; I always say it sounds like a breakfast cereal."

"It’s still a pretty sexist world out there and someone’s got to stand up and say something."

"Sometimes it feels like you’re losing, but even when you’re losing, you’re getting something."

"I've been getting fan mail from maximum security penitentiaries, and Death Row. What are the authorities thinking of in playing a show with young teenage girls to Death Row inmates? They write everything — disgusting things that you don't even want to know about. And they send me pictures — "Oh, here's a picture of me before I was incarcerated!" — and there's some guy sat on the sofa with a bottle of beer and a moustache, and a big gut. It's so creepy. Way more creepy than Buffy."

"I'm kind of nocturnal. I love Conan. He's the bomb. I love Howard Stern when he's being good. I'm dying to get on that show. I also watch Ally McBeal, it's cool and smart. I've always loved The Simpsons. They are such a funky family."

"When I saw Analyze This, and I couldn't keep my eyes off him. He's great. I loved Shakespeare in Love, too, and thought the whole cast in that was amazing."

"I put out an ad in the classifieds: ‘Wanted, superhero. I’m a damsel in distress’."

"Actually, I believe in the third season, one of the characters says, "Three hundred and something", which is the number of days from that point that I would appear on the show. Which is awesome."

"My meeting with Joss at the beginning of the season was kind of like, "Alright, welcome to the cast, you're a teenager, you're a Key, have fun."

"I'm usually the one who leaves a water bottle on set, because it gets thirsty under those bright lights."

"If you’re not falling, you’re not training hard enough."

"I never had a stage mother, which is probably one of the reasons why I’m still doing this."

"I've always felt that kids are really smart."

"I was always wanting to learn and be one of those actresses who can actually hold a conversation as opposed to standing there looking pretty."

"I feel that in order to truly be an actor, you have to differentiate yourself and your roles."

"I've had experiences before where a director is like, "Yeah, I wanted a blonde." Have you heard of hair dye?"

"It's important to me that I don't get trapped in the whole teen scene because I feel that you can get lost in those kind of movies, and they aren't really about the actors; they're about the selling of the concept, and how much money it makes. So I just try to choose the scripts that have the best characters for myself, or would be the most challenging, or fun."

"Being an actress doesn't make you popular in school. I was always leaving to make a movie then coming back in."

"You need your family in this business. It's one of the most important things to keep you grounded. You come home and your mom's like, "Clean the kitty's litter box." It's not like it's all about me."

"People were dealing with CGI for the first time, so I think we were really unsure as to whether it would be a huge success or a big flop. … I thought the scripts were so good. It had a kind of domestic element which I'm not sure it ever had before. I think we were feeling quite confident about that. … In terms of whether it had a place in the world when it aired, I think everyone was quite unsure. I didn't know until it aired and people really seemed to like it."

"I was freakishly ambitious. I didn't want to be a child. I wanted my own flat, to work and be a grown up."

"I think people have common sense and can tell what's real, what's right or what's wrong and work it out."

"I think it must be hard being David. I get a certain level of attention but — I've seen it in action — he can't move for attention."

"I don't think anyone understands anyone's job … We all have the same hang-ups. I get jealous if I know Laurence is kissing someone else."

"I believe in being with someone for ever. Even though my marriage to Chris didn't work, I still don't consider it a failed marriage — it just came to its natural end. It didn't make me feel like I never wanted to get married again. I like sharing things with somebody."

"I just feel really content at the moment … I've done quite a lot of stuff and I don't have to feel desperate to do anything that radical or wild. I've set myself all these challenges and worked through them. I just feel I'm ready to be a mum now."

"I have a lot of interest in interior rhyming; not just rhyming at the end of the lines, but playing around with rhymes within the lines, playing with where the syllabic emphases in the sentences are, lining those up at strange moments in the line of the song. I’m not sure if that comes across or not."

"I'm not terribly interested in playing harp on other people's music right now. Partly because I feel like many people view the harp as this kind of gimmick. You know, like they have songs that are fully realized, complete songs, and then they think "How do we make this special? - Ooh, let's bring the harp in!" and they kind of want a harpist to play a glissando and play some heavenly noise in the background. I'm really interested in the harp as a fully actualized, self-contained way of presenting songs. That there is a bass in the harp - there is a way to create a rhythmic sense without drums - there's a way to have all sorts of textural variations and expressive variations. I also don't want to feel bound to the harp, I'd be interested in bringing other instruments in at some time. But I think the harp has been viewed in one particular way for so long, and has been limited for so long, that I feel like I am really interested in stretching the boundaries of what it's capable of doing and how it's perceived."

"My voice in combination with the harp - which, by the way, I use because I've played it my entire life, not to make some statement about the harp - somehow has … coloured people's interpretations of the music and projected an idea of childlike or fairytale quality or innocence. Which sometimes prevents people from listening to the songs the way I would like them to be listened to."

"Well, Nabokov is definitely my favorite author, though I feel strange calling him an "influence," since I can't trace the ways in which his writing may or may not have seeped into my own. But I also love William Faulkner, Thomas Pynchon, Kenneth Patchen, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, Mark Helprin (who wrote a beautiful book called Winter's Tale), and Kurt Vonnegut. My favorite book of all time is The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle."

"[The title] was the last thing that I chose, after all the songs and the cover art were finished. So none of the songs directly allude to that myth. But the main themes that emerge out of that myth are really close to the themes on the record -- mortality, decadence, an excess of water, isolation, rebirth. The myth is also significant to me because of the way that I encountered it, which relates to one of the huge events the record is about. I also liked the power of the word itself. I liked how violent and cryptic it felt; it's such a daunting word to encounter. I like how it contrasted this finely rendered, carefully composed front cover -- the painting is information-dense, formal, and stylized; it looks the way something looks when a painter spends a year on it, which is what Benjamin [Vierling] did. So it has all this detail and carefulness to it, which was really important to me and relates very closely to the record. But I also felt like it needed some sort of ballast, or balance, next to it, to reflect the other elements of the record; its innate violence. I wanted a word that was like throwing a brick at the visual on the front cover; I liked that whenever someone looked at that cover they also had to encounter this short, weird word."

"I don't necessarily see the elements that I invoke on the cover and in the songs as being in binary opposition. I know certain binary tensions emerge between these elements, but a lot of times they're more like archetypal elements; these free-standing, huge forces. Mortality, standing alone, as a thing; as opposed to, "Over here's life; over here's death. Here's bad luck, but here's blessing and redemption. Here's water; here's fire." Certainly those things come up again and again in the songs, but it's not intentional, and probably has more to do with the fact that those things emerge in real life, without any effort on our part whatsoever, than they are derived from any classical tradition. I think classicism in general might reflect more closely the natural order of human life, while postmodernism is somehow removed from the natural order, more cerebral and sterile, removed from real life on some level. So what seems like classicism in some of these songs might be just what I view as an accurate reflection of real life on this planet."

"I can't call them linear narratives, and I can't call them chronological in a traditional, classical sense; I'm sure there's plenty of stuff I borrow more from William Faulkner than William Shakespeare. I just find it funny that at this point, we see a collection of highly charged, highly potent symbols as referring back to a classical aesthetic, because to me they seem deeply connected to the pedestrian actuality of real life."

"We sailed away on a winter's day With fate as malleable as clay But ships are fallible, I say And the nautical, as all things, fades."

"And a thimble's worth of milky moon Can touch hearts larger than a thimble."

"I killed my dinner with karate kicked him in the face,taste the body, shallow work is the work that I do."

"And all that we built, and all that we breathed And all that we spilled or pulled up like weeds Is piled up in back and it burns irrevocably And we spoke up in turns 'til the silence crept over me."

"And the love we hold, and the love we spurn, Will never grow cold, only taciturn"

"Go to sleep, you stunning sky, gently creep, cunning by A quiet hum is amplified by your thumb that you suck dry A hundred raging waters snare the lonely sigh Hold your breath and clasp at Cassiopeia."

"While yonder, wild and blue, the wild blue yonder looms. 'Till we are wracked with rheum, by roads, by songs entombed."

"I do as I please. Now I'm on my knees. Your skin is something that I stir into my tea. And I am watching you and you are starry, starry, starry..."

"Emily, I saw you last night by the river I dreamed you were skipping little stones across the surface of the water Frowning at the angle where they were lost, and slipped under forever In a mud cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky'd been breathing on a mirror."

"And everything with wings is restless, aimless, drunk and dour; butterflies and birds collide, at hot ungodly hours. And my clay-coloured motherlessness rangily reclines; come on home now! All my bones are dolorous with vines!"

"We could stand for a century Staring, with our heads cocked In the broad daylight at this thing Joy Landlocked In bodies that don't keep Dumbstruck with the sweetness of being Until we don't be"

"Now her coat drags through the water, Bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless minnows In the magnetic embrace, Balletic and glacial, of Bear's insatiable shadow."

"Then the slow lip of fire moves across the prairie with precision While, somewhere, with your pliers and glue, you make your first incision And, in a moment of almost-unbearable vision, doubled over with the hunger of lions 'Hold me close', cooed the dove, who was stuffed now with sawdust and diamonds."

"And though our bones, they may break And our souls separate, why the long face? And though our bodies recoil From the grip of the soil, why the long face?"

"Picking through your pocket lining, well what is this? Scrap of sassafras, eh Sisyphus?"

"Well I'm starvin' and freezin' In this measly old bed (Then I'll crawl across the salt flats To stroke your sweet head) Come across the desert, with no shoes on? (I love you truly, or I love no-one)"

"Water were your limbs And the fire was your hair And then the moon caught your eye, and you rose through the air. Well if you've seen true light, then this is my prayer: Will you call me When you get there?"

"Have you come, then, to rescue me?" He laughed and said, "from what, 'Colleen'?" You dried and dressed most willingly. You corseted, and caught the dread disease by which one comes to know such peace."

"We are blessed and sustained by what is not said"

"By the time you read this I will be so far away Daddy longlegs, how in the world Am I to be expected to stay?"

"We broke our hearts, in the war between St. George and the dragon, but both, in equal part, are welcome to come along. I'm inviting everyone."

"But it can make you feel over, and old (Lord, you know it's a shame), when I only want for you to pull over, and hold me, till I can't remember my own name."

"This is the song for Baby Birch. I will never know you. And at the back of what we've done, there is that knowledge of you."

"held her there, kicking and mewling, upended, unspooling, unsung and blue; told her "wherever you go, little runaway bunny, I will find you." And then she ran, as they're liable to do."

"And if you come and see me, you will upset the order. You cannot come and see me, for I set myself apart. But when you come and see me, in California, you cross the border of my heart."

"A feather of a hawk was bound Bound around my neck A poultice made of fig The eager little vultures pecked"

"Wolf-spider, crouch in your funnel nest. If I knew you, once, now I know you less. In the sinking sand, where we've come to rest, have I had a hand in your loneliness?"

"With the loneliness of you mighty men, with your mighty kiss that might never, never end, while, so far away, in the seat of the West, burns the fount of the heat of that loneliness."

"And, when the bulbs do flash, as bright as morning, the crowd keeps on gathering like an electric storm."

"Driven through by her own sword, summer died last night, alone."

"I may have changed, it's hard to gauge Time won't account for how I've aged Would that I could tie your lying tongue Who says that leaving keeps you young."

"In this life, who did you love, beneath the drifting ashes, beneath the sheeting banks of air that barrenly bore our rations?"

"And, for the sake of that pit of snakes, for whom did you allay your shyness, and spend all your mercy, and madness, and grace, in a day, beneath the bending cypress?"

"Hung from the underbelly of the Earth While the stars skid away below Gormless and brakeless; gravel-loose Falling silent as gavels in the snow."

"It is too short — the day we are born, we commence with our dying."

"Coats of bouclé, jacquard and cashmere; cartouche and tweed, all silver shot — and everything that could remind you of how easy I was not."

"It does not suffice for you to say I am a sweet girl, or to say you hate to see me sad because of you. It does not suffice, to merely lie beside each other, as those who love each other do."

"The tap of hangers, swaying in the closet — unburdened hooks and empty drawers — and everywhere I tried to love you is yours again, and only yours."

"But inasmuch as that light is loaned, insofar as we’ve borrowed bones, must every debt now be repaid in star-spotted, sickle-winged night raids"

"In the folds and the branches, somewhere, out there, I was only just born into open air. Now hush, little babe. You don’t want to be down in the trenches, remembering with me, where you will not mark my leaving, and you will not hear my parting song. Nor is there cause for grieving. Nor is there cause for carrying on."

"Above them, parades mark the passing of days through parks where pale colonnades arch in marble and steel, where all of the Twenty Thousand attending your foot fall (and the Cause that they died for) are lost in the idling birdcalls, and the records they left are cryptic at best, lost in obsolescence"

"In December of that year, the word came down that she was here. The days grew shorter. I was sure, if she came 'round, I’d hold my ground. I'd endure. But they'd alluded to a change that came to pass, and Spring, deranged, weeping grass and sleepless, broke herself upon my windowglass. And I could barely breathe, for seeing all the splintered light that leaked her fissures, fleeing, launched in flight: unstaunched daylight, brightly bleeding, bleached the night with dawn, deleting, in that high sun, after our good run, when the spirit bends beneath knowing it must end."

"What’s redacted will repeat, and you cannot learn that you burn when you touch the heat, so we touch the heat, and we cut facsimiles of love and death (just separate holes in sheets where you cannot breathe, and you cannot see)."

"As the day is long, so the well runs dry, and we came to see Time is taller than Space is wide. And we bade goodbye to the Great Divide: found unlimited simulacreage to colonize!"

"All we saw was that Time is taller than Space is wide. That's why we got bound to a round desert island, 'neath the sky where our sailors have gone. Have they drowned, in those windy highlands? Highlands away, my John."

"lists of sins and solemn vows don't make you any friends."

"And in an infinite regress: Tell me, why is the pain of birth lighter borne than the pain of death?"

"I know we must abide each by the rules that bind us here: the divers, and the sailors, and the women on the pier."

"Recall the word you gave: to count your way across the depths of this arid world, where you would yoke the waves, and lay a bed of shining pearls! I dream it every night: the ringing of the pail, the motes of sand dislodged, the shucking, quick and bright; the twinned and cast-off shells reveal a single heart of white."

"And never will I wed. I'll hunt the pearl of death to the bottom of my life, and ever hold my breath, till I may be the diver's wife."

"Hey little leaf, lying on the ground— now you're turning slightly brown! Why don't you come back on the tree, turn the color green the way you ought to be?"

"In martial wind, and in clarion rain, we minced into battle, wincing in pain; not meant for walking, backs bound in twine: not angel or devil, but level, in time."

"Now the towns and forests, highways and plains, fall back in circles like an emptying drain. And I won't come round this way again, where the lonely wind abides, and you will not take my heart, alive."

"So it would seem to be true: when cruel birth debases, we forget. When cruel death debases, we believe it erases all the rest that precedes. But stand brave, life-liver, bleeding out your days in the river of time. Stand brave: time moves both ways"

"Love is not a symptom of time. Time is just a symptom of love"

"Joy! Again, around—a pause, a sound—a song: a way a lone a last a loved a long. A cave, a grave, a day: arise, ascend. (Areion, Rharian; go free and graze. Amen.) A shore, a tide, unmoored—a sight, abroad: A dawn, unmarked, undone, undarked (a god). No time. No flock. No chime, no clock. No end. White star, white ship—Nightjar, transmit: transcend!"

"I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do."

"I lived the war in Iraq, and today I still have family and friends fighting in Iraq. My support for our troops is unwavering. I believe this is not a time for finger-pointing, it is a time for truth — the whole truth— vs. hype, and misinformation."

"I was given opportunities not extended to my fellow soldiers, I embraced those opportunities to set the record straight."

"I had a story tell, a story that needed to be told so that people would know the truth."

"The nurses at the hospital tried to soothe me, and they even tried unsuccessfully at one point to return me to Americans."

"A group came to the hospital to rescue me. I could hear them speaking in English but I was still very afraid. Then a soldier came into the room. He tore the American flag from his uniform and he handed it to me in my hand. And he told me "We're American soldiers, and we're here to take you home." And I looked at him and I said "Yes, I am an American soldier too.""

"When I remember those difficult days, I remember the fear, I remember the strength, I remember that hand of that fellow American soldier, reassuring me that I was going to be okay."

"Tales of great heroism were being told... at my parents home in Wirt County, West Virginia, it was understaged by media all repeating the story of the "little girl Rambo" from rural West Virginia who went down fighting. It was not true."

"I have repeatedly said, when asked, that if the stories about me helped inspired our troops and rally a nation, then perhaps there was some good. However, I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and try to make me a legend, when the real heroics — of my fellow soldiers that day — were legendary."

"The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own heroes — ideals for heroes — and they don't need to be told elaborate lies."

"My hero is every American who says "My country needs me" and answers that call to fight. I had the good fortune and opportunity to come home and to tell the truth; many soldiers, like Pat Tillman... did not have that opportunity. The truth of war is not always easy. The truth is always more heroic than the hype."

"I didn't know whether to run from my seat...I was in the line of fire. My desk is now a crime scene."

"Anchoring four hours a day, solo, you have to know your stuff. But I do. I'm a real geek."

"Intelligence is attractive, but so is life experience. You can’t amass it just by reading a ton of books. But you can live a lot of life in a short time. Travel. Talk to everyone. Collect adventures, and use them to understand the world. That’s how you learn to treat people well. And that’s sexy."

"I’m a vegan. But, no one believes it because when you’re out in the field, most of your meal options involve meat with a side of something fried. I’ve learned how to be creative and improvise and can eat anywhere — even a steak house or a gas station."

"This is a competitive business — there are a lot of women who want these jobs, but experience, education, and smarts go a long way. I’m still figuring it out — I learn new things every day. Once you stop learning, you should get out of the business. It’s just really about being hungry for more."

"My generation isn’t tolerant of what they see as fake or staged. They’re looking for authenticity and honesty. Journalists who want to reach them need to be able to say, ‘I don’t personally have all the answers, but I do have a good idea about where we’ll find them.'"

"It’s not about hair, it’s about being you--whether that’s something the industry has seen before and accepts or not."

"I always loved how people like Jon Voight and Laurence Olivier shocked you every time they came on-screen. They were so different each time. That's what I hope to do with acting — be the chameleon and not get stuck in a type."

"I tend to gravitate toward the more powerful roles. As opposed to the doe-eyed girl who bats her eyelashes and runs around in towels, you now what I mean? Because that kind of makes me want to vomit.""

"I really like Shakespeare a lot. The characters that he writes for females, I think, are really great and a lot more compelling than what modern writers write, which is weird because they didn't have actresses then."

"Playing Paula in The Business of Strangers was extremely cathartic and wonderful for me because Patrick Stettner (the director) constantly encouraged me to be un-self aware. The character is very elusive and bold, but my experience of having people confuse bluntness with bitchiness has made me shy away from it, or it has made me too aware of the reactions I get from people. So Patrick undid all that by telling me to ignore what the response might be to Paula. It was almost like being a kid again, and it was a very empowering feeling."

"I definitely worry about that. I think about it all the time because that's the way Hollywood thinks. It's all about momentum and keeping your name out there, and college certainly takes you away from that. But, if I look at it in the longer term, it's so worthwhile."

"The way Miramax handled it was B.S. There were a lot of crossing political agendas going on, and the reasons in the press weren't entirely true. It was like 'Are we seeing the same movie here?' I've always thought it's better to get people talking about the issue of school violence as opposed to trying to pretend it didn't happen."

"Being an actor is looked at like a prolonged game of dress-up. America puts movie stars on pedestals. In college, it's the flip side. I sometimes have to justify my job to my professors because they're focused on intellect and ideas."

"She's not your typical cheesecake pinup girl. She's beautiful and talented and has the mouth of a truck driver when necessary."

"Alex is cool because a lot of people can relate to her. She's not the most popular girl in school, but she's also not a geek. I know what it's like to think you don't always fit in, and I think kids can relate to Alex's feelings about being average."

"If I spent too much time here in Los Angeles, I could probably get a little messed up. It's not real here, being on a set with only actors. I've worked with people who were totally cool, then once they got all the publicity and attention, it just went to their heads. If I did anything like that my friends would say, 'What's up with you? That really doesn't fly here.' I'm lucky I have a really strong network of people I'm close to, so I try to keep as grounded as possible by going home every weekend, where I'm just normal."

"I want to be the poster girl for engineers and computer nerds."

"I'm the biggest nerd - I love comic books and stuff like that!"

"I'm not going to win an Oscar anytime soon. I'm not Meryl Streep."

"Wonder Woman is a lame superhero. She flies around in her invisible jet and her weaponry is a lasso that makes you tell the truth. I just don't get it."

"I don't understand why people don't have a f***ing sense of humor. Always assume that I'm being sarcastic."

"As soon as you tell me to do one thing, I do the opposite. As soon as someone tells me not to get any more tattoos, I have this intense fire burning inside me to cover myself with them. I don't care if it's self-destructive. I just have that need to rebel."

"In the past I’ve been reluctant to share any bits of truth about myself or to really let people in on my reality, so I have said some things to throw people off the scent of what’s really going on in my life. So I have sort of aided the media in printing these misconceptions, which I regret. I’ve just come to the realization at this point that if I don’t feel like sharing, then I’m just not going to share."

"I'm not afraid to be sexy. A woman who is intelligent and also knows how to weaponize her beauty… there's nothing more dangerous than that. There's nothing more powerful than that."

"I feel the popular music of a certain time really tells you a lot about what life was like in that period."

"I disgust wearing clothing. I don't have any qualms about being naked on screen. I know it's being shot by a wonderful cinematographer, so why would I fret? If it was for Playboy, I'd be worried."

"I think it’s a good reality check to grow up in New York, because every day you’re exposed to people from all parts of the world, people that don’t have any money, people who live on the street, rich people — especially if you’re not sheltered."

"I feel like you kind of have to live life to its fullest in order to be a good actor. Draw on experiences. The more experiences the better, and I really have had a lot of experiences in life, even at my young age."

"For me there’s no good or bad, as long as I’m feeling everything to the greatest degree, whether it’s sadness or happiness."

"I love the fact that the present is the only real reality we have."

"I want to make it clear to England, I am not a party girl."

"I'm not a model. Whenever I do a photo shoot I like to create a story."

"I'm just one of the few American actresses that are willing to be nude. And I feel in order to be a great actress you need to be naked in all ways. Emotionally and … whatever."

"Paz is Genghis Khan meets Marie Antoinette"

"Paz de la Huerta has not risen to the status of It girl by chance. She has perfected the art of revealing her assets in a cheeky way at the opportune moment."

"People always assume if you're vegetarian you can just live on cheese and meanwhile cheese is awful for your body even if tastes so good. I'm a massive animal lover too. Being vegan has been so good for me. I've never felt better."

"As of right now I am a vegan. I put that off until after I was done with this tournament. And then I'm gonna go home and I'm probably gonna take over the loan on my stepdad's Prius and I'm gonna drive a clean car. And I'm gonna get a surfboard and learn how to surf, teach myself. I made up this long list of stuff that I couldn't do while I was training that normal people do. It's kind of too late to go to prom, but you know, I'll find something to make up for it."

"The way I was raised was that you can pick whatever you want to do in life, just try to be the best in the world at it. I'm a very proud person and if I'm putting my pride on the line every time I fight, there's no way in hell I'm going to allow anyone else to work harder than me. Plus, I love to train now. When I have to take a break I'm bored out of my mind. I don't know what to do with myself when I'm not fighting. It's my niche - it's just what I'm meant to do."

"People say to me all the time, "You have no fear." I tell them, "No, that's not true. I'm scared all the time. You have to have fear in order to have courage. I'm a courageous person because I'm a scared person.""

"When I left judo and went into MMA, everyone was saying, "How's she gonna react to getting punched in the face?" And I was thinking, You don't understand. In judo, those girls would punch you straight in the face all the time. They'd pretend to go for a grip and just punch you. Grab you by the collar and hit you over and over again. If you watch the fight I lost at the Olympics, you'll see that girl punched me in the face twenty times."

"When I was in school, martial arts made you a dork, and I became self-conscious that I was too masculine. I was a 16-year-old girl with ringworm and cauliflower ears. People made fun of my arms and called me "Miss Man." It wasn't until I got older that I realized: These people are idiots. I'm fabulous."

"You go through different arcs in your career. I think when I was younger, I was very into the performing side of the industry. I came to acting through that way, and then having gone to university and studied cinema studies and watching tons of films and understanding film theory and making a conscious choice of working with auteur director marks a new chapter in my development as an artist."

"I think when you work with really wonderful directors who have a really strong vision, it lets you as an artist set the tone for your own career. So for me, it's not necessarily having that kind of notoriety. I'm interested in great work and working with people that have a singular vision, and I think the work dictates that."

"I go back and forth between [being a vegan and not being a vegan]. I try lots of different things. I really feel that you need to kind of listen to your body and what your body is telling you to eat. So I was a vegan for about two years. … Well, everything with being vegan and vegetarian is a really big commitment. You have to do what you feel is best and what you believe in and what your body is telling you that it needs. I really think everyone should do what’s best for them, and what’s best for me may not be best for someone else. But like I said, you just have to do what makes you feel good."

"It's so important, so comforting, to have lampposts in this world who can light the way."

"Uniqueness is what makes you the most beautiful."

"Find something you’re passionate about and you know, do something."

"Nobody should be entirely defined by one thing"

"It’s an honor to represent military families on the show. These families sacrifice so much and are so committed and graceful with how they handle situations. To send your loved one away, not knowing if they’re going to come back or not. To still hold your pride and still keep it together, these women and these families are just very brave. I’m very fortunate and very excited to be a part of something that speaks to many of our citizens."

"I worked so hard to be so versatile in so many different things. There’s just not a lot of girls who can do ballet and flips and break dance and crazy hip-hop moves. So I would really encourage young dancers and actors to work to be as versatile as possible."

"Worst part is the post project low that seems to happen after being on a project that you love. I don’t hate things, but I really really passionately dislike going from being around a “film family” every day and loving every minute of it, then after the film is over you rarely see each other again and if you do its very few and far in between."

"I would like to say that I live in Hollywood and I sleep in Simi. I am in LA every single day. I do not want to move there because I like the escape, the quiet in Simi."

"I’m not the biggest fan of long walks on the beach but I do love being on a boat, that fulfills the scenic water element right? In all seriousness, I’ve been acting since I was seven years old and I love it. I’ve been blessed to work with amazing people on wonderful projects and made great friends along the way. Besides acting, I love laughing, eating, being adventurous and I’m simply excited about what the future may hold."

"I live in a world of actors where everyone is a little crazy to begin with, but it was interesting that he said all these elements to this disorder. I was like, “Oh my gosh!” I feel like this will be a great challenge to play the role, but I can tap into that because I feel like I know someone with that disorder."

"I know I’m also the girl who’s Chinese family doesn’t speak Chinese, and I’ve grown up watching Western philosophy movies teaching me that I should follow my heart and that I can do and be anything I desire. It almost feels like sometimes I’m too Asian, and then other times I’m not Asian enough. I don’t know... I’m not typical. I don’t fit the box. I’m just ME… Moments like these push me to grow and become better and all I can do is be the best me I can be and trust that what’s right for me will come along."

"So often, people ask me what is the key to success in this industry... or what would be my best advice to give to new comers... and though there are many things I could tell you from my personal experience, persistence and consistency seems to be a common thread to everything I have to say."

"Looking back, I can see how there are challenges for any working parent. My mom was a stay-at-home mom and that was really challenging too. I think it’s hard to be a parent and it’s complicated and there are a lot of difficult decisions that you make for your child and for yourself and for your family. Only now as an adult can I appreciate how courageous it was for my parents to move because they didn’t know anybody there [in Connecticut], and also for my dad’s career it must have been hard being away from LA. But we were always on movie sets. We were never apart. I was sheltered from the industry lifestyle but not from the experience of the set."

"I’ve never, ever, in my entire life, been upset at a casting choice. I started taping my dad’s auditions when I was 11, when he was auditioning actors for one of his movies. I would see, over and over again, that there wasn’t just one actor for the role. It was really clear that there were a lot of people who could play a character really well, and it would always come down to something kind of weird and non-obvious as to why a person was cast. If you’re not right, you’re not right, but that’s okay."

"I think everyone has what it takes to be a good actor innately within them. It’s really about connecting to your own humanity and your own behaviors, and getting to a level of self-awareness so that you can have perspective and step outside of yourself and transform and become another person. You can’t become another person if you’re not self-aware; you wouldn’t know what’s changed. [But] the ability to play pretend is something that everyone has access to; you see little kids doing it. On the spectrum of imagination, there are people who are more imaginative than others—I guess some kids are hardcore pretenders and have imaginary friends for years and other kids play and they have fun, but it’s not quite as specific like that. I’m sure there’s a range, but I think everyone can pretend."

"Being an actress was kind of like when you’re a kid, and you want to run away and join the circus, it's something you really want to do, but then you grew up and got a proper job. It was a dream, but I didn’t think it would ever be reality, and yet here I am!"

"It's not an understatement to say that I owe everything as an actor to Merlin. It was pretty much my first job and I didn't know what I was doing for many years on it. It wasn't until the third and fourth series - the fourth series especially - that I really found my feet with the character, and as an actress. I'm glad that I had those few years to be able to do her justice when she became this powerful, confident sorceress woman. Because when she was an unsure, a little bit all-over-the-place princess, I was still quite unsure as an actress."

"Oh man it's kind of sick how much joy I get out of being cruel to old white men. Are white people genetically predisposed to burn faster in the sun, thus logically being only fit to live underground like groveling goblins?"

"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with an anime avatar calling you a cuck"

"America is not doing so hot right now I was hypnotized by the travel ban, the way, you know, a chicken gets hypnotized by something it's afraid of I'm a very privileged person. And I am, like, completely documented. Everything's in order, and I'm educated. I speak English. I don't have that much to be afraid of. But whenever I run into one of these — and I'm not going to again, and that's amazing — whenever I ran into those issues, my heart would start pounding. I just felt really stressed out about it every time."

""We have other things to get over besides the occupation and discrimination. We are fighters and don't give in. If you don't open the door for me, I will come in through the window, and if it is closed, down the chimney. We were too polite, but we learned Israeli chutzpah. It's easy to humiliate an Arab who kowtows, but when that person says 'Listen, pal, tone it down, don't talk to me like that,' you arrive at a dialogue."'"

"What's more important for me is the brand name Lucy Aharish. The Arab sector does not pay me a salary. My national identity is that of an Arab-Israeli. I identify with Palestinian suffering, but I am not part of it. I have a different suffering here: I am not getting the rights that accrue to me as a citizen of Israel – such as better mortgage terms – because I did not do army service."

""One of the topics [on the show last week] was the murder of women in the Arab sector, what is referred to, unfortunately, [...] as 'honor killing' and has nothing to do with [anything worthy of] honor. The guest in the studio was a woman who had 20 years of experience working for the sake of those same women who die for no good reason, a woman whose everyday job was a holy work for the sake of thousands of Arab women who need a voice that will shout out and cry out their cries. After she had accused the government and the police and everyone of incompetence, I asked her, in a somewhat aggressive manner, as it were, '[...] Where are we in all of this? Where are we Arab women to teach and discipline our sons that a man has no right over a woman? [...]' During the commercial break, she got up and told me that I had to learn how to talk to Arabs because the tone that I adopted and the things that I said were said to gain approval from Jews. So I've come to tell you today that I haven't come for approval from you; that I haven't come for approval from anyone; and this is the message that I want you to digest very, very well. In my life I have been accused of many things: that I am the fifth column; that an Arab will always stay an Arab, no matter how liberal he may look; that I bring shame on my family for being in a relationship with a person outside my religion. I've received threats after asking Palestinian residents live on the show why they don't go out against Hamas men, who use them and bring them to their slaughter; I've been attacked on Yom ha-Shoah and Yom ha-Zikaron that the managers at Arutz 2 dared to put an Arab on a show such as that as the host on a day such as that; I've been told that I make Arab women stray off the path of proper behavior; and that I've forgotten where I come from being an 'Ashkenazified', 'Judaized' Arab. So they blamed and they talked—as if that, in itself, made them right."

""Right now, in Halab, Syria – just an eight-hour drive from Tel Aviv – a genocide is taking place. You know what, let me be more accurate – it is a holocaust. Yes, a holocaust. Maybe we don't want to hear about it, or deal with it, that in the 21st century, in the age of social media, in a world where information can fit into the palm of your hand, in a world where you can see and hear the victims and their horror stories in real time, in this world we are standing doing nothing, while children are being slaughtered every single hour. Don't ask me who is right and who is wrong, who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, because nobody knows and frankly, it doesn't matter. What matters is that it's happening right now in front our eyes, and nobody in France or in the U.K. or in Germany or in America is doing anything to stop it. Who is marching in the streets for the innocent men and women of Syria? Who is shouting for the children? No one. The UN is holding meetings of its security councils, and wiping away a tear when they see the image of a father holding the body of his little daughter. There is a word for this: hypocrisy! I'm an Arab, I'm a Muslim, I'm a citizen of the state of Israel, but I'm also a citizen of the world, and I'm ashamed! I'm ashamed as a human being that we chose leaders who are incapable of being articulate in their condemnation, and powerful in their actions. I'm ashamed that the Arab world is being taken hostage by terrorists and murderers, and that we are not doing anything. I'm ashamed that the peaceful majority of humanity is irrelevant once again. Do we need a reminder? Armenia, Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda, World War Two? No, we don't. We remember it all too well. What we do need is to take heart from that which Albert Einstein had said: 'the world won't be destroyed by those who do evil, but rather by those who watch them without doing anything'"."

"Survivors, I believe you. Because I am you. #BelieveSurivors #StopKavanaugh #timesup ✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽"

"You are not weak. You are brave. One of the bravest I know. Speaking your truth, a person living at the intersection of multiple identities, unapologetically, takes courage. I love you"

"All your DMs with DO IT aren't helping. I'm a 35 year old chick. We're not supposed to do these sorts of things, you know."

"The only reason the Liberals allow the program to continue is a lack of political will and a desire to kowtow to lobby groups advocating for cheap indentured labour."

"I've had people very close to me have their lives completely upended and upset by a lack of action on, and tools for preventing, online harassment."

"We just got blocked because we replied to @MichelleRempel's slanderous posting that Jordan Kent @votejkent was rejected because he was gay. This was proven false but clearly, Michelle Rempel did not appreciate us replying to her post with @LauraLynnTT reasonable & factual video."

"The film itself is sort of an indictment of Hollywood. With black people, why is everything that we do wrapped in Christian dogma? Why do we only have to be the sassy black friend? It was incredible to be able to talk about the frustration that I’d had in this industry, in a film. And then it did so well. So that became my North Star."

"Because it’s set in the world of boxing, and about men, there’s a real danger of it just existing in a real toxic masculinity space…And while I don’t think it should be the role of the women in the film to soften that entirely – like, men should have the responsibility to deal with their toxicity,” she laughs, “I do think that there’s a nice opportunity for the women in the film to come in and be like, ‘Hey…’ you know?"

"I had all but decided to take a break and do some plays, and to see plays and read books and not work – literally not work – until I was going to burn for something."

"So me saying that only 4% of those films are directed by women, there's a misconception for some people in Hollywood that that's the pool of talent. And you see that in the indie space, women represent maybe 28% of films that are made. So it exists in the pipeline — people are making a conscious decision not to hire those women and not to put them up for projects. Also there's still this language that I really hate, with a studio movie, that we "took a risk,"…"

"It needs to be a team effort and until straight dudes are expected to roll up their sleeves and get to work…I’m over being asked about what men need to do."

"The language in a casting call is like, "all-American" is white. "Beautiful but doesn't know it" is white. And then usually it'll be like "open to all ethnicities" is when you know that that is a role that they can envision someone not white doing it. But it's like, all the roles should be open to ethnicity. Do you know what I mean?..."

"…We carry ourselves different — maybe we tell our jokes in a different way or a different style — and we were beating ourselves up in allowing that patriarchal energy to affect our self-esteem. And then I was like, "Yeah, I'm good at this job.""

"This show will hit that sweet spot between educational and charmingly ignorant,” Robinson said in a statement. “Who doesn’t love that? Well, all older black people who struggled and marched for my rights. But besides that, everyone else does!"

"When Susan Finley developed flu-like symptoms, she didn’t go to the doctor because she was frightened about the cost. Finley’s grandparents later found her dead in her apartment. She was 53. Finley did not die as a result of Covid-19. She died in 2016 as a result of America’s healthcare system – a system that led her to avoid treatment for the common flu in order to avoid debt. It is that same system that is currently creaking under the pressure of a pandemic that experts warned was coming but governments failed to prepare for. It is a system that does not qualify for the term “developed”. The United States of America, we are told by everyone from the president to the United Nations, is a . That term, “developed economy”, sounds like an endpoint, like the man standing upright after a series of hunched and hairy iterations. It’s the contrast that makes the definition – developed economies can only really exist if they are compared to their poorer “developing” counterparts. Covid-19 has merely shown the cracks in a very successful marketing campaign about which category the US falls into."

"There are 2.9 hospital beds for every 1,000 people in the United States. That’s fewer than Turkmenistan (7.4 beds per 1,000), Mongolia (7.0), Argentina (5.0) and Libya (3.7). In fact, the US ranks 69th out of 182 countries analyzed by the World Health Organization. This lack of hospital beds is forcing doctors across the country to ration care under Covid-19, pushing up the number of preventable deaths. America’s numbers are similarly unimpressive when it comes to medical doctors. The United States has 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people, placing it behind Trinidad & Tobago (2.7), and Russia (4.0 doctors per 1,000, for a country that is described as being “in transition”). Life expectancies at birth are lower in the US than they are in Chile or China. The US has a higher maternal mortality rate than Iran or Saudi Arabia."

"It’s not just health. Access to the internet is better in Bahrain and Brunei (two countries the UN does not consider developed economies) than it is in the US. Inequality scores are higher in America than they are in Mali and Yemen. A closer country to America in inequality is Israel, a country which functions as an apartheid state. And the US ranks 81st in the world in terms of women’s political representation. So, you’ve got a better chance of making it into office as a woman if you live in Vietnam, or Albania. Sub-Saharan Africa is most comparable to America – 24% of seats in the region’s parliaments are held by women, the same figure as in the US. In the United States, 83% of students graduate high school. That figure is higher in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Barbados, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. None of those countries are considered “developed economies” by the United Nations."

"So why does the United Nations consider the US as a developed economy when its own statistics so clearly suggest otherwise? One might argue that it’s about simple wealth, or gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of the economy, per capita. But if that were the measure of development then European countries such as Romania, Hungary and Slovakia should not qualify for the term “developed economy” while Bermuda, Qatar, Singapore and China should all make the list. Besides, GDP per capita is no reliable measure of wellbeing in a country like the US where the richest 5% of people own two-thirds of the national wealth."

"The facts are as exhaustive as they are exhausting. There’s one simple conclusion from all of this. We’ve been tricked. We’ve been told that America, like most other majority-white countries, deserves the title “developed economy”. It does not. You cannot charge a woman $39.95 to hold the baby that she has just given birth to. You cannot constantly operate hospitals at close to capacity in order to maximize profits. The pursuit of in systems built for public good has not worked ethically or practically."

"Why does it matter whether a country is defined as developing or not? Because it means that policymakers here can distract voters into thinking that crises are constantly diplomatic, military or trade based when actually the problems that America needs to fix most urgently are right here – they’re the crises of health and education. Had those problems been better addressed, the nation would not be struggling as desperately as it is right now."

"We can’t lose the arts in schools. We just cannot. I would not have graduated school had I not had my drama program or my music program. My sisters are both musicians. My little sister teaches music at a school in Afghanistan, so that’s how important music was to all of us in my family growing up. My mom taught music as well for a while at schools. It’s just been part of my life and I can’t understand how it’s even an option to take it out of schools. It helps the creative process so much—and even math skills, learning how to tell time signatures—it’s all related. I’m a huge advocate for music in schools. It’s weird to me that someone came up with the idea that it shouldn’t be. I also hate that people have to choose between sports and music. A lot of kids get into theatre or get into sports because they had to make a choice and I don’t understand why you can’t do both things."

"Coming from that place of knowing you are here for a purpose; you're here for a reason; that nobody is on this planet by accident... If you have that as your armor, you can show up as a performer and then see what you bring to the room. That's a good place to be in. I also tell people that it's really important to have the desire to perform, but also the willingness to do the work. What I mean by work, as any aspiring musical theatre kid knows, is singing all the time; taking dance and acting classes; doing monologues by yourself in your room etc. Whatever it is, do the work and do the necessary self-work too. Get therapy if you need therapy! I love therapy. It's so helpful to go. As actors, we portray so many different kinds of human being, so don't you also want to explore your own healing and better understand the human condition?"

"I’ve always been fascinated by different accents and dialects. As a kid, I didn’t go out much, so I would spend my time learning how to mimic people. Once I learned how to tape things off the TV, I would oftentimes tape things so that I could mimic them back—standup sets on HBO that I should not have been watching at that age because they were way too R-rated for my eight-year-old brain. I would memorize them and then go and perform them for show-and-tell, and my teachers would call my parents and say that I was doing very inappropriate standup sets. I was a super shy, shy kid, so that was kind of my way of expressing myself—to mimic what I saw on TV. I was a bit of a weird kid, but luckily my parents encouraged it."

"I was a super shy, awkward kid, and performing was a comfortable and joyful way of expressing myself that allowed me the freedom to do so. The passion for acting grew from there. From the time I was little, being on the stage or inhabiting a character was always where I was happiest."

"The right to information and right to freedom of expression are fundamental human rights and we'll stand by and defend those values... Knowledge is so fundamental to allowing us to make decisions that empower and fulfil us as individuals... The internet is increasingly a highly commercialised place where privacy is illusory, where platforms and information tend to be highly concentrated, where information is algorithmically presented to you with tremendous bias based on what it is you looked at last. The internet is no longer a free and open space.... Wikipedia is one of the remaining free and open spaces on the internet... What we stand for is not just Wikipedia, but the open ecosystem of free information across the world. The need for us to create information. The need for inquiry. The need for sharing. The need for transparency and accountability. The need for presentation and celebration of languages and cultures... If governments try to get us to take information down, we don't..."

"We realised a few years back that of all the biographies on English Wikipedia, only 16 per cent were about women. That's out of more than 1.3 million biographies. So that in and of itself is an opportunity to think about how we write in the remaining 34 per cent [of the female population]... We forget how valuable knowledge is to the development and furthering of our society. Accuracy of information, continued inquiry, this has always propelled us forward. If we lose value and appreciation for that, then some of the other structures start to crumble."

"In a given month, I might fly to New York to meet with the about making its collection more accessible online to Wikipedia, then head to Tunisia to meet members of the Wikipedia community. A big reason why I spend so much time on road is that we support nearly 300 languages. We’re committed to the idea that Wikipedia should be this essential knowledge infrastructure for the world. ... I used to be really aggressive—walk off the plane and go straight into meetings. Because we’re a nonprofit, we travel economy class everywhere; getting off a long flight can be tough.... If I need a nap, that’s OK. You have to be nice to yourself. ... One of the first things I do in a city is go for a run. It’s a great way to orient yourself—even if it’s just for a mile or two."

"Rather than replacing humans, A.I. is best used to support our capacity for creativity and discernment. Wikipedia is creating A.I. that will flag potentially problematic edits — like a prankster vandalizing a celebrity’s page — to a human who can then step in. The system can also help our volunteer editors evaluate a newly created page or suggest superb pages for featuring. In short, A.I. that is deployed by and for humans can improve the experience of both people consuming information and those producing it... We must defend a web that is free and unfettered, and improve connections that allow creativity and collaboration."

"Women are just as competent in technology as men; it’s just that we’re not socialized to believe so... On English Wikipedia, for example, 18 percent of our biographies are about women... One of the reasons for the imbalance... is that men outnumber women roughly 9 to 1 among the site’s unpaid contributors... Another part of the problem is that if you actually look at representation of women in the broader public sphere, Wikipedia is a tertiary source... It requires secondary sources for an article to exist, which means that in order to write about a notable woman, you need to actually be able to find a newspaper article or a book or something that talks about her accomplishments and achievements. And we know that gender representation of women in all forms of media is actually not great. Women are less likely to be quoted in articles; women are less likely to be covered as the subjects of articles, even really notable women..."

"At the same time, women make up a majority of senior leadership at the Wikimedia Foundation — including the chief executive, chief operating, chief advancement, chief creative, and chief engagement officers as well as the vice president of human resources... we’re just willing to hire people who, perhaps when we first see their resume, are not necessarily the exact right fit for the job... If you believe that a bunch of amateur, volunteer, nonspecialists can write an encyclopedia and then have it be the fifth most popular website on the planet, then you also have to believe that there are talents that exist within society that may not match what we actually think a COO or a CTO should look like."

"Wikipedia’s content [is] freely licensed for reuse by anyone and that’s part of our mission: that every single person can share in free knowledge... We want people all over the world to use, share, add to, and remix Wikipedia. At the same time, we encourage companies who use Wikimedia’s content to give back in the spirit of sustainability."

"If our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge, then all knowledge has to be written by all people, which means that it has to represent all people... We really need to think about what kind of language we are using to talk about the value of free knowledge, because free knowledge is valuable to absolutely everyone and we want to make sure that we are communicating that in a way that resonates... If we have more women editing Wikipedia, do I expect more articles about women scientists and novelists? Absolutely... But do I expect more articles about things that are just of interest to anybody. Yeah, I expect that too."

"Diversity is baked into our vision statement: the sum of all knowledge, every single human being. And feminism is a foundational part of diversity: if we’re talking about every single human being, we need to be talking about every single human being, including women and non-binary people. So, not only is this part of my values, it’s absolutely part of the Foundation’s mission."

"The COVID-19 epidemic is something that makes clear our global human interconnectedness and the responsibility we have to one another. We don’t have precedent for its challenges, but we do know that our best response relies on the sort of global empathy, cooperation, and community building that sits at the heart of this organization."

"When it became clear that SARS-CoV-2, or simply, the latest coronavirus, was spreading globally and likely to become a pandemic, we took it seriously. Our responsibility is to keep Wikipedia online and available for the world, especially in moments of crisis. A world that is changing requires changing how we work."

"A month ago, we were planning for the future. Today, we still are — just a different future than any of us expected... At Wikimedia, we live by a mantra: everything that happens in the world happens on Wikipedia. And when things happen, the world looks our way."

"We operate Wikipedia as a public trust. Our vision statement says: “Imagine a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all human knowledge. That’s our commitment.” At best, this is an aspiration; in reality it is a beautiful, if slightly mad, ambition. But even knowing the challenges, we forge onwards because we believe in people — the contribution every human can make, and the things humanity can do together."

"We must work together to create a safe, inclusive culture, where everyone feels welcome, that their contributions are valued, and that their perspective matters."

"It’s a good thing to do the right thing today. It’s a better thing to recognize the people who did it yesterday, when it was hard."

"Churchill is my favorite example to use with western audiences about the nature of truth in popular histories. To millions, a liberating hero. To yet millions of others, oppressor and genocidaire."

"Holistic histories and analyses of power and influence are a threat to simplistic narratives and can be an accelerant for understanding, empathy, and justice."

"Ran without pain for the first time since quarantine! Yes, only a mile, and yes, it was very slow, and yes, I am woefully out of shape. But it was a run and it was glorious."

"In 8 hours I’ll put on a mask, leave my home, head to the airport, fly for 6 hours, quarantine for 14 days, and hopefully by mid-July I’ll be able to see my mom. I would not be going if there were not urgent family issues, but I won’t lie: I am afraid."

"Lowkey excited about all the innovation in videoconferencing. We went from standard-awful to Brady Bunch to multi-grid to Together in about 3 months. Keep it up."

"Why why why Manhattan are you all eating and drinking and walking around with no masks. Why."

"This election is the most important election of our lifetime, and potentially will determine how many lifetimes our children and their children have to come. Vote Climate."

"Big organizations do good work. So do small organizations working with specific communities. Often, they work together. Please support both for #Beirut"

"Love my bank's credit card declining donations to Lebanese charities. Super cool."

"Our 87-year-old neighbor has no power, so we’re storing his food on a freezer hooked to a generator. Our family friend is dying of pancreatic cancer and had to be transferred from home hospice, because he has no power. Hope your shareholders feel good about their dividends."

"Hey @EversourceCT! You made $909.1 million in profit last year. But Connecticut residents are going into night six without power in the middle of a pandemic. We all saw the hurricane coming for days - why didn’t you?"

"It’s easy to forget how much has changed during how dark these past four years have been. But to hear the Democratic candidate for the VP of the United States speak about structural racism from the convention podium is unprecedented."

"Go organize your communities. Mobilize. Vote."

"Yeah, this is 100% BS. California, the most fire-prone state in the country, contracts prisons to fight our deadly wildfires. When prisoners are released, their firefighting experience does not usually qualify them for salaried (unionized and pensioned!) work... Furthermore... it is our imprisoned fellow citizens who are at high risk of Covid-19 exposure. They're 40% of CA firefighters, and they’re fighting for basic preventative care... As I’ve said before, my much-bigger little brother is a firefighter in CA. He sits with the weight of 60lbs of gear and fear and frustration with the multitudinous ways his profession is our society’s last resort for everything from addiction to policing to climate change... It doesn’t work. We cannot stop our lands from burning by exploiting a burning injustice of our nation. We cannot douse our apathy by sending in the engines."

"I truly cannot wait to be sardined back on BART/MTA with all you stinky wonderful mouth breathers, my personal space is yours, read over my shoulder, I truly don't care, I love you all."

"Access to information is essential to healthy communities and should be treated as such... This becomes even more clear in times of global health crises when information can have life-changing consequences. All institutions, from governments to international health agencies, scientific bodies to Wikipedia, must do our part to ensure everyone has equitable and trusted access to knowledge about public health, regardless of where you live or the language you speak."

"If you look at 6 million articles in English, it sounds like an awful lot. But the number of potential notable things in the world, at least calculated by one Wikipedia editor, is above 100 million."

"In my experience, it is perfectly possible to have opinions and also produce valuable, fact-based information for the world."

"Disagreement is the essential friction that produces our best content"

"It’s never exactly a good time to step away -- transitions always have some rough edges -- but it’s always best to do so when the organization is strong, and before you’ve overstayed your welcome. The movement is in a good, strong place. Our communities are growing, our readership is too"

"Love you, SF. EMTs walking through Dolores Park handing out free, cozy cotton masks, without judgment, as everyone enjoys the sun (and enjoys their open containers and other things...)"

"Til that LBJ telling MLK to “make me do it” on civil rights is apocryphal. Funny, because I’ve definitely said that in my work at Wikimedia, though I was encouraging community activists to keep the pressure on for change at a movement level."

"When you meet Wikipedians from every corner of the globe, from every background imaginable, from grannies to 13-year-old students, from Kazakhstan to Uruguay to Korea, you are reminded of all the things that unite us, the ways in which our diversity enriches what we know... I leave knowing that one of the things that makes us human is our curiosity, and one of the things that is the record of our curiosity is our knowledge."

"(That incident) led Wikipedia to realize that we’d gone from being an experiment to really something that had an impact on the public discourse... That really set the stage for a close appreciation for Wikipedia editors for ‘What does it mean to hold the responsibility of not just being this public, free resource, but also perhaps the primary resources in many instances? We don’t always get it right, but by and large, as soon as something comes to the attention of the Wikipedia editing community or the public, editors are extremely responsive and are able to not only go in and lock that article down, but also to correct the record and make sure that it’s reverted to the most accurate and most recent form."

"In mid-March, Katherine Maher, the CEO of Wikimedia Foundation, sent an email to her organization outlining changes to mitigate stress, including: “If you need to dial back [work hours], that’s okay.” She also committed to paying contractors and hourly staff on the basis of their typical hours, regardless of their ability to work. When you make changes, be explicit that you are doing so to support the mental health of your employees, if that is the goal."

"The women behind Wikipedia believe it will continue to be a force for good, despite all they have weathered as its custodians. Maher sees Wikipedia as tasked with “ensuring that the general public has access to a baseline of context and information to be able to interpret the day’s events.” Right now, Americans have a general skepticism, not just of the media but of any kind of authority, she points out. Wikipedia, for all of the pedantry and nerd-outs that go on during late night edit-a-thons, isn’t pretentious. “It’s very open about the fact that it’s a best understanding of the world as we know it, and we make mistakes,” she says."

"Katherine Maher, the Wikimedia Foundation's CEO, will step down as of April 15, she tells Axios, leaving the nonprofit in a vastly stronger position than she found it when she joined in 2014.. Wikipedia is growing to become the most global and trusted source of knowledge in the world. Its base of active editors is rising, its number of women editors has increased by 30% just in the past year, and it has upgraded not only its website but also its app, which is now available for feature phones as well as smart phones... Financially, the Wikimedia Foundation now has an endowment of more than $90 million, and has doubled its annual budget to an estimated $140 million in 2021. It's hard to think of any other tech nonprofit that has been remotely as successful... One area that Wikimedia has been particularly successful is in garnering trust... Driving the trust: Maher is proud of her new Universal Code of Conduct, but also credits the diversity of Wikipedia's editors as a key ingredient creating trust in its content."

"There’s so much going on in the world, it’s just nice to have something to help you escape. The songs we’re making are fun dance records that you want to hear at a party. We’re enjoying making the music — we want people to enjoy listening to it too!"

"There’s no ego, we’re two women who support each other wholeheartedly,” Martinez explains. “That’s what makes it such a great partnership. I hope we show that if you want to do something you just need to go out and do it. The music industry tends to pit women against one another. So with us, I hope people see that women can work together and make great things happen."

"When I’m singing I embody a character and adopt a certain attitude. I think of a story and really try to get into character to help get certain vocals out. I feel like acting and singing often go hand in hand – you’re really just telling a story."

"I am blessed with a great family and great people around me that would be able to kick me in the shins if I ever for one minute got lost up in the clouds. I've been really lucky in that sense."

"Oh, for the love, I can't even simulate sex without dying!. I had a little asthma attack, without any prior knowledge that I had asthma, during the scene where we had to jump up and down for hours and hours screaming and yelling on the bed. [It] was humiliating, because it was the second day of shooting."

"For me, I value privacy so much and I understand why I need to talk about the work, the films and all of that but it's incredibly hard to reveal stuff about my life, so it makes me feel pretty boring and very protective."

"The first time I had a panic attack I was sitting in my friend's house, and I thought the house was burning down. I called my mom and she brought me home, and for the next three years it just would not stop. I would go to the nurse at lunch most days and just wring my hands. I would ask my mom to tell me exactly how the day was going to be, then ask again 30 seconds later. I just needed to know that no one was going to die and nothing was going to change."

"Flaws are my favorite part of people, usually."

"What's strange about the way my brain functions is that the only thing that has ever made me feel calm is knowing clearly what I want."

"I know that there is absolute purpose in every season. That my heart is being molded. That God has a plan for our family far more perfect than I could ever envision...a God who creates beauty from ashes."

"I didn’t want to be an actress, because I had been around that lifestyle my whole life. So, I just thought I wanted to be more serious or some stupid thing. I think what changed it was I was 22 or so and I had this exercise. I was up on stage performing, and when you're doing it well, it is the most exhilarating thing in the world. It just feels like the most alive you can be or something, and I decided I am going to try and do that."

"There’s something tingly and exciting about fear. In some weird way, it’s also kind of sexy. It’s simple and extreme and makes you feel present. Horror also has an awesome fan base. They’re so loyal and are always excited."

"I’m doing this role because tons and tons of people are going to see me and it’s just about being the spotlight. And I’m not saying that that element is completely erased, the enjoyment, and the moment of being in front of a whole bunch of people, but not for the sake of becoming famous."

"I was obsessed with Meg Ryan, I wanted to be Meg Ryan when I grew up. And Tom Hanks was pretty well on my radar as well. So it was definitely, at that point in my life, the biggest win. I remember being at home and getting a phone call from my agent, and screaming and running around the house. And I think my mother was probably in tears."

"WorldOceanDay reminder that’s it’s one BIG ocean. It connects us all — another way our fates are intertwined."

"Each of us can contribute, though. With our votes, our voices, our food choices, our skills and our dollars. We must overhaul both corporate practices and government policies. We must transform culture. Building community around solutions is the most important thing. I am never going to give up working to protect and restore this magnificent planet. Every bit of habitat we preserve, every tenth of a degree of warming we prevent, really does matter. Thankfully, I'm not motivated by hope, but rather a desire to be useful."

"I don’t have a lot of hope per se. This is a question I get asked a lot, and I’m always like, Why do you think I’m hopeful? I know way too much about the science, that’d be a little bit irrational. But I do think that what I have is a deep understanding of the fact that we still have a range of possible futures. Every scientific report, every graph, there’s a range: We could have two degrees [Celsius] of warming, or we could have four degrees of warming. We could have a little bit of coral reefs left, or we could have none. We could have 20 hurricanes a year, or we could have 10. And that really makes a difference. So basically what gets me out of bed every day is fighting for the best possible future, knowing that climate has changed and will continue to change even if we stop emitting greenhouse gases now, just because we’ve set all of these things in motion."

"We are one of 8 million or so species on this planet."

"there was this moment on a glass-bottom boat (when I was five). And to see a coral reef for the first time, and to see all of these magnificently colored fish swimming around, and to see this literal window into this other world — I was just in awe. And it’s this, like, whole city that’s happening down there, right? It’s not just these little sections where all the fish are the same. It’s this super vibrant and dynamic alternate universe — this ecosystem."

"I think when the thing that you love is threatened, the natural reaction is to try to save it. And I fell in love with Caribbean coral reefs right as they were starting to crumble."

"Sylvia Earle, what a pioneer...her generation — they were explorers...They’re like, what is even down there? How do we understand this? And then: Oh [bleep], this is in trouble. And they all became conservationists, right? We saw that same professional transformation with Jacques Cousteau."

"being the daughter of a Jamaican and thinking about people all around the world in coastal communities, who depend on the ocean for their food security, for their livelihoods, for their cultures, that if we lose the health of ocean ecosystems, we lose something much, much greater than the way it’s often framed in conservation, as an issue of biodiversity, more technically. And it’s really just — for me, it’s like, as much as I love fish and octopuses and kelp and all these things, it’s really about people, why I do this work."

"the ocean has been, for most of human history, very much this open access, shared resource that’s just been plundered by whoever could get there first with the highest-tech equipment, whatever that meant at the time. And that hasn’t gone that well. And so this idea that we could make a plan, a marine spatial plan, an ocean zoning map for deciding what should happen where, and when, and how to reduce the conflicts between different uses, where things can harmoniously coexist; how to make sure we’re not putting shipping lanes where whales are trying to migrate; and we’re thinking about where offshore wind energy should be sited and where regenerative ocean farming should happen and where fishing should happen — all these things need a place. And it’s much more helpful for industry if they have some certainty about the regulatory framework within which they’re trying to develop their business plans."

"this is actually a huge problem with ocean philanthropy, too, is that people want to pay nonprofit groups to do the work to establish protected areas, but not to maintain them, not to enforce them, not to monitor them."

"I wrote about this intersection between ocean conservation and social justice, because I feel like we don’t talk about that enough."

"I dare you to stand in a redwood grove and not be humbled, or to dive on a coral reef and see even just the glimmer of its former magnificence and have some respect for these ecosystems and the fact that we are sharing this planet."

"I think that climate communication has focused too much on the problem...I focus on the getting our act together part, because I think that’s the pivot that we need right now. We have more than enough information. I’m grateful for the science, and it’s helping us make more nuanced and clear decisions, but the broad strokes that everyone needs to pitch in, have been there for a long time."

"that’s something that Naomi Klein talks about a lot, is how we are sort of in this moment where imagination is one of the most valuable things we can bring to the table. And a failure of imagination means a failure of the spectrum of futures that are available to us. And I just, I like to think of — so I remind myself and others that there is still such a wide spectrum of possible futures, and we do get some choice in which ones we have."

"there’s a lot of different art we could be making to help people see their way into the future."

"It was Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, coeditor of All We Can Save, who introduced me to Eunice (Newton Foote). I feel like I’m on a first-name basis with her, even though she was doing her research in 1856, when she discovered that carbon dioxide was a greenhouse gas and would warm the planet. A woman discovered this through experimentation in her backyard and was essentially erased from history. An Irish physicist a few years later came to a very similar discovery and was credited as “the father of climate science.”"

"this idea that we can be motivated by love, I think it’s just — it’s just the more delightful way to approach something that is the work of our lifetimes: to do it, thinking about not just the love of other species, but the love of other humans, the love of ecosystems, the love of places. I mean, we all have places that we’re deeply attached to, and many of them are changing for the worse. And so this potential to have that be our driving force is, to me, why I focus on solutions instead of raging against the machine."

"I think it’s also deeply unwise to have so much dependence on one person, who could be assassinated, as we’ve seen in civil rights movements; who could burn out, as we’ve seen in environmental movements; who might just want to take a break and have a family. So I think this is a moment that calls for many leaders, because what we need is transformation in every community, in every sector of the economy, in every ecosystem, with the hundreds of climate solutions we have."

"I think it’s so funny that people say it’s too expensive to solve climate change, because it’s just like, what’s your alternative?"

"if you’re motivated purely by counting pennies and not by saving life on Earth, then we’re just not speaking the same language."

"The word that I’ve started using more and more is “transformation,” because we’ve talked about a transition away from fossil fuels; we’ve talked about what we’re going to stop doing; we’ve talked about how we need to do other stuff. But I think the word “transformation” has embedded within it the sense of possibility: what are we going to become?"

"We are simply not seeing very much climate coverage at all in the mainstream media. What we see is last year about 0.4% of the major news shows’ minutes were about climate, 0.4%. So we’re not talking about what we’re supposed to do. And only 30% of the coverage that does exist on climate in major news outlets talks about solutions. So we’re just not having the deep conversations about what we do next."

"Katharine and I decided to put together this anthology to bring a whole new cadre of climate leaders to the fore, to expand the number of voices people were looking to in times of crisis, to share the wisdom from women climate leaders, and to have this focus on solutions, as the subtitle reflects, that this is about truth, courage and solutions, not like doom, gloom and give up, but really thinking about what’s next for the climate movement and the need for it to be a very leaderful movement if we’re going to succeed."

"The ocean produces about half of the oxygen we breathe. It has also already absorbed about a third of the carbon dioxide that we have emitted by burning fossil fuels, which has turned the ocean more acidic than it has been in human history. So we have an increasingly acidic ocean, an increasingly warmer ocean. That’s very bad for the creatures that are trying to live in there. Some are trying to flee towards the poles, when they can move, like fish. Others, like corals, are often now frying in place. So we have just a very different ocean than we had even a hundred years ago."

"when I and other ocean policy folks looked at the Green New Deal, we realized the ocean and all the solutions it’s trying to offer us for how to address the climate crisis were essentially left out."

"this is a chickens-coming-home-to-roost moment. And I’m seeing a lot of my friends who — sort of aware, of course, that climate change is happening, but hasn’t really, like, hit them — we’re seeing people wake up right now."

"As a marine biologist and policy nerd, building community around climate solutions is my life’s work. But I’m also a black person in the United States of America. I work on one existential crisis, but these days I can’t concentrate because of another."

"How can we expect black Americans to focus on climate when we are so at risk on our streets, in our communities, and even within our own homes? How can people of color effectively lead their communities on climate solutions when faced with pervasive and life-shortening racism?"

"Even at its most benign, racism is incredibly time consuming. Black people don’t want to be protesting for our basic rights to live and breathe. We don’t want to constantly justify our existence. Racism, injustice and police brutality are awful on their own, but are additionally pernicious because of the brain power and creative hours they steal from us. I think of one black friend of mine who wanted to be an astronomer, but gave up that dream because organizing for social justice was more pressing. Consider the discoveries not made, the books not written, the ecosystems not protected, the art not created, the gardens not tended."

"People of color disproportionately bear climate impacts, from storms to heat waves to pollution. Fossil-fueled power plants and refineries are disproportionately located in black neighborhoods, leading to poor air quality and putting people at higher risk for coronavirus. Such issues are finally being covered in the news media more fully."

"to white people who care about maintaining a habitable planet, I need you to become actively anti-racist. I need you to understand that our racial inequality crisis is intertwined with our climate crisis. If we don’t work on both, we will succeed at neither. I need you to step up. Please. Because I am exhausted."

"this op-ed, for me, really grew out of a moment where I was just like, I can't. I just can't charge ahead. I have to stop and pay attention to what is happening in this country. And I hope that that is something that hit a lot of people - that business as usual is just not an option anymore. This is obviously an inflection point in American history."

"People talk about climate justice as the intersection between race and climate because people of color are more strongly affected by the impacts of climate change - whether that's storms or droughts or heat waves."

"I decided to write this because the environmental community was initially really silent on Black Lives Matter."

"the fact that we have so many Americans who can't follow their dreams because they know that their first responsibility is to protect their communities is just gut wrenching to me."

"Never quit. You can’t wait for yourself to happen, you have to go out there and make it happen. If you truly believe in something you can make it happen. Get a good agent. They cost money, but that’s your first step. Your first film opportunities will most likely not be big, but that’s how you’re discovered by others. Eventually a director or a casting director will see you in a minor film/commercial/broadway, etc. and you’ll get your big break. Always be polite and professional. There are often many, many other people auditioning for the same part as you. If you’re not polite or professional they won’t even waste their time with you."

"It’s a lot less consistent work, but I think with movies, you get to do such a huge range of emotions as a character, where as TV, you kind of stay on the same page. But I’d be happy with either"

"I try and do as much as I can in terms of giving my time when I have it cause it's like I get to live this life going new places, meeting new people and as hard as it is I mean I get an opportunity that a lot of people don't get to have so when I can do something and lend my time and make people happier or send a message and more people will see because I'm on TV. I mean, that's so key and I think everyone should keep that when there in a position like mine or definitely a position above mine. I mean you gotta give back I've been lucky enough to get so much that I have to give back. I don't know what I would do if I didn't give back so um, all those I mean any organization that's willing to lend time and really help people is so important and so great."

"I think I always had a performer somewhere inside of me, even though, believe it or not, I was quite shy in high school and before that I had a very shy side that I didn’t really shed until my first year at Columbia University. Like much of my freshman class, I thought at the time that I was going to go work on Wall Street. That’s what I wanted to do. I figured I’d wear a power suit, carry a briefcase and trade and yell and buy low and sell high. I always say, though, that no matter what career I chose, I think I would have been happy because I’m a happy person and I’d want to choose something that I enjoy doing. I consider myself extremely fortunate that I’m in the position that I’m in now because I do love what I do, but it was something that wasn’t really a part of my life until I moved to New York and was at school."

"When you start very young and you don’t have a sense of who you are yet, which you shouldn’t, because you are not yet a grown person—a child or an adolescent—you can sometimes sort of take on the personalities of your characters, or become very lost in who you are as yourself, because you haven’t had time to develop as your own person, because you have been spending all this time developing other people and characters."

"When I was 13, I told my parents I didn’t believe in God any more. I wanted to be an atheist because I believed that religion should be about community and having a place to go in prayer, not something that should determine women’s freedoms."

"I like being able to play make believe as my job. I think I played make-believe growing up a little too long—probably to an inappropriate age. I played make-believe until I was, like, 13 and probably should have been doing something else. But other than that, it’s fun to be able to have to learn about different people. My favorite thing is you have to learn how to work with people that you probably would never try [to]. Some people just aren’t supposed to be in a room together, and you have to be in a room with a group of people who might not all get along and you have to figure out how to come together for one thing. That collaboration is special, and people don’t get to exercise that. I think that’s why people become stubborn, and I think that’s why people become uninspired to change. In this job you have to."

"The struggle comes when you're displaced, when someone is in an industry where they worry about people taking advantage and they don't know what to do with that. I've been lucky not having to worry about that aspect of it as well."

"I think it's important not to believe anyone when they tell you're good; maybe that's not healthy. But I think if you start to think of yourself the way that people you that you work with speak to you, then that's dangerous."

"I'd like to be more like her where I am always emotional. But to be in this world and to be able to function in it, we should probably put on our layers of socially correct behaviour."

"I was 10 and I was curious about auditioning … and I realized very quickly it wasn't for me because I was missing my sports teams, my dance class and all the extracurricular activities at school. But during that time, I thought, 'I don't want to be associated with [Mary-Kate and Ashley],' for some reason. I guess I understood what nepotism was like inherently as a 10-year-old. I don't know if I knew the word, but there is some sort of association of not earning something that I think bothered me at a very young age."

"People don’t need careers. People should just exist."

"If you don't like something, talk about something else that's great and maybe someone else will discover it and think it's great too."

"What keeps you confident in a healthy way is knowing that everyone else around you is going to support you and teach you and you're going to learn from them. I just feel open to learning from people."

"Enjoy the little things in life."

"I believe that you are only in control of so much. So whatever you are not in control of you can’t worry about."

"I think every day you try to soak up as much as you can to learn and understand things better."

"There are people skills that you develop, there's a lot of empathy you build, there’s a lot of putting yourself in other people's shoes. And what you put in is what you receive! There's just so much that you get from working with a group of people intimately, and that's one of my favorite aspects of the job."

"Whatever your theory is, keep the cliché condolences to yourself. No one will be uttering, “Sorry for your loss” in Wanda’s world."

"The cool thing about working and meeting a lot of people through your acting is that you never know who you might work with, in the future. It’s really great to be able to say that, potentially sometime soon, I’ll be able to make my own movies. It’s definitely a cool business to be in. I feel very lucky!"

"The tough thing about horror movies is that you have to maintain that high level of terror a lot of the time- and for a long period of time too- that after a 13- or 14-hour day, you just feel god-awful. You feel horrible, almost to the point where you feel like you want to throw up but then you just start playing little psychological mind games with yourself to keep yourself going."

"Take it from me, underwater deep sea diver extraordinaire, driving with my Mom on the freeway is far more dangerous."

"I find it very scary that people try to profit off of things like genetically manipulating things. For what? There’s a fine line between progress and cruelty. If you change something in nature can you ever really go back and have we already crossed that line?"

"I feel like all directing, writing, acting… all things feed into one another in a cool way. It’s just one of those jobs where it’s not too difficult to jump around because they’re all interconnected so to speak."

"I think I always try to go in with a very objective perspective at first. Inevitably, when playing someone like her, after a while you tend to really sympathize with her. It was very hard for me to divorce myself from that opinion."

"I don’t have faith, but I was touched by Suzanne’s. Despite her love for God, she feels that the monastic life is not for her, and she does everything she can to escape it. She never plays the victim in her trials. I was impressed by the pride and dignity she maintains. Suzanne taught me a great deal."

"I believe that when you leave one genre and become a performer of another, things change. I have been part of the relatively new movement where you come out with a salsa record, for instance, and the anticipated hit comes with a ballad version and another pop version. I like that because this way I can reach many more people who may otherwise be limited by the genre."

"You need to have that sensibility to say "here's what I like, here's what I don't like" and take it as an actor and go "okay I'm going to change." If you want me to make an adjustment, that my job."

"I believe if you can have an open dialogue about anything, whether it's a book or a movie or TV show, it's this door that suddenly opens your mind to new ideas."

"There are so few times in life where you are passionate about anything. And I think that if you can find that, you should just hold on to it and protect it at all costs and just follow it, because it's so rare."

"I think, as an actor, you create things for your character that you think will make it more personal to you, because on the day, you want to make sure that you're truly there in the moment."

"I never want to forget that I'm doing an impossible thing. How rare is it that you get to be part of something people love? It's really special. It's a very out-of-body experience to be a part of something so huge."

"When I'm driving past the place I used to work, or when I'm driving past the comedy studio where I used to take photos in exchange for classes, or when I'm driving past the yoga studio I used to clean on the weekends - it's not that far removed from me yet. I get very sentimental over things like that."

"You get the initial script, and then things sort of change here and there, but the whole thing is this sort of mushy collaboration, which I love."

"I truly did feel that I owed it to my parents, my grandparents, to do whatever it was that I wanted, because if I wasn't happy, if I wasn't being true to myself, then I wasn't living fully. They had given up so much so that I could live at the level that so many people are just automatically born into."

"I don't fear being outspoken. The only thing I fear is losing my sense of integrity or losing sight of the values on which I guide my life. So I don't think it's particularly brave or unusual for me to speak out."

"Listening to an underserved population is how you begin to understand them and serve them better."

"Make sure your work is never results-oriented. The result is a byproduct of the work, in a way."

"I wish reporters were more in tune to the difference between the Asian experience and the Asian-American experience. I think often they lump the two together and think that when I talk about Asian-American narratives that they can cite Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Mulan as proof of concept when it's a different experience."

"I don't have the best family life. I'm not going to have a sob story and be like, my parents abandoned me, because they didn't. But they also are not that present. When I'm alone, I'm alone. I don't have anybody to call, and so I have to create meaning from myself."

"Specificity is what makes good storytelling, and good storytelling is what makes money, and making money is then what encourages new producers to invest in different stories about Asians."

"I'd rather lose all my stuff than lose myself, because I've done that before, and that feels way worse."

"I'm okay with not having a super-secure lifestyle because if you're doing what you like, you don't need stuff to fill any empty holes."

"Being an actor, in and of itself, is just hard. You have to just do it for its own sake."

"But as an actor you do want to challenge yourself and step outside what you have done in the past and that what I like to do, I like to jump around and try different things and stretch myself."

"I love anybody who's willing to stick to their own vision, their own voice, who's not easily swayed by money or by financiers who are going to tell them what they should do."

"I think my drive to work has gone up a bit since I’ve gotten older. The more I work the happier I am. I’m also finding a lot more roles that are exciting and challenging for me on a more regular basis."

"My hope and my optimistic point of view is that ultimately people will always need that human element."

"I really didn't have any fear about the humiliation factor. That was something I was excited to get the opportunity to explore. My fears were about pulling it off."

"If you have a problem and you're also successful, everyone does whatever they can to keep it going. I see that a lot."

"I think you go through a lot of it, just kind of repressing that stress. You’re like, ‘Everything’s great, everything’s fine. Everything’s fine. Nothing bothers me.’ And then one day it just kind of hits you in the face. You know, where you have to acknowledge [the stress]. …There’s a stigma about complaining about work, I guess because it’s so hard to do what we do and it’s a dream for so many people. You feel like you don’t have the right to complain about anything."

"It feels great to not be standing behind a bunch of men, but to actually be standing in front of it as women with something that we made, something that we’re proud of and something that we put our blood, sweat and tears into."

"I think I automatically pick things up…I feel like I’m able to use my body and pick up the choreography in order to use it to move the story and character forward. That was something I was used to doing in ballet — and performing in pieces where I’d be creating a character with my body and expressing it that way. So that’s something that I still really love to do, and I think that’s partly why action is something that I’ve really taken to."

"I think it’s been a very slow progression for me in terms of shifting the perspective. I did a lot of really, really small films that, at least for me, shifted my trajectory in terms of the way that I saw myself as an actor and the projects that I wanted to pursue. I think it helped me bring a deeper level of understanding to the characters that I play, whether they’re in small films or big films. So I think taking some time out to focus on really small, character-driven roles helped lead me to those bigger projects that were also really character-driven and demanded a certain level of depth that I might not have had without those smaller, more character-focused independent films."

"I tend to try to be pretty level in my everyday life and on set as well. When I’m not acting, I try to be pretty even-keeled and level. I try to keep myself as calm as I can be. It’s sort of a good state to be in if you don’t know what state you’re going to have to put yourself in from day to day. As an actor, you don’t necessarily know exactly how far you’re going to have to go or what you’re going to have go through for a character. So I try to focus on being calm and happy. I try to keep my stress level pretty low so that I’m not bringing any of that home with me."

"I just learned how to drive a stick shift on my last film, finally. I had never learned to do that, so that is something that I’m planning on continuing to take with me. Also, my martial arts training is something that I want to keep up with after doing it three movies in a row now. I feel like it would be a real waste to just stop that when I do feel like I’ve been progressing quite a bit."

"I try to stay pretty zen on set for the most part because it can help make it easier to dip in and out of all of these different moods. So I just try to stay really calm and that way, whatever mood I have to go into, I can always come back to that place. It’s not super hyper, super bubbly, but it’s something calm that it’s easy for me to come in and out of."

"Initially I started to back off of social media mainly for privacy reasons. But as soon as I was off of it, it was like this huge wave of relief where I felt kind of a weight lifted off of them. Like, oh wow! I don’t have to spend my days scrolling on my phone. I don’t have to be sucked into this anymore. I can actually focus on just living and enjoying my day itself and not focusing so much on what I’m supposed to share or what I’m supposed to receive and take in but actually just live my life."

"I started acting before Instagram and Twitter and it was a different thing back then, but we’ve all kind of been swept up and I was swept up in it for a while. It was like, OK, this is what everybody else is doing. I’m going to have this many selfies, I’ve got to get this many likes, I’ve got to do what everybody else is doing. And then I realized that I had started taking part in all of that without really realizing it and figured out that it wasn’t not moving me. So it felt really good to let it go. And I feel much more authentically me when I’m not on it."

"I always had a love hate relationship with social media. I was doing it but my heart was certainly never in it. I don’t know if anybody’s heart should really be in social media, but mine never was. So I always wanted to get rid of it. And I had before. I had actually deleted it before and then I ended up going back onto it. So now I’ve made the official move. I’ve pulled the plug. And I never say never. I don’t know what will happen 10 years from now. Who knows? But for now, this is really working for me."

"Just knowing that I had the complexity and the capacity as an actor to play the kinds of roles I always wanted to play. I think I had always wanted to go down a certain road, but I had insecurities about whether or not I could really focus on that. So when I did that, it felt so good. I realized these kinds of complex roles and this kind of material is what I can steer myself toward. I don't have to worry if I’m good enough for it."

"Every part and every year I just learn little bit more about myself and I start liking myself more. That’s been the biggest change for me, which I think is very normal. I started when I was younger; throughout my early twenties, I was just trying to figure out what other people wanted me to be and fit that. I think now that I’ve enter my thirties, I go, "Oh, I’m what people want. What I am already!" Then you start embracing that. Just being yourself is the key to the whole thing. That’s something I’ve really clicked into in the past couple of years more so than ever before."

"There’s always going to be challenges and barriers, but you have to be adaptable and go, "OK, if that’s not going to work for me, then this is a passion I have as well." I was passionate about a lot of things in the performing arts, so I was lucky ballet wasn’t the only love in my professional life. I wanted to perform, and I didn’t feel ballet was going to allow me to do that to the extent that I wanted to. Acting seemed like a good transition from that."

"I’m probably more laid-back in a lot of ways. I was very type-A as a kid, and I wanted to be the best at everything. Now I’ve definitely learned that this is not the best [quality] to have. You need to be able to screw up and learn from it."

"I’ve been very lucky. Most of my career I’ve been considered an up-and-comer, which is sort of funny sometimes when you’re an up-and-comer after 15 years. But I’m really grateful because it makes me feel like I’ve been on this slow climb, and I feel very grateful to be still rising and still trying to reach my potential. There’s been times where it’s been scary. Every actor has those moments when you think this is your last project and no one is going to pick up the phone for you again. I go through that all the time, but then somehow something always comes along and it reinvigorates your spirit and carries you through the next phase. So I always keep that confidence that it’s going to happen even in the dark moments. That’s worked for me so far. Maybe I’ll still be an up-and-comer in five years, and I’ll be OK with that."

"I've danced my whole life and I really just enjoy dancing and performing, which is probably why I'm an actress. I love performing and getting a reaction from the crowd and giving people energy."

"Personally, I am against deeper integration with Russia because Belarus is a sovereign nation. We want to be independent. We want to find friends and not enemies among other countries."

"I know that people have chosen me, that I'm a national leader. I'm a national elected president and I'm here with them."

"We will need a President who is experienced in economics, in politics, in strategy. I am not supposed to say this, but that’s clearly not me. We have people in Belarus, including among the political prisoners, who deserve to be in this position. People will make their choice. And then, even if things don’t go as we want them to, we will all share the responsibility, because this will have been the people’s choice."

"I know that Belarusians woke up. Belarusians—we will never return to the state of slaves, as we had been living for 27 years. I don’t hope—I’m sure, that Belarus will be a success story. We will win [against] autocracy. We will bring our country to democratic changes. I take this belief from the Belarusian people, from those who are behind the bars. I take this belief from democratic countries that are standing with Belarusians at this difficult moment. Together, with the free world, we will be able to bring our country, our wonderful Belarus to these changes as well."

"I call on the USA to be with us. It’s very important when a regime is destroying everything in Belarus, destroying mass media, destroying all the organizations, it’s extremely important to support all those people."

"I think that people have put too much responsibility on me. People are forgetting that a year ago I was just a mother, not at all involved in politics. I have had to study a lot and I’m trying to do what I can, where I am … But the responsibility isn’t just on me, it’s on all Belarusians."

"I’m here on this place by fate. I’m here only because I believed Belarusians that they want changes, and people believed in me. Now, and I’m doing what I can. You know, I can’t call myself the leader of the revolution because it’s everybody who is doing something is already a leader, because it’s impossible, you know, to organize everybody. People are self-organized. You’re right, I’m not going to participate in new elections. It’s not my aim. And I talked about this to Belarusians in the presidential campaign. My mandate is only to be with Belarusians till we bring our country to new elections."

"But I understand I have no right to give up, because people who are in jail didn't give up. They now are suffering for us. Only these people, the families of those repressed in Belarus, have given me the energy to go on."

"Democracy is about participation in the first place. And with participation comes responsibility for decisions and actions."

""Have a teachable spirit; have the will to want to learn and to grow"."

""Creating a safe space to discuss issues that are otherwise uncomfortable, allow people to learn, share and act. Period conversations are becoming more"

"“Periods are normal, period poverty disrupts families and period poverty is something that is an injustice. It’s a human rights violation and therefore"

"“Today, we take action to end menstrual inequalities such as period poverty. We must. The lives of millions of girls and women demand that we do. Poor"

"For us to organize ourselves in a way that allows for equality in the fullness of our difference, we need to remember that every individual human being is the point. Each unique person is the whole story, interconnected fractals of a wholeness called "love." No one is less or more useful on the way toward something else. Human beings seen as a means is exploitation. Human beings seen as an end is dignity. It’s love."

"“I have matured, I am wiser, I love being 33. I am not afraid of aging or embarrassed that I am now in my 30s,”"

"I can tell stories which resonate with me. I can share stories that empowers."

"Tough times are there to make us realize our true potential, Just hang in there and you will be amazed by the power you possess."

"Avoid noise, the fewer people you have around you, the better, because the less noisy it is, the louder your inner voice gets, and there, you will find answers."

"Sometimes all you need to do is just be still, and you will realize just how God has got you."

"I may want to have it all together but sometimes its okay to just say , 'I don't have it all together, I need help' ."

"They say silence is a virtue and I’ve lived by this, choosing to ignore the noise and to only speak about what I was comfortable with."

"I am content. I am in no way at this point looking over my shoulder at my past."

"I believe we need more women in leadership who can push for the necessary changes and men who can also be champions of equity."

"Never let anyone make you believe that you are not enough. You are enough. Public spaces, leadership spaces, money spaces are female spaces too! The most important thing is to ensure we are not comfortable in being the ‘only woman’ at the table. Any space can do with diversity."

"If there is no seat for you, bring a bench. But once you have a seat at the table, make sure that you’re not just there to check a box."

"We all deserve equal opportunity. Opportunity creates better livelihoods and opens up a world of possibilities for all."

"Everyone should be a women’s rights activist or an ally because, as cliché as it may sound, when a woman is empowered, she raises the whole society and community."

"Rise. There's no better time for us to be owning our spaces, doing what we believe in, and shining."

"There are positions of leadership that exist that we should take them up; we shouldn't shy away from speaking our voices. We should find a way to demand justice when it's necessary. Especially when it comes to the protection of women and children's rights."

"We live in a women's era where we have an unprecedented number of women in leadership positions in innovation."

"You cannot talk about poverty and not talk about empowering women."

"If not me then who? That is the important question we all have to ask ourselves everytime any opportunity knocks. Why is that we think maybe we are inadequate and who do we think would be in a better position to take that."

"We all deserve equal opportunity. Opportunity creates better livelihoods and opens up a world of possibilities for all. (16 April 2021) Retrieved 9 July 2022"

"Building a better world is everyone’s responsibility."

"Equity does not take away from anybody."

"Fighting climate change is a global challenge that requires authentic and inclusive regional and local collaboration."

"As once the youngest Cabinet Minister in Africa and in Botswana’s history, I will also seize this opportunity to help elevate the voices of young people and women, in particular, who are key to helping accelerate our goal of halving emissions by 2030."

"So, I my advice to young people that want to be involved in politics, whether by joining government or just influencing policy, is to use their voices and use the various platforms in a very constructive manner, and constructive manner doesn’t mean you should always be in the side of government. If you’re on the side of government all the time, then you’re not really adding value."

"Please be your sister’s keeper, send the ladder down, extend a hand (a helping one, even a comforting one, will be most welcome)."

"She said as an ambitious woman she learnt to stand on her own feet and to leave a life independent of her father."

"As an individual, I have always have a passion to assist and mentor the girl-child. “I will keep on doing my best through Vabvana Trust as we seek to change people’s lives."

"I just want to walk my path but I don’t mind having him around me."

"Selmor has been exceptionally helpful as we build up the new Old Mutual Amazing Voices talent search initiative, designed to platform a whole new generation of singers, so her role in working with the aspiring competitors has been enormously beneficial."

"As such, the hard-working diva, through her three-year-old Vabvana Trust, has since stepped up efforts to bring smiles on the poor"

"Two weeks to flatten the curve. #DoNotComply"

"In an era of globalization, only small minds fight against integration. LET BROTHERLY LOVE CONTINUE."

"They say you don't know what you have until it's gone. Well, the truth is, you knew exactly what you had, you just thought you would never lose it."

"I'm light-skinned and it is obvious. I get asked a lot of times if I feel being light-skinned contributed to the success of me being an established actress. No! It is wrong and I will tell you why; because I feel like you get to a certain place obviously because God permitted it. He put you there and because you are determined and because you have the talent."

"I don't think light-skinned actresses are favored because they are light-skinned. I feel like you have to possess talent. You need to have the drive and you need to have God on your side. You need to earn that and not really about you being light-skinned or any complexion."

"For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a "Broadway actress." I think I came out of the womb singing and dancing, and performing was the one thing I always had my heart set on."

"Keep dreaming, the best ideas comes in your dreams and the ability to create a world of fantasy. Stalk your mentors and their works."

"The greatest thing you can do for yourself in every time you have the opportunity to handle someone’s project, knock it out the park, and that is what I live by every day."

"I try not to focus on the negatives and limitation. I just work hard and make sure I deliver with the opportunity given to me."

"Nigerians truly have a gift. We can turn the most dire situation into a hilarious joke."

"Every time you have a chance to showcase your craft, your mission is to knock it out the park."

"Again, be authentic."

"The thing about Lagos is that it has so much flavour.It can be better but there’s nothing like home."

"“I don’t drag maturity, I am that immature happy soul”"

"You can see the way I’m talking now, it seems as if we are fighting but that is how my voice is and the roles I play in movies don’t help the situation at all because people judge me by the roles I play."

"Really, I’m a blunt person and I have a low tolerance. I don’t like negativity and that is part of me so while I’m growing, I’m growing to start being accommodating more, I’m growing to start loving more so."

"People judge me base on the roles although I have some atom of it because I don’t take a shit. I won’t deny it on air because I’m trying to look good and I am too blunt which is why people have problems with me."

"My doctor would laugh at me and would assure me there was no issue with us. I lost hope in IUI and I was ready for IVF, then my miraculous conception came."

"“I wish I could explain the anger and the sadness through those little times of waiting but just one day, I forgot all."

"I am not doing again! This “diplomatic” thing is sometimes draining."

"I wanted to rest after marriage before conception and boom “my supposed rest “finished, no conception."

"Children who learnt bullying from home and their peers will eventually be shielded by their parents and where they cannot justify the actions of their wards, they will ferry them to safety."

"I would want to see women go actively into politics, and by politics, I do not mean by appointment alone. I will like to see women run for office so that they can be in a better position to effect more change as against just being appointed into political offices, which is good in itself."

"All these terrorist groups are walking around with the same agenda. They may believe differently, but it’s the same agenda. They’re anti-all of us."

"I’m disgusted when I hear some of our current public officials excuse their non-performance on Sabotage."

"I laugh again not in humour at the seeming punishment of the staffs who participated in the padding of our 2016 budget."

"As a religious person, you are subject to the commandment of God and as a Nigerian, you are subject to the laws of the land whether you like it."

"They’re not girls who have social status. Their parents are not economically well off, she said. “But I can tell you, if any one of those girls belonged to a government official, they’d be found."

"What got me really enraged was the fact our government hadn’t said a word because they didn’t believe the girls were taken,” she said. “They didn’t say anything until about 19 days after."

"What we fail to realize as humans is that our world may be large, but we’re all just in a small cup,” she said. “What affects one person affects every single one of us."

"Please do not push your luck in challenging the status quo or seeking to insist on your high ground, it is a proven means of soliciting for your middle name."

"I also love books of people learning to do this like going to ballet school, or how to ride horses. There's just something about the process and setback's it's very interesting."

"The only way to try and interrogate or possibly persuade stories to reveal something about themselves is to make all these provocations and assaults on them, and try and unpack them and unpick their seams and see if they react."

""Please tell me a story about a girl who gets away." I would, even if I had to adapt one, even if I had to make one up just for her. "Gets away from what, though?" "From her fairy godmother. From the happy ending that isn't really happy at all. Please have her get out and run off of the page altogether, to somewhere secret where words like 'happy' and 'good' will never find her." "You don't want her to be happy and good?" "I'm not sure what's really meant by happy and good. I would like her to be free. Now. Please begin." White for Witching (2010) p 165"

"“...a place can live in you without letting you know about it for the longest time.” Parasol Against the Axe (2024)"

""Her heart was heavy because it was open, and so things filled it, and so things rushed out of it, but still the heart kept beating, tough and frighteningly powerful and meaning to shrug off the rest of her and continue on its own”. Mr Fox (2011) p 171"

""You don’t return people’s smiles—it’s perfectly clear to you that people can smile and smile and still be villains." Boy, Snow, Bird (2014) p 8"

"The water was so cold on her skin that it felt dry.”"

"“She thought I hadn't seen her, but she's no good at hiding her intentions. She can't help tiptoeing around with a finger to her lips at key moments.”"

"“It was like dancing with a mask that was attached to a stick—she dared not lower it, no matter how tiring it was to hold the mask up. She was the ugly girl at the ball.”"

"What is the meaning of it? Three creaks, three weeks? If she comes back for her shoes in three days, then I only need to empty them another three times. If it really is three weeks that were meant, what then. If three months, what then. Three years. That's why I had to write it down now. By then I may no longer believe I heard anything in Miri's room.”"

"“Love. I'm not capable of it, can't even approach it from the side, let alone head-on. Nor am I alone in this—everyone is like this, the liars. Singing songs and painting pictures and telling each other stories about love and its mysteries and marvelous properties, myths to keep morale up—maybe one day it'll materialize. But I can say it ten times a day, a hundred times, 'I love you,' to anyone and anything, to a woman, to a pair of pruning shears. I've said it without meaning it at all, taken love's name in vain and gone dismally unpunished. Love will never be real, or if it is, it has no power. No power. There's only covetousness, and if what we covet can't be won with gentle words—and often it can't—then there is force.”"

"“The whole thing was so intense, so full of hurt that when I look back at it I squint. I want it forgotten.”"

"“I was so jealous it burned, and I knew I had to let it alone or I'd break something inside me.”"

"“I love sleeping. Waking is more and more hateful the older I get. I say this as if I've lived too long. I'm twenty-two.”"

"“As always, the soucouyant seemed more lonely than bad. Maybe that was her trick, her ability to make it so you couldn't decide if she was a monster.”"

"“She is a double danger—there is the danger of meeting her, and the danger of becoming her. Does the nightmare of her belong to everyone, or just to me?”"

"“Maybe she was not really like that. It's just that I would prefer you to think that what happened to her was justified.”"

"“Easy to see the solution when you're not in the story, isn't it.”"

"“She won't forget or recover, she is inconsolable.”"

"“A song called 'Earth Angel' played in her head all morning—also three trumpets and a piano.”"

"“Her heart's breaking. It breaks three times a week on account of people treating her so badly, and she knows that all you can do is laugh it off.”"

"“And other times—too often, maybe—I don't dare have an opinion in case it upsets anyone.”"

"'But what will I do for a whole year?'"

"“She had had such a strong feeling that she needed to talk to someone who would tell her some secret that would make everything alright. She had been unable to think who it was.”"

"“His heavy eyebrows lowered and he made some small, involuntary gesture with his hand that was recognisably superstitious, as if the words 'God forbid' had flowed into his body.”"

"“I examined the portraits nearest to me but couldn't get past the sensation that here was the same man over and over, crouched in old boxes, readying himself to spit on my plate.”"

"“One or the other of us said 'I can't,' and if it was me I don't know why because I wanted to. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrongly to help me get over the rejection.”"

"“She smiled with a scary energy, as if she had been told to at gunpoint.”"

"“I'm not saying I'm amazing or anything, but I'm decent-looking. Why shouldn't a decent-looking girl expect to be kissed?”"

"“I was always weak in the head—that must be it. I can't seem to care anymore about what I'm supposed to do.”"

"“Our exchanges always seem to turn into whatever he wants them to.”"

"“Have you ever heard a note in someone's voice that said 'This is the end?' I heard it in the next words he said to me, and I stopped listening.”"

"“Have you forgotten about our fox?"

"“I almost forgot to mention another fox I know of—a very wicked fox indeed. But you are tired of hearing about foxes now, so I won't go on.”"

"“There was . . . a mirror that crawled across the wall in a wooden frame. When I go into Miri's room all I can see, all I can think of is that enormous mirror, like a lake on the wall.”"

"“What do you think of Poe?""

"He's awful. He was obviously . . . what's the term . . . 'disappointed in love' at some point. He probably never smiled again. The pages are just bursting with his longing for women to suffer. If he ever met me he'd probably punch me on the nose."

""I think Poe's quite good, actually. The whole casual horror thing. Like someone standing next to you and screaming their head off and you asking them what the fuck and them stopping for a moment to say 'Oh you know, I'm just afraid of Death' and then they keep on with the screaming.”"

"“Solitary people, these book lovers. I think it's swell that there are people you don't have to worry about when you don't see them for a long time, you don't have to wonder what they do, how they're getting along with themselves. You just know that they're all right, and probably doing something they like.”"

"“Imagine having a mother who worries that you read too much. The question is, what is it that's supposed to happen to people who read too much? How can you tell when someone's crossed the line.”"

"“I know of witches who whistle at different pitches, calling things that don't have names.”"

"“I’m never sad when a friend goes far away, because whichever city or country that friend goes to, they turn the place friendly. They turn a suspicious-looking name on the map into a place where a welcome can be found. Maybe the friend will talk about you sometimes, to other friends that live around him, and then that’s almost as good as being there yourself. You’re in several places at once! In fact, my daughter, I would even go so far as to say that the further away your friends, and the more spread out they are the better your chances of going safely through the world…”"

"“The first coffee of the morning is never, ever, ready quickly enough. You die before it’s ready and then your ghost pours the resurrection potion out of the moka pot.”"

"“It was the usual struggle between one who loves by accepting burdens and one who loves by refusing to be one.”"

"“I wish there was someone I could have written to after that, someone I could have written to explain how awful it was to have someone touch you, then look at you properly and change his mind.”"

"“… there’s a difference between having no one because you’ve chosen it and having no one because everyone has been taken away.”"

"“What you're doing is building a horrible kind of logic. People read what you write and they say, 'Yes, he is talking about things that really happen,' and they keep reading, and it makes sense to them. You're explaining things that can't be defended, and the explanations themselves are mad, just bizarre — but you offer them with such confidence. It was because she kept the chain on the door; it was because he needed to let off steam after a hard day's scraping and bowing at work; it was because she was irritating and stupid; it was because she lied to him, made a fool of him; it was because she had to die, she just had to, it makes dramatic sense; it was because 'nothing is more poetic than the death of a beautiful woman'; it was because of this, it was because of that. It's obscene to make such things reasonable.”"

"“That's the ideal meeting...once upon a time, only once, unexpectedly, then never again.”"

"“It occurred to me that I was unhappy. And it didn’t feel so very terrible. No urgency, nothing. I could slip out of my life on a slow wave like this—it didn’t matter. I don’t have to be happy. All I have to do is hold on to something and wait.”"

"“A library at night is full of sounds: the unread books can't stand it any longer and announce their contents, some boasting, some shy, some devious.”"

"“But then, maybe “I don’t believe in you” is the cruelest way to kill a monster.”"

"“For reasons of my own I take note of the way people act when they’re around mirrors.”"

"“With boys there was a fundamental assumption that they had a right to be there—not always, but more often than not. With girls, Why her? came up so quickly.”"

"“I've read that madness is present when everything you see and hear takes on an equal significance. A dead bird makes you cry, and so does a doorknob.”"

"“If you should find yourself in a place that is indifferent to you and there is someone there that your spirit stretches to, then that person is kin.”"

"“And without further argument he unsheathed the sword and cleaved Miss Foxe's head from her neck. He knew what was supposed to happen. He knew that this awkward, whispering creature before him should now transform into a princess - dazzlingly beautiful, free, and made wise by her hardship."

"“I was born, and then I was quietly resentful of that fact for a few years...but then I went to a library and it was okay.”"

"“... it's not whiteness itself that sets Them against Us, but the worship of whiteness. Same goes if you swap whiteness out for other things-- fancy possessions for sure, pedigree, maybe youth too... we beat Them (and spare ourselves a lot of tedium and terror) by declining to worship.”"

"“The general advice is always be yourself, be yourself, which only makes sense if you haven't got an attitude problem.”"

"“To you who eat a lot of rice because you are lonely"

"“And she walked away, and she walked away, and that was that, and that was that.”"

"“In Narnia a girl might ring a bell in a deserted temple and feel the chime in her eyes, pure as the freeze that forces tears. Then when the sound dies out, the White Witch wakes. It was like, I want to touch you, and I can touch you, now what next, a dagger?”"

"“She encouraged herself to see her very small presence in the world as a good thing, a power, something that a hero might possess.”"

"An anti-heroine has her own purity, a singleness of intention."

"I sometimes consider a story’s anti-heroine to be an embodied protest against the set of ideals the narrative upholds in the form of the perfect heroine."

"Without further ado I give you my number one [anti-heroine]: Carabosse, the fairy who goes where she is not invited expressly in order to curse a princess whose life was all set up to be a bright and gracious path from birth to death."

"Sleeping Beauty is not herself, and doesn’t become so until the isolation of her hundred-year sleep, during which she must dream her own dreams. Carabosse’s curse is the most meaningful gift the girl could have been given."

""Words describing white people, white things, every single story spun out in some place where WE don’t exist! It has no value; in my eyes, it is to confuse.”"

""It was Nigeria. That was the problem. Nigeria felt ugly." (Part 1, Chapter 1, Page 6)"

""well, out of place. His face was wet with perspiration and flushed pink, and even the way that he stood marked him out as different." (Chapter 1, Page 9)"

""He was looking at her, but in a distracted manner, as if she was something to look at while he waited for something else.”(Page 15)"

""England, where people who stared at you would shift their eyes away with an embarrassed, smiling gesture if you stared back. England, where people didn’t see you, where it was almost rude to, wrong to.” (Page 16)"

""In Nigeria, her mother had said, children were always getting themselves into mischief, and surely that was better than sitting inside reading and staring into space all day.” (Part 1, Chapter 3, Page 21)"

""Wuraola sounded like another person. Not her at all. Should she answer to this name, and by doing so steal the identity of someone who belonged here?” (Part 1, Chapter 4, Page 28)"

""Who is this woman who has a Nigerian maiden name in a British passport, who stands here wearing denim shorts and a strappy yellow top, with a white man and a half-and-half child?" (Chapter 2, Page 12)"

""Maybe Jessamy has all these 'attacks' because she can't make up her mind whether she's black or white!" (Chapter 2, Page 13)"

""Once you let people know anything about what you think, that's it, you're dead. Then they'll be jumping about in your mind, taking things out, holding them up to the light and killing them, yes, killing them, because thoughts are supposed to stay and grow in quiet, dark places, like butterflies in cocoons”. (Page 82)"

""The truth shall set you free” (Chapter 11, Page 86)"

""‘You weren’t, though! If that had been my father ’handling that’, she would’ve been flat on the floor with a few teeth missing!’” (Page 198)"

""Jess’s father is upset and confused, saying to Jess’s grandfather, “One minute you’re telling her to think on Jesus and the next you’re calling a witch doctor!” (Page 236)."

""Jesus doesn’t have lips as big as yours, and his skin is fair. How can you ever be as good as him on the outside when there’s nothing of him on your face?” (Page 246)"

"”Jess shrank, her arms raised protectively over her head in anticipation of another blow. Her dad spoke tentatively from behind her: ‘Sarah, I was handling that ...’" (Page 326)"

"People had been turning to witchcraft because of the mistaken belief that using their body parts in potions can bring good luck and wealth."

"While we have come very far in the fight against these heinous acts, the road ahead remains long and arduous."

"As soon as you know you want a child, you have a baby fever when you see a cute baby."

"Sometimes, you also just want to be in your personal space and it doesn’t mean you don’t love (your fans) or anything. It just means you want your space."

"Yes, I do have a lot of songs that are about love, but what I try to do is, I try to come from different angles, like you might hear my songs and say that they are love songs but they are not saying the same thing."

"Everything inspires me, I think I am mostly inspired by experiences, things that I have seen happen or that have happened to me."

"The norm is to do a formal and proper press release, with big, impersonal words, but this is me and you. We started with true laughs, constructive criticism, silly jokes and personal moments. We’re going to keep it that way."

"So many people have asked me what Duduke means— it’s the beat of your heart or the beat of the drums you move your body to, or the beat you sing a melody to."

"I don’t go around blowing my own trumpet but I do know for sure that I’m good at what I do. I put in the work and nobody will say I can’t sing because I know that I sure can."

"I don’t do things because I want people to like me but because they’re important to do."

"I think they’re getting more visible. The fight is getting louder. I don’t know if it’s getting better for everyone, for those that are already in the limelight and have gotten their break, probably."

"Always take care of yourself, of your spirit, be true to yourself, build a very thick skin where you understand that your value is outside of people’s opinions about you, and you’ll be okay."

"That pressure of having two parents that have done music, that’s the only thing that I will be anxious for. I want her to be as original as possible without having to thing she has to do anything like anyone else, even her parents."

"...enough credit to women. It is very hard to get that acknowledgment as a woman because first of all many people don’t even expect that you are going to be good at that...Because you are a woman they definitely undermine you and you have to work extra hard to get half the things the guys are getting."

"I've never really been a big fan of the spotlight, I know that it comes with the territory, but when I got my big break and more people started to recognise me, I realised that I had to edit myself, my life, and most of the things that I'd do or say because I wanted to be careful to keep a part of me for myself."

"https://thenationonlineng.net/i-should-not-have-said-i-dont-listen-to-music-simi-makes-u-turn/"

"I have amazing potential i can make good choices i am never alone i can do hard things i am beautiful inside and out i am of great worth he has a plan for me i know who i am a daughter of God."

""I started Sisiyemmie.com in 2011, April 2, and my husband (then boyfriend) adviced me to look up what a blog was. At the time I was studying for my Masters degree at the University of Birmingham UK and I realized I had a lot of free time. I “googled” what a blog was, I opened the blog immediately and I haven’t looked back since!"

"It has to be everything really, but something that keeps my blood pumping is creating content!"

"Life inspires my ideas for my videos. Before I started vlogging, I was blogging and it was the same thing. I carried over the content from my blog to my videos."

"I treat my audience like my friends. Whatever information I feel I would love to share with a friend, I will share the same on my social platforms, especially if it is content that will add value to my audience."

"I can be pretty much an open book but, like everyone, I have my little secrets and moments I keep to myself and for my family. The key for me is to always add value. It could be a jollof rice hack or sharing an experience; whatever it is, I hope it helps my audience somehow."

"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sisi+yemmie"

"God is awesome."

"I have failed, made mistakes, trusted, and had my lows and highs. But today, I stand firm, stronger than ever and living my best life."

"It has been a journey of personal development and to do what my heart craves for."

"Never dim your light for anyone. If it’s blinding they should wear shades! shinebright."

"When you start gradually, you tend to appreciate where you are right now. When you crawl before you walk and then you fly, you’ll appreciate your roots."

"Reducing energy dependence is also very important for us. Therefore, we will officially announce the start of a major program of thermal modernization by the end of the month (February 2022). At least 5,000 buildings will be modernized and renovated this year (2022). Our ambitious goal is 50,000 thermo-modernized buildings in the first years of the program implementation. The task is to reduce gas imports and channel the savings into more important projects for Ukrainians."

"Ukraine has already lost more than $560 billion as a result of Russia's monthlong war (as of March 2022). The $564.9 billion figure in losses includes $119 billion in destroyed infrastructure. Every day the numbers change and unfortunately they are increasing."

"I received a weapon. I am not trained to use it. I am a political scientist elected to parliament. It is as weird as it sounds. If someone said this even three days ago, I wouldn't have believed them. But I have a gun, and if the situation comes to that, I will have to use it. I am not surrendering (to the Russians), I will join the fight."

"Europe and our country (Germany) stands in solidarity with you (Moldova), we will take refugees from you (that came from Ukraine)."

""We are fighting a war against Russia", German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Council of Europe (Europarat)"

"About Putin: He can decide that he changes his course by 360 degrees tomorrow. The whole world would be happy again. Stop the bombing. It’s in his hand.."

"I describe Olaf Scholz as kind of the epitome of the abused spouse. Stands there and is abused not only by his master, Joe Biden, but also by this hack that he has as foreign minister. Her name is Baerbock. She is the the most vociferous of all the people saying that we are...at war with Russia.... Will the German people acquiesce in their industry, and then their bodies being frozen out this winter? Or will they rise up and say: “Look, Mr Scholz, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing, and neither does Baerbock. Get out of here!”, and replace that government?"

"We would never accept a nine-year-old coming to school with a mini skirt and high heels. The same applies for headscarves."

"Our culture idolizes athletes, and God has really blessed my career. But at the end of the day, you want something that's eternal. We were made for so much more than fame or power, and coming to that realization has really made me say, "God, you know that’s best for me and that's what I want, too.""

"I am so curious about why certain people feel in their bones how thin the veneer of civilization is, and why other people are so nonchalant about it."

"[About cowardice in the leadership of institutions:] What we've seen is that you don't actually need a majority of people inside an institution to agree with these ideas for these ideas to gain force. [You need] a tiny minority and you need cowardice at the top. Cowardice at the top, that is the key ingredient. You need people at the top who are willing to sell out the authority of the institution and the values of the institution that have taken decades, sometimes centuries, to accrue. Basically for the short-term benefit of not being called a bad name."

"In the end of the day, the reason that I left The New York Times is that yes because I was being bullied, yes because I couldn't do my job, both true things, but ultimately it was because I really believe that the fight for liberalism, and I don't mean that in the partisan sense but I mean [the values], that is more important than any amount of popularity, than any amount of accolades on Twitter, than anything else. Than anything else. And so I had to leave the institution in order to fight for liberalism. And that I see as the mission of my life, I guess you can say."

"[About the loss of The New York Times as an institution] I will say that I spent months mourning that. It is catastrophic. But there are things in history that have been more catastrophic. And that's the kind of perspective that I'm trying to keep. Because if I spend all day looking at the wreckage, and more than just looking at the wreckage trying desperately to try and shore up something that is so clearly rotten, I would spend my life in grief."

"[About covering the story of Jamie Reed's work at a pediatric gender clinic in Missouri:] When you break a story and other publications follow it, as happens a lot of the time with The Free Press, it is very professionally gratifying. But the reason that this story was especially important and gratifying for us to have substantiated was because it is exactly the kind of story that we exist to pursue. It is exactly the kind of morally naughty story in which journalists avoid pursuing it because they know they will be punished or smeared for doing so. That is why The Free Press exists. [...] And just covering those topics, not in an histrionic way, but in a sober, fair-minded, honest, frank way that treats readers like adults."

"The West never got over the Cold War stereotype. One thing that only few journalists understand is that Russia started dissolving the Soviet Union of its own accord. We were the ones to realize that Communism was a failure. We understood that it was wrong to impose our will on other nations. We released the Eastern bloc into freedom. We are a different country today, one with a different mentality -- which is something that Western journalists sometimes find difficult to comprehend. You, for example, stated earlier that Russia was acting aggressively without backing it up with facts."

"Everything you say will be used against you."

"We are far less critical of western policy than western media are critical of Russia. When was the last time you read anything good about Russia? Anywhere? Name me one publication. That’s why this cliché that Russia Today is an anti-western channel brings a smile to my face."

"I don’t see why you have the nerve to think that you know better than anyone how to run the world, and who’s marginal in the world and who isn’t. You’ve made so many mistakes, you’ve started so many wars in the last few years, destroyed so many lives, killed so many people, created so many problems."

"I noticed that mainstream western TV channels, especially CNN and ABC, show the same thing. It really ate me up inside. I realised that there are quite a lot of people in the world who don’t think that’s how it should be, so it probably makes sense to make something for them. Obviously if our audience is [only] Kremlinologists and Russia watchers, then that’s very few people."

"Actually, I also like America in a lot of ways. I have friends and family there, the food is good, at the end of the day. I really love American culture . . . In the 1990s we looked at America like a saviour. We proudly wore American flag T-shirts and caps. I learnt the Declaration of Independence by heart."

"Believe me, I’ve categorically forbidden everyone from inviting people who says nonsense or promote some unhealthy strange theories on air. But at the same time, if we only give airtime to the same people as the mainstream media does, it means it wouldn’t at all be clear why we’re doing this."

"A war is completely unavoidable."

"In our time, I don't believe there can be a full-scale hot war like the Second World War, nor a long Cold War, but a war of a third type. It will be a cyberwar."

"A button is pushed, and suddenly the lights go out in Voronezh. The pipes freeze and there is no heating. Then, from the other side, a button is pushed, and the lights go out in Harlem, or in Florida."

"It will be a war of infrastructure, and in this sphere, we have many vulnerabilities."

"We need to be ready for this war, which is inevitable, and which, of course, will start from Ukraine. For this, we need a Stalinist program of mobilization in order to sew up, sew up, sew up these vulnerabilities quickly, quickly. Because I don't want us to be too enamored of our capabilities."

"So that it is understood, yes, in a hot war, we would defeat Ukraine in two days. What is there to defeat? My god, it's Ukraine. We suppress their firing points, as we discussed during the commercial, and then we won't even have to bomb their unfortunate cities. God forbid that it ever come to that."

"Why is there this constant talk of war? It's as if [the West] really wants us to destroy this unfortunate Ukraine. In Russia there is no war hysteria. We do have an anti-war movement, but we have no pro-war movement. It's surprising. The Americans say 'no, you must invade. We know it for a fact.'"

"Mr. Biden, why won't you tell the Russians that Ukraine will never join NATO? That's what they're asking for. Additionally, with high level of probability, it will never be able to join anyway, for various reasons. You understand that it's their [Russia’s] legitimate interest that [Ukraine] does not join, but you're not doing that."

"You're telling us that you're defending democracy. Mr. Biden, what kind of democracy is it when they are closing down one television channel after another and imprisoning their political opponents, because they can’t hold on to power in any other way?"

"We're fighting a huge, armed enemy. Maybe it's not that simple for Russia to fight all of NATO over there."

"But also, this is not Ukraine, it's NATO. It's all their power being used against us now. All of their arms, all of their weapons, all of their equipment, all of their trainers, their mercenaries."

"We should be helping our army and our commander-in-chief to win instead of complaining that they're yet to win in so-and-so days."

"We're all going to die someday."

"The Anglo-Saxons publicly encourage Ukraine to take their hostilities into Russian territory. And they give them means to carry that plan out. What choice do you leave us, idiots? The total annihilation of what remains of Ukraine? A nuclear strike?"

"They [Americans] are like little children, they don't believe anything they don't want to believe, like little children. They're trapped in the world of their own fantasies. Recently, I was re-reading old letters that I sent to my parents when I was studying in America. I wrote to my parents: "I have a feeling that [America] is not a country, but a kindergarten for mentally disabled children." Even at 15, I already understood that."

"We should be building our future with culture, with heating and without Ukraine."

"There'll not be the Ukraine we have known for many years. It won't be a Ukraine."

"A cynical joke or perhaps an exclamation has appeared, I’ve already heard it from several people in Moscow. "All hope is pinned on famine". What is meant is that famine will begin and they [in the West] will come to their senses, will remove sanctions and will be friends with us because it's impossible to not be friends."

"Personally, I see the path of a third world war as the most realistic. Knowing us, knowing our leader, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, knowing how things work around here . . . I think that the most improbable outcome—that it will all end in a nuclear strike—is still more probable than defeat. This horrifies me, on the one hand, but on the other I understand that this is how it is."

"There are nuclear power plants there, a lot of infrastructure which can be disabled … very quickly and easily, and for a long time. People ask me, why don’t we do that? I have no answer. Perhaps now is the time to do this."

"Our main enemy is certainly the United States. What does the U.S. react to? They react to two things: the threat of physical annihilation and the liquidation of a certain number of military personnel. What we know based on wars in Vietnam and Korea is that several tens of thousands of annihilated American servicemen will cause the public opinion in the U.S. to be severely strained. I will repeat: not several thousand, like in Afghanistan or Iraq, but a certain number of tens of thousands. Who will liquidate them, where they will be liquidated and in what way is completely irrelevant, but this is one of the objectives if we want to influence the American leadership. We have absolutely nothing to lose."

"This can only end with an immediate threat that is voiced and presented, a threat of a nuclear confrontation."

"Guys, there will be a big war, for sure. By the end of winter, something very big will happen!"

"It’s true that no one will win in a nuclear war, but who needs the world if Russia isn’t in it? It was voiced out loud, it was said by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin!"

"I don't see any other outcome… It will be a wrecking ball! It will be all-in! It will be like two planes, flying head-on into one another. Someone will have to back down and something tells me that it won’t be us."

"I didn't think it would be easy, but of course I didn't think we'd have to fight the entire Western world, that it would be World War III."

"World War III is already underway."

"I've been waiting eight years for this... it finally happened. This is true happiness."

"If Lindsey Graham really said that the money for the killing of Russians is the best money the US ever spent . . . I hope that in our country, the sons or grandchildren of Sudoplatov are alive, his pupils, or the descendants of his pupils [...] It’s not even hard. We have his address."

"It is the most difficult and the toughest because it is the first war in our history in which we have no allies at all."

"If we were to conduct a thermonuclear explosion, a nuclear explosion, hundreds of kilometers above our own territory, someplace in Siberia, nothing scary would happen on the land."

"There will be no nuclear winter where everyone is afraid. There won't be horrific radiation that will kill everyone … None of that will happen"

"We will return to the year 1993."

"I learned how much I love to do musical theater because I get to sing and dance and act, do it all in two hours."

"I'm blond, I love clothes, I love life and I tend not to take myself too seriously -- ever,any young woman would find something to connect with in Elle's story, with being underestimated and needing to prove your worth."

"Hairspray was my first Broadway show. In the meantime, after the show was over, I would go down and do gigs at these clubs that I wasn’t even old enough to get into. That continued on, and I think what ended up happening was that I just got these incredible opportunities on Broadway."

"The West is using Bucha to legalize future purges in areas previously occupied by the Russian army. The people were killed by Ukrainian forces because they didn’t resist the Russians. The West is thus giving Ukraine approval to extrajudicially kill those they deem traitors."

"One can safely call what it has escalated into World War III That’s absolutely for sure."

"In front of our eyes a breakthrough is underway in the special operation. The Ukrainians are crumbling in front of our eyes. The Ukrainian army is falling apart."

"History doesn't teach people anything. After all, thanks to such self-satisfied and arrogant idiots, Poland has already on several occasions ceased to exist as an independent state."

"Even though we are methodically destroying the weapons that are being delivered [to Ukraine], but the quantities in which the United States are sending them force us to come up with some global conclusions. Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge that maybe Russia’s special operation in Ukraine has come to an end, in a sense that a real war had started: WWIII. We’re forced to conduct the demilitarization not only of Ukraine, but of the entire NATO alliance."

"We should have done it today. All the best people are there for the funeral.""

"What are our next actions? [Striking] the decision-making centers? In Kyiv, London, Washington - where?"

"What should we do to avoid the nuclear war, or is it already a given? It certainly seems that way."

"Nobody was expecting such a large, global war."

"We are all adults and we are well aware that war depletes the Russian state in every way but if we stop it will make the special military operation meaningless."

"At the same time we, being adequate and normal people, of course, are not capable of enjoying military action, war and each one of us, I am convinced, would like an end to hostilities. We simply understand that this is completely unrealistic and impossible on current terms."

"Don't dismiss two or three million Chinese soldiers. That's what is needed now. I look at Belgorod region and think how much we lack a Chinese people's liberation army."

"My first time visiting church I went up to the altar and said the prayer of salvation. I didn’t know exactly what I was doing, but I was hungry for more. I longed for this love that people said Jesus offered. The most amazing thing about my journey for the next 3 years (before I would finally get freed from the industry and healed from my brokenness) is that Jesus used people in my life to continue steering me towards Him. There are no barriers or obstacles for God. God will use anything or anyone to fulfill His plan. I gave Him permission to work in my life that one day at the altar call and He fought for me daily. […] Now looking back I can see how God is waiting for us to make choices that give Him permission to work in our lives, if we are willing. He gives us the freewill to choose Him, or not. It was my choice to go to church, accept Him into my heart, read the bible, and pray and all of this God honored and used for my good. […] I have joy and peace knowing His word is real and true. He loved me the same when I was a broken prostitute, suicidal porn star. He never left me."

"I started seeking God every day. I would worship, pray, and read the Bible. Through that, God healed me and made me a brand new woman. He completely restored my soul."

"First and foremost, do not be ashamed of your addiction. This is a huge attack Satan places on the body of Christ because if you’re ashamed of your sin then you won’t ask for help. Therefore, you battle it alone and isolation is a dangerous place to be, because isolation gives Satan an open door to attack your mind."

"I was not always met with great and positive experiences on my journery, there are past hurts and traumas that i had to face and deal with and love is my saviour in times when i feel unworthy on my path."

"My music is autobiographical. The stuff I’ve written is self-reflection time for me, My music is about the journey to discovering one’s self through this world, I would like to stir up that quest for self, to bring about a healing type of vibe. It’s a lot about overcoming and focusing on the personal stuff. Sometimes we get wrapped in anxiety, myself included. My music is about providing an outlet for listeners to forget."

"My family has grounded and groomed me into the woman that I am. My siblings and I have parents who continuously support us through our little endeavors. They listen to my music all the time and that reassures me each time."

"I want to create a place of joy, healing, and peace. Celebrating Africa and our africanness and at the same time embracing our femininity and masculinity."

"A lot of people are learning and discovering me as an artist so it has opened up a bigger space for me and a brand new market."

"I wanted to show that it is possible to be a local person, in Ethiopia and in Africa, and to be globally successful."

"It is possible to deploy local resources while creating a market-leading global brand, and to do it all from scratch."

"If we want to have truly equitable societies, then we need to embrace equity on all levels. And that means women’s economic empowerment and the key to that is women entrepreneurs."

"Prosperity creation is the sole route to the elimination of poverty. And to create sustained prosperity, you have to create something truly world class."

"For people to be innovative... they don't have to really travel a long way or copy somebody's business idea. It's right there."

"Don't just make things, make things better. "Innovation is...improving the state of what was before.""

"“… the needle I am constantly attempting to thread: building exciting brands around our unique cultures, brands that become ubiquitous and impactful.”"

"“People are traveling a long ways to bring in different ideas into their continent and country to start a business. But my idea is, look at who you are as a person. How you grew up. Everything around you is a business idea. When you see a problem, find the solution. That will be a business idea.”"

"there is no blueprint when it comes to being an entrepreneur."

"“We’re selling an experience. We’re not selling a product. We’re not trying to fit in somewhere…the need is for you. It’s not massively produced.”"

"that one of the important lessons her parents instilled in her as a child was that there was no difference between her and her three brothers. While they did different kinds of work, she said there was no preference between girls’ work and boys’ work."

"that helped give her confidence in her contributions to society as a woman, and ultimately, what she is doing today."

"“For me, I never thought because I’m a woman I’m not going to do something, I’m not going to try it this or that. The way I see myself is… I’m a person. I am capable of doing whatever I want and I’m going to succeed because I’m going to be working really hard to be there each and every day. So, for African girls and women to say ‘I’m not going to be able to do this, I’m not capable of doing this,’ you’re killing yourself. If we are brave enough to go out to sell ideas to people, I think we can succeed.”"

"“I always reflect and think about the same thing: business is about solving problems. Trying to identify the singular most difficult situation would be doing a disservice to this simple fact: if you are not continuously encountering tough situations as an entrepreneur, and solving them, then you are not really in business. Encountering obstacles and overcoming them is my day-to-day existence.”"

"“I have developed a fine sense of my weaknesses, and I address those by building my team with people who have that strength I may lack. So I flip any weakness I may have and make it a strength … Weakness recognition, and a full embrace of that, is a powerful tool.”"

"“I think conventional wisdom is, by definition, the antithesis of entrepreneurialism, so I am probably on the other side of a lot of it.”"

"“I like to visualise my goals in my own private space. I try and make it as real as possible so it is almost tangible to me. That gives these goals an immediacy and realness both for me and for my team that allows people to really chase that idea or goal in a visceral way.”"

"“I am always engaging with people on my team, finding out what they need to make them better at what they do, and what makes them happier. This lets us have an incredible level of overall team happiness and leads to long-term team members…"

"“I began Garden of Coffee so that people everywhere can experience the magic of hand-roasted Ethiopian coffees, roasted at their source by Ethiopia’s finest coffee artisans."

"My driving passions as an entrepreneur are always about sharing Ethiopian cultures with the world and finding exciting ways to keep these cultures vibrant and fully relevant."

"I completed all my education here in Ethiopia, and I have NEVER lived anywhere else but Ethiopia."

"“We Decided to Create the Better Life We were all waiting for”"

"” Having grown up watching our family and neighbors struggling, we decided to create the “better life” we were all waiting for by harnessing our community’s incredible artisan skills and channeling them into a sustainable, global, fair trade footwear business. We have done that and more and we are proud to say that the soleRebels brand is being enjoyed by people in over 30 countries around the world.”"

"“We are doing well. We are trying to do $2m this year. In 2016, we are planning to do $20m. So that’s why we are working hard and we are trying to expand our working facility. The demand is here. It’s up to us to take that advantage and to make it happen,”"

"“Since we are a fair trade organisation people want to buy fair trade shoes from us but they want to buy at cheap prices. That I don’t understand. I know that running a business is not that easy and there is always a threat, there is always a risk that we are going to take, but I love it.”"

"“My driving passions,”"

"“are sharing Ethiopian cultures with the world and finding exciting ways to keep these cultures vibrant and fully relevant.”"

"“To me, very successful entrepreneurs have the ability not simply to come up with an idea,”"

"“but to exquisitely execute that idea over and over and make it into a living, breathing reality. The best entrepreneurs literally seem to live their companies.”"

"“I think the best companies and brands are built by entrepreneurs willing to self-fund their ideas,”"

"“My advice would be to build your idea piece by piece and get real and honest traction in the market with that idea while retaining as much equity as you can.”"

"“If you have a crazy idea, go for it! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”"

"“Love what you do, because without a genuine love and passion, you won’t be successful.”"

"“This gave me a good knowledge of the industry, which was extremely useful in terms of setting up the company and making it grow,”"

"“I knew that there were so many talented people out there who could do great things if only given a chance. However, due to extreme poverty, stigma, and marginalization,… many of them could not even get simple jobs. This was devastating for me, as I had grown up with them. They were my neighbours, my family members.”"

"“That’s why we have always said that this company is about maximizing local talent and local resources to create good paying jobs, that in turn would create extraordinary footwear,”"

"If there is any place I don't belong, it's in a mind where the story of me starts with the branch of me being queer and not with my rural roots."

"To truly understand that attaining accessible education, accessible healthcare, and ending poverty, means ensuring that we are cognizant of the voices and lives of people like me; whether it's people who are brown skinned, African, Indigenous, Queer identifying, disabled"

"One thing you will learn from a lifetime of biting your tongue; memories lose their flavors."

"Freedom will come when all Batswana can assume and inhabit whatever gender and other identities they are comfortable with."

"I understand that it both is and is not my duty to deconstruct and then reconstruct my government’s views on the validity of citizens like me whom colonial constitutions factored out and vilified."

"The core behind my work is to ensure that as Batswana we start discovering and learning from what we experience."

"The world we live in is created and it’s been being created and it is still being created. So why can’t we take things that we assume are the building blocks of what we know about our lives, about every single thing that we trust, and turn them upside down just to be a bit more accommodating."

"Katlego K Kolanyane-Kesupile (2020)"

"#TurnItAround UN SDG Action Campaign | Katlego K Kolanyane-Kesupile (Botswana) (September 2020)"

"Developing the nerve to possess yourself | Katlego K Kolanyane-Kesupile | TEDxGoodenoughCollege (August 2017)"

"Kat’s Nine Lives: Performing Trans Identity/ies in Botswana (June 2017)"

"Being trans* is becoming a black woman of complications (February 2017)"

"Queer Literature and Culture: A Dialogue with Katlego Kai Kolanyane-Kesupile (November 2016)"

"“I’ve become far more than Africa’s first successful model with albinism through my journey… one is doing some incredible things .There’s a lot of growth & accomplishments that came from how it all began,’’"

"I love that I can share my journey & educate worldwide baby, not when people feel they want to call me only for a specific day…. But they can actually see the value in what I can impart anytime 24/7/365,”"

"“I’m Africa’s first successful model with albinism, meaning I’m the first model in the continent to have successfully worked well within the modelling industry,”"

"Refilwe Modiselle continues to shine the spotlight on albinism during UK TV interview (July 5 2022) by Kedibone Modise retrieved 26 July 2022"

"Refilwe Modiselle continues to shine the spotlight on albinism during UK TV interview (July 5 2022) by Kedibone Modise"

"It’s not just about giving a voice to those otherwise unheard but trying to demonstrate by example, a new way of living and thinking about money."

"Over the next few decades one billion lives and trillions of pounds will be at risk due to a single issue: climate change."

"All art is political and most artists want to change something in the world; they want to spur action."

"All is fair in love and art but nothings ever fine in war."

"It is about recognising dual materiality, understanding where we can invest to make the world a better place and where risks may impact our bottom line."

"You cannot always bang the drum for financial returns."

"On a cold February morning in 1968, a young man, not yet 21, stepped off a plane at Heathrow airport, nervously folding away his one-way ticket from Kenya. He had no family, no friends and was clutching only his most valuable possession, his British passport. His homeland was in political turmoil. Kenya had kicked him out for being British. My father never returned. He made his life here in Britain, starting on the shop floor of a paint factory. My mother, recruited by the NHS in Mauritius as a girl of 18, passed her 45th year of service last year. My family had nothing but hopes and dedication. They were so proud to be British and so proud to make our country even better. If I succeed in making some small contribution during my time in this place, it will reflect only a fraction of my gratitude to this country for the abundance of education, culture and traditions that have made Britain great, for the tolerance and fellowship of the British people, and for the opportunity and liberty that we all enjoy."

"[On her parent's arrival in the UK] My father came to the UK to escape the Kenyan Asian crisis in 1968. His arrival probably saved his life. My mother was recruited in Mauritius as a girl of 18, and she has just passed her 45th year of service as a nurse. More passionate patriots cannot be imagined. It is clear that immigration has brought huge benefits to this country. We have a proud tradition of offering refuge, opportunity and a better life to those who take the risk of leaving their homeland."

"I get a lot of abuse. I get trolled, Twitter has a very strong left wing bias [...] Actually for me, my barometer, it's got to this point where if I get trolled and I provoke a bad response on Twitter I know I'm doing the right thing. Twitter is a sewer of left-wing bile and there's very little sensible, moderate voices either way actually get drowned out. The extreme left pile on is often a consequence of sound conservative values."

"Let's be clear about what is really going on here: the British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast and which party is not. Some 40,000 people have arrived on the south coast this year alone. Many of them facilitated by criminal gangs, some of them actual members of criminal gangs. So let’s stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress. The whole country knows that is not true. It’s only the honourable members opposite who pretend otherwise. We need to be straight with the public. The system is broken. Illegal migration is out of control and too many people are interested in playing political parlour games, covering up the truth than solving the problem."

"[On her parents] They owe everything to this country and they have taught me a deep and profound love of Britain and British people. Their tolerance, their generosity, their decency, their fair play. That also means that we must not shy away from saying there is a problem. There is a huge problem that we have right now when it comes to illegal migration, the scale of which we have not known before. I won’t apologise for the language that I have used to demonstrate the scale of the problem. I see my job as being honest with the British people and honest for the British people. I’m not going to shy away from difficult truths nor am I going to conceal what is the reality that we are all watching."

"I condemn the appalling disorder in Knowsley last night. The alleged behaviour of some asylum seekers is never an excuse for violence and intimidation. Thank you to @merseypolice officers for keeping everyone safe."

"I want to put something on the record, it's perfectly respectable for a child of immigrants like me to say I'm deeply grateful to live here, to say that immigration has been overwhelmingly good for Great Britain but that we've had too much of it in recent years. And to say that uncontrolled and illegal migration is simply bad. Yet, despite our reasonable concerns we've raised on several occasions, I am subject to the most grotesque slurs for saying simple truths about the impact of unlimited and illegal immigration. The worst among them poisoned by the extreme ideology of identity politics suggests that a person's skin colour should dictate their political views. I will not be hectored by out of touch lefties or anyone for that matter. I won't be patronised on what appropriate views for someone of my background can hold. I will not back down when faced with spurious accusations of bigotry. When such smears seep into the discourse of this chamber, as they did last week, accusations that this government's policies, policies backed by the majority of the British people, are bigoted, are xenophobic, are dog whistles to racists, it is irresponsible and frankly beneath the dignity of this place. Politicians of all stripes should know better and they should choose their words carefully."

"Those prognosticators of doom who said that Brexit would be an economic catastrophe for the UK – not only were they wrong, they demonstrated a profound ignorance of the British people when they attributed their legitimate desire to regain our national sovereignty as some mix of stupidity and xenophobia."

"People like my Rt Hon Friend the Member for North East Somerset and Douglas Murray express mainstream, insightful and perfectly decent political views. People may disagree with them, but in no way are they extremists."

"I'm here in America to talk about a critical and shared global challenge: uncontrolled and illegal migration [...] It is an existential challenge for the political and cultural institutions of the west."

"[Claiming the threshold of the Refugee Convention had been lowered for asylum seekers] Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary. But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if, in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin is sufficient to qualify for protection."

"Uncontrolled immigration, inadequate integration and a misguided dogma of multiculturalism have proven a toxic combination for Europe over the last few decades. Multiculturalism makes no demands of the incomer to integrate. It has failed because it allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives in it. They could be in the society but not of the society. And, in extreme cases, they could pursue lives aimed at undermining the stability and threatening the security of society."

"If cultural change is too rapid and too big, then what was already there is diluted. Eventually it will disappear."

"It is no betrayal of my parents' story to say that immigration must be controlled."

"I'm afraid we do see many instances where people purport to be gay when they're not actually gay, but in order to get special treatment. It's not the way our asylum system should work/"

"The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice."

"What I want to stop, and what the law abiding majority wants us to stop, is those who cause nuisance and distress to other people by pitching tents in public spaces, aggressively begging, stealing, taking drugs, littering, and blighting our communities."

"Now as we approach a particularly significant weekend in the life of our nation, one which calls for respect and commemoration, the hate marchers — a phrase I do not resile from — intend to use Armistice Day to parade through London in yet another show of strength."

"The answer must be: even-handedly. Unfortunately, there is a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters."

"Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law?"

"The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now. They have bullied the Labour Party, they have bullied our institutions, and now they have bullied our country into submission."

"[T]o regain control of our borders properly and faithfully to the British people we do need to ultimately leave the European Convention on Human Rights. Judging from my conversations with him [Rishi Sunak], he never agreed with me on the proposition that I just set out."

"[On the Conservative's electoral rival, Reform UK] We need to, in the future, to find some way to work together because there shouldn’t be big differences between us. [...] I would welcome Nigel [Farage] into the Conservative party. There's not much difference really between him and many of the policies that we stand for. We are a broad church, we should be a welcoming party and an inclusive party and if someone is supportive of the party, that's a precondition and they want Conservatives to get elected then they should be welcomed."

"Our problem is us. Our problem is that the liberal Conservatives who trashed the Tory party think it was everyone’s fault but their own. My party governed as liberals and we were defeated as liberals. But seemingly, as ever, it is Conservatives who are to blame."

"We were slaughtered. Shellacked. Given a good hiding. Kicked while we were on the ground. Headbutted by reality."

"If we don't recover the voters we deliberately, and arrogantly, spurned, we will turn the Conservative Party into the 21st century version of the 20th century Liberal Party. And we can do better than being a collection of fanatical, irrelevant, centrist cranks, who make it our business to insult our should-be voters for not being as smug and self-righteous as we are."

"If we keep disagreeing with Reform on many and fundamental things, we won't get those votes back. We have no God-given right to them. Any Tory leader who rejects Reform voters, doubles down on the disastrous decisions the last cabinet let Rishi Sunak make."

"What Donald Trump has taught us is that politics is not for the faint of heart. It demands conviction, clarity and a willingness to take risks. For Trump, the fight has never been about personal gain or elite approval – it has been about the people."

"I have been wondering what, if anything, might persuade Suella Braverman that her rhetoric and strategy to slash immigration might conceivably have gone too far. Nigel Farage staging an intervention? Tommy Robinson calling for a "cooling-off period"? A social media post by Donald Trump urging the home secretary to "take it easy over there in Scotland"?"

"On Monday, at the "National Conservative" conference in London, she declared that net annual migration to the UK must be reduced as a matter of urgency, lest Britons become irrevocably "dependent" on foreign labour and start "forgetting how to do things for ourselves"."

"[M]uch about Braverman is startling. She is the Home Secretary who was sacked for leaking a government document, but reinstated six days later; the former attorney general who condoned the government’s breaking of international law; the erstwhile barrister who wants to curb the power of the judiciary; the daughter of first-generation immigrants who wants to slash both legal and illegal immigration. At October’s Conservative Party conference, she fantasised about a Telegraph front page showing a deportation plane taking off for Rwanda. "That’s my dream," she said. "That’s my obsession." Braverman is a Brexit "ultra". She defends the empire. She deplores "cultural Marxism", net-zero targets, the police "policing pronouns on Twitter" and "Benefit Street culture". Last month she blamed the disruption caused by climate protestors on "Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati"."

"[Following Braverman's removal as Home Secretary] Being a forceful personality or associated with a particular wing of the party does not stop you being a successful senior minister. But persistently making statements from which your colleagues feel compelled to back away certainly does. Braverman ruined many good arguments with language that did not sit well with the need for a home secretary to encourage calm, good order and an appreciation throughout the country that we have to understand the views of others."

"If he fired her there would be a big row, there would be a lot of fireworks. But ultimately, prime ministers tend to win those encounters because the Home Secretary will suddenly become a backbencher. And then she’ll quickly lose her purchase - think of Priti Patel. No disrespect to Priti, but she's not as powerful a voice on the backbenches as she was as Home Secretary."

"My clearest recollection of our Home Secretary’s legal acumen came from day one as an MP [in 2015]. We had a presentation from IPSA UK. Her question to IPSA concerned whether a speeding ticket occurred during the course of parliamentary duties could be claimed on expenses [...] Rather embarrassed, the representative from IPSA said no. [...] Thank goodness our Nation has been blessed with such a fine Attorney General and Home Secretary."

"Our main aim is to teach them about confidence and to boost their self-esteem. The programme teaches them to know who they are and to believe in themselves."

"In these workshops I realised that a lot needed to be done since many did not want to get out of the shell."

"The aim is to make those in the rural areas to know that they can be anything they want to be and not be intimidated by where they come from."

""So in your quest to thrive, there will be curve-balls thrown your way and you’ll have to take risks, it’s a given. But you’ve just got to trust your journey"."

"" Globally, we are at a tipping point, as we see various forms of injustice being revealed. And so now, more than ever, the world needs brave leaders like you, and me, and all other Kellogg grads around the world, to provide solutions to the existential problems being faced by humanity"."

""It so important to find your voice and help others find theirs too, during these extraordinary times"."

""I believe what’s most important is my quest to live a life that is relevant, and it can only be relevant if I have found solutions to problems that make a difference in the world I live in"."

"As a young woman who has worked hard to promote Africa in all I do, this meant a lot to me. I was sad when due to COVID 19, I was unable to join them in person. But by God’s grace, we will do so next year"

"To demonstrate that agriculture is a money-making business, and not some charity project, and a business that can deliver some astronomical returns"

"Governments must do a much better job as facilitators of enterprise, and not be a hindering force to SMEs that we all know are the engines of growth and employment in any economy"

"She’s a woman determined to break boundaries in the world and play a leading role in the transformation of Africa and its generation of young people"

"The last time that I was naked on camera on [Game of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman. And it’s annoying as hell and I’m sick and tired of it because I did it for the character — I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my tits, for God’s sake."

"So I've had the good fortune of being in this incredible show with this incredible character. And my goodness, if I were to get stereotyped as the mother of dragons, I could ask for worse. It's really quite wonderful."

"Recognising the work we do is encouraging and it is also a reminder that we are not doing anything in vain. It pushes us to greater heights."

"I was raised by a teacher and entrepreneur, who encouraged my siblings and I to be ambitious and pursue meaningful careers. After every school year, mom and dad would ask us what we wanted to do with our lives, and this put a lot of pressure on us to always ask ourselves why we were doing whatever we were doing."

"It is a great honour for the entire team working tirelessly to realise the dreams that we have ."

"As young people we want to be inventors," she told the onlooking heads of state ."

"But they face many challenges such as high cost of production, lack of access to energy and poor infrastructure. Technology can help reduce their costs and enable them to operate more efficiently."

"It was a lot of experimenting for us – we tried out so many ideas and at the end of it all we learned how to build mobile information systems – basically endless databases of relevant information, and build applications on top of that ."

"I think I knew what discipline was as a child growing up at home. In Ethiopia there are things that you just have to accomplish. For example, I had always had to fetch water from the nearest river and wood from the forest, even though there were hyenas all around. That’s how you learn that sometimes you have to overcome things."

"I have a good chance. I'm in good shape and I'm feeling fine, but there are other strong athletes in the field and I will never stop fighting for it."

"Just because you are not where the society said you should be at this point in your life, doesn’t make you late. It makes you ‘YOU’."

"Giving up is what most people do when it gets tough, if you don’t go through hardship, what story will you tell when you succeed."

"I really wanted to inspire people to continue to pursue their dreams as I was mine, despite how difficult it was."

"Be kind. Be honest. Dream big. Be patient. Love yourself. Believe in yourself. Judge less. Speak well of others."

"Don’t pay attention to hate."

"The lasting legacy of the financial crisis on Britain’s electoral landscape was not to shift our political centre of gravity to the left, but to shake the faith of voters in the capacity of mainstream politics to provide solutions. "You’re all the same" is a common refrain heard on the doorstep. It was this cynicism that created fertile territory for the SNP and Ukip: both Nicola Sturgeon and Nigel Farage have successfully positioned themselves against a remote Westminster elite."

"[W]atching Barack Obama charm his way into our hearts here in Britain has reminded me of how brilliant he is at – well, just talking to people. Whether addressing a nation on TV, getting a grilling from journalists or rolling up his sleeves and taking a Q&A in a roomful of young people, he knows how to connect in a way no other present-day politician can. Over the past days, we’ve seen him articulate the positive case for Britain remaining in the EU better than any UK politician has done. He’s answered tricky questions in a way that comes across as authentic and honest, even daring to say: "I don’t know" to some of them. He’s challenged people who have said things he disagrees with in a way that somehow makes you like him more. When one young woman in the "town hall" yesterday morning apologised for being emotional, he said crying was fine and joked he feared she was going to come up on stage and do a dance with him."

"If we were to carry on rolling back state-funded care in Britain, it would inevitably be women who’d feel obliged to give up work to care for older relatives, storing up financial problems for their own old age. Some ageing people without family members willing to care for them would simply fall through the cracks. Even those whose families could do this might find themselves physically taken care of but with their emotional health suffering as relationships break down under the strain. Duty might kick in, but we would be kidding ourselves if we thought we could reverse-engineer the evolutionary urge to make huge sacrifices for our children. That’s not to say that it’s not lovely when some opt for a more multi-generational family life. But it should be an active choice. Structuring the state in a way that forces people to embrace a Mediterranean approach is wrong. We can’t answer the question of how big we want the state to be without asking how much our families should feel obliged to do for us – and how much we care about the potential price in terms of growing social and gender inequality."

"Which brings me to the vegan burger. Take a step back and it seems bonkers that our political leaders hold firm on outlawing weed but seem loth to invoke the nanny state where it’s most needed: in avoiding catastrophic climate change. We won't succeed in this unless we persuade people to fly less and eat less meat and dairy. That’s a gargantuan task, made harder by the demotivating knowledge that your own efforts are only likely to matter if others match them. Yet the most politicians do is half-heartedly conjure up a few green taxes in the hope they’ll nudge people in the sort of right direction. But they’re not effective enough, and also hit the poorest most. Time for the nanny state to get more radical. We should start by banning altogether things that have literally no function, such as bottled water in a country where it’s actually safer to drink tap water. And take a leaf out of wartime Britain – climate change is no less existential a threat – and ration activities such as flying and eating meat. If you’re not that bothered about a rare steak, you can sell your coupons to someone who can’t live without a good ribeye and feel smug as you tuck into your environmentally friendly, fake-meat alternatives."

"I hoped that if anything I ever did went viral, it would be because I’d uttered some profound insight too good not to share. Last week put paid to that dream. A BBC Breakfast video clip of myself and Sherelle Jacobs, assistant comment editor at the Telegraph, from Thursday had garnered more than 4m online views by Saturday afternoon. As much as I’d like to think it was due to my incisive Brexit analysis, I have to concede it was as a result of me being well and truly upstaged. ... Our clip had inspired a series of jokey tweets on Sherelle’s startled facial expression as I imparted my pearls of wisdom. ... Sherelle has reacted to her fame with the grace of a professional. And she got a lot of love (“You ROCK!!!” one admirer tweeted). My takeaway? Those media courses that say it’s 95% how you present, 5% what you say are wrong. My partner in crime ensured 0% of what I said got heard."

"It was an effective, if painful, reminder of how racism manifests itself: not just in words such as "Paki" but in the self-appointed white gatekeepers who see it as their business to police celebrations of the contributions made, sometimes in the face of appalling racism, by people of colour. I've lost count of the number of times I've been called a racist simply for acknowledging the ethnicity of the medical professionals who gave their lives to keep us safe. So it’s worth reiterating why the skin colour of our fallen NHS heroes matters. It’s not just that outright racism and rising levels of Islamophobia affect the wellbeing of NHS workers willingly risking their lives to keep us all safe, it is that, as the General Medical Council has acknowledged, BAME medics face structural racism. And the government's anti-immigration rhetoric continues to legitimise discrimination at the frontline."

"Its simplicity may be alluring, but it is wrong and alienating to see all white people as potential Derek Chauvins, just as it is wrong and alienating in the context of #MeToo to see all men as potential Harvey Weinsteins. Blaming people may feel good but it won't lead to structural change. There has to be a middle ground: of asking people to take responsibility and to step up as allies without alienating them by telling them how terrible they are first. It's not fair or just that those who face racism and other forms of structural discrimination have to put so much thought into how they make the case for eliminating it. But we do need to develop better and non-combative approaches to helping people understand the nature of racism and how it manifests itself in society today."

"Gender-non-conforming behaviour is something to be celebrated, rather than the basis for teaching children that they may have been born in the wrong body, as some schools now do. There are many reasons why children and young people may experience gender dysphoria: it may be a sign that a child will go on to have a fixed trans identity in adulthood, but can also be associated with discomfort about puberty, grappling with same-sex attraction and childhood trauma. There is a coincidence with autism. Yet the NHS has ignored this in embracing gender ideology's unevidenced affirmative model and has put growing numbers of young people on the path of irreversible medical treatment that can make them infertile and has potentially significant risks for their brain and physical development, without adequately exploring the reasons for their gender dysphoria."

"[[Nicola Sturgeon|[Nicola] Sturgeon]] remains blinkered: she has ignored female victims of male violence, treated the concerns of the UN special rapporteur dismissively and failed to listen to young people who received appalling care from NHS Scotland and now regret their transition. Her implausible mantra remains that no man will abuse the system, women's rights are not affected and evidence reviewed by an English paediatrician has no relevance to Scottish children. Scottish Labour could still try to amend the bill to make clear that a GRC does not change someone’s sex for the purposes of the Equality Act. But the most likely outcome is that Sturgeon, a self-professed feminist and nationalist, will leave the door wide open for a Conservative government in Westminster to step in to protect Scottish women, by updating the Equality Act to clarify its sex-based protections for women apply only to those who are biologically female."

"[On the probation service in England and Wales] Just like in every other part of the criminal justice system, there is a fatal minimisation of the risk that violent men pose to women and children. Monitoring resembles box-ticking rather than a dynamic assessment of risk. Is this offender complying with his licence conditions (and even on this basic test there have been serious failures)? Is he in a new relationship? Might he come into contact with children? It takes a sophisticated professional to see through the manipulation of a narcissistic male abuser in order to accurately assess those risks."

"This is the double injustice of the criminal justice system for women. Male violence against women and children is not accorded equal priority to other forms of violence. And although sex-based differences in patterns of violence mean it is vanishingly rare that a woman will genuinely be a danger to society, female offenders are treated as though they are violent men."

"The downside for gender ideology campaigners is that their position has been subject to far more forensic examination in the courts than they previously experienced in parliament or civil society. In court, Mermaids' chair made the extraordinary claim that it doesn’t "give advice on medical stuff" despite evidence that it has lobbied the NHS to lower the age limit for medical transition and helped draft NHS service specifications. Another witness for Mermaids claimed that anyone can identify as a lesbian, whether or not they are female. In other court cases, Stonewall witnesses have effectively argued that it is transphobic to distinguish between gender identity and sex."

"I've had attempts to try and get me kicked off charitable boards. I've been doxxed [having personal information published] online by people who disagree with me on this issue. I've had my home address published online. It's just an example of how toxic and polarised this debate is."

"Women account for three-quarters of criminal convictions for watching live TV services or BBC iPlayer without a licence, and a huge chunk of all criminal convictions against women, one-third, are for non-payment of the licence. Are women really 50% more likely to engage in evasion than men, or are they getting disproportionately lumbered with convictions?"

"The one thing we do have system-wide information on, though, is the huge gender-based disparities in the conviction rate. Under pressure, the BBC last year commissioned an investigation into why the burden falls so heavily on women: it is because women are more likely to head single-parent households; more likely to be home when an inspector visits; more likely to answer the door to an inspector; and more likely to be living in poverty or in low-paid work and struggling with bills."

"I started in 2006, then stopped and didn’t do anything in entertainment again till 2009 as I had doubts...."

"I started acting in 2014, because I wasn’t getting the type of TV hosting jobs I wanted. I was constantly being told by directors I met that I should act and when my friend the actress Thelma Ojiji kept pushing me to audition for “Desperate Housewives Africa."

"I'm a big advocate for different causes including autism, human trafficking, domestic violence and disadvantaged children. I believe that we are put on earth for more than just our wants and goals."

"Not all women are the same, there are very kind hearted wise women."

"Every filmmaker have their audience. It’s okay to find what your audience enjoy, if it’s the art for arts slogan, be loyal to them."

"If you want to be private you can be private."

"First thing first; they should be skilled and be patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day. No one is going to give you a big break to start with. Don’t compromise your values. It’s okay to be vulnerable and pray a lot. The sky will be your starting point."

"“I used to be bothered about my small stature when I started acting. It was a big challenge for me to get roles at that time because some producers complained about my look. They used to tell me that I did not look the path. However, over the years, that has stopped. The latest job I got was because of my stature. I am now comfortable in my skin and it is my selling point. Thankfully, my self esteem was never affected.”"

"“My toughest role was playing Esther from Jenifa’s Diary. It was tough because the character is violent and I am not a violent person. I had to break bottles and attack people physically."

"Keep your eyes on the prize, focus on your focus through all the distractions and disappointments that will come. And they will come. Stop wasting prayers on asking for an easy ride through life because that doesn’t exist. Stay focused on your goal and if you have to pause, pause."

"I’ve received a fair amount of recognition professionally this year and it has been a humbling and exciting thing for me. Thank you to the many listeners and watchers and readers out there who have always supported me, and to those who have come on board in the past year, thank you. I do not take your time or support for granted."

"The thing with music is that it reaches us emotionally in a way that words alone cannot. Music is a uniting force that people from all walks of life can have in common; some have even called it the strongest form of magic. It is for these reasons and many more that finding quality music events both great and small should be an occasion of joy. Because not only do you get to bask in beautiful sounds, but you also get to meet some beautiful people who share the love of music with you."

"Drug abuse is a very big problem for us here in Nigeria. If you look at the numbers that are affected by drug abuse, it’s staggering!”"

"There are too many job openings, a problem compounded by too much "phantom demand" caused by all the stimulus, and also by the lack of normal immigrant workers for political and pandemic reasons."

"If public officials want to keep their credibility, they need to acknowledge this fact. No one believes that this is a great economy, or is impressed by hearing dazzling stats about job creation. People want to be reassured that our leaders see the problem, understand how they caused it, and are genuinely trying to fix it"

"The possibility of an external hit like a windfall tax, export ban, or other such political measures risk keeping potential suppliers on the sidelines"

"The oil and gas industry was decimated by the shale bubble bursting last decade, and that reticence plus labor and supply shortages are keeping it from more quickly adding to capacity now. The possibility of an external hit like a windfall tax, export ban, or other such political measures risk keeping potential suppliers on the sidelines"

"The hope now is that fiscal and monetary policy are at least both retrenching, if policymakers truly want to wrestle inflation back down. Remember, this isn't about soaring (or collapsing) lumber prices anymore. It's about a labor market running so hot it's short of millions and millions of workers, which will make everything from childcare to elder care more inflationary in the long run"

"“Growing up in Nigeria I have known malaria forever and experienced the disease countless times, so I understand how this disease robs so many children of their ability to go to school and why malaria is a major cause of school absenteeism. I have also lost many loved ones to malaria and that’s why I’m here – because we can end one of the biggest, preventable killer diseases of all time.”"

"To achieve full perfection, you must keep working at your dream.”"

"Missing the message and losing the goal is a huge subtraction!"

"Keep working......the world is watching! Your Time will come. Prepare Yourself"

""Consistency …… you will get your results ….BELIEVE”"

"Being self-made is a mindset and belief that you can turn everything you have into something better and greater for yourself.Sometimes, all that you have is nothing, so you have to change that by having a vision for what you want for yourself and turn that vision into your reality. The perfect definition of being self-made is being able to realize that you have everything you need right in your hands, no matter how small it may seem. You have to know that you already have the power to change the world and make it a better place for yourself, your family and for the people around you"

"Criticism always come from people that haven’t even done half of what you have done while encouragement seems to always come from people that have done more than you have."

"“In defeat, we learn more about ourselves and the people around us”"

"“This journey called LIFE, learn to enjoy all your trials and victories.”Yemi Alade's quote"

"She is all-encompassing, very accommodating. She has this welcoming aura when you see her, you want to greet her and strike a conversation with her. She is a wonderful person and every time I get to act with her, I get to learn many things from her. She is so good, so versatile.""

"I am still the real Omowunmi dada, I don’t know how to form. I am just a simple girl doing what she loves to do and I am so grateful that the world accepts what I am doing and appreciate my crafts so fame has not really taken anything away, I am still me so it is a thing of honour. I really don’t see myself as a celebrity,...."

"Linda represents the strength of every woman. Linda represents every first born girl. Linda represents that woman that is ever willing to do anything to support her family and to make sure that her family gets the best in life or the better life than they have right now. Linda represents that woman that is very determined, dogged, very hard working, very resilient and goal oriented. In the true sense of it, Linda represents that girl looking for greener pastures and has just seen how crucial and how difficult the society is......."

"I remember an experience. Sometime in 2008, when we were doing seasons of Wole Soyinka at Terra Culture and I played Iya Loja directed by Segun Adefila and the guy who was to play Eleshin Oba forgot his lines and it now looked liked it was me that forgot my lines . So, the onus was on me as Iya Loja to do something and I started thinking. An idea came into my head and I said Eleshin Oba, if you come back to the world, you must never do this (to ba tun aye wa, o o gbodo se ru e mo) and I continued. Somehow, that line just made him remember his own line and brought back....""

".... I love Genevieve and how she has strategically positioned herself. She also lives a quiet and modest life. I love Mo Abudu, how she comes from the media and has changed the narrative for arts and film. How she is tenacious in pushing the African narrative to the world."

"The major things that drive me are passion, love for humanity and wanting to always put smiles on the faces of people. Love for God also keeps me going and the fact that I know that no matter what happens, God got my back. No matter what happens everything would end in joy. Also the big picture keeps me going and the quest to see things around me becoming better.""

"There are different contents for different audiences. The techniques are also different. One cannot shoot a TV series and expect that when it goes to the cinema, it would be fantastic. It is advisable that from the moment one starts shooting a film, one should know exactly where one wants to take it to."

"I am hungry for more. I am not satisfied but I am fulfilled."

"I pray that Nollywood gets better and that we have more international collaborations. I hope that actors become better paid and better appreciated. I also pray that we would have better scripts."

"The Bride is a symbol of sensuality, excitement and lust, especially for the Horseman who though bound by tradition to leave earth for the land of his ancestors, is distracted by his sensual desires and consequently, brings doom on his people. The film is true to its roots and a must-watch for all."

"Seeing so many veterans and acclaimed acts on the same set was surreal for me. It was a very amazing experience. My character didn’t have lines in the film which made it more challenging. I am glad I was able to have the presence to evoke the emotions expected of the bride."

"The fact that I didn’t get to say anything throughout the film, knowing that my character is a catalyst to many happenstances, was quite challenging because if you are not present, you will miss out."

"I’m very passionate about the kind of scripts that I take on, the kind of stories that I’m part of. I turn down a lot of scripts but the truth is when you don’t know where you are going to, everywhere will look like the way, but when you know where you are going to, from the beginning of your career, you channel your path and you are very mindful about it. Sometimes, it looks like, ‘what are you doing’, but if you have a bigger picture in mind, you will definitely get there. Nothing good comes easy."

"If I don’t believe in the story, if I don’t like the script itself and don’t believe in what it is preaching, I will turn it down. This is not a shade to any producer or director but I know that day by day, we are getting better and telling better stories."

"Do not ever forget what you are made of, life would be hard but you have to find inner strength to go on. Everything you need to make it in life is in you and God’s hands; it’s been deposited by God. It’s okay to be you but know one thing that you are destined to be great and you will be great and nothing anybody will do or say that will drag you back and I will just whisper to her that, Omowunmi Dada just know that you are a star and you are going to change the world."

"I can’t rule that out of my life anyway because that is also part of the build up for me. You can’t become a star in a day; I enjoy the process as it makes me more professional and diligent as this will further motivate me to always give my best at every point in time."

"....I was so happy about what I did for myself with the role I played. For me as a brand, I don’t run away from challenges and hard work."

"There are lots of dream roles but the most important for me at the moment is getting an action role call in a Hollywood movie."

"I stand strongly for professionalism, quality, discipline, integrity and consistency because at every particular time; keep working as nobody wants to work with a lazy actor."

"You don't know why someone is in a certain circumstance and why they chose to be there. Sometimes it's just about having an experience and learning. I don't think you can begrudge someone that."

"Don’t let others distract you. You know what you want; don’t waste time not doing it."

"Don’t let people project their ignorance about your abilities onto you. If you are going to do it, make absolutely sure that it is something you cannot live without and that it is authentic to who you are and not about personal vanity. And then knife fight your way through the bullshit and never give up."

"Rwanda will by the end of this year be in full control of its airspace that is currently partially managed in Tanzania"

"The Eastern province was not left out."

"The Sonotube-Gahanga-Akagera bridge road is among nine roads to be completed before CHOGM."

"It will no longer be the case that residents receive monophase electricity. It is not good that a citizen wants to have an activity and then fail because lack of electricity."

"Rwanda has not taken funds from Europe or any other country to accommodate the refugees."

"Rwanda made the humanitarian commitment to bring in the refugees as part of an African solution to an African problem."

"Rwanda has not taken any money to honour the commitment to host African refugees from Libya. It was our proposal and we are committed to it. We believe in African solutions to African problems. We don’t have to wait for someone from outside to help us."

"I dismiss reports that Rwanda will in return receive money from Europe for taking in the refugees."

"I also dismiss critics who say that Rwanda, which still has a considerable percentage of people living in poverty, has the resources to sustain refugees from other parts of the continent."

"As a country, we have an experience of our people living in other countries as refugees for many years. We know what it means to be a refugee. You don’t need to have all the resources in the world to support the vulnerable and people whose lives are in danger."

"Rwanda doesn’t need to be paid to do a humanitarian act."

"Rwanda Never Received Money to Host Refugees from Libya."

"Rwanda remains committed to taking in up to 30,000 African refugees but only if they are willing to be repatriated."

"This year’s retreat will take more days than the previous retreats because issues at hand require more time to enable leaders to come up with concrete resolutions to drive the nation to the next level."

"We found out that this was the time to discuss what we have achieved, but also look at how to fast track targets that are trialing."

"It is important for women and girls to understand that the centre for professional success is knowledge in ICT. It is not just a subject matter, but is a basic domain of any profession."

"I grew up thinking that I would be a social worker. I think I got my inspiration from my mother. My dream kept on growing to the extent of applying for social studies during my senior six, but unfortunately things kept changing due to many circumstances."

"As a woman, I have three cross cutting roles and challenges. Being a leader is a challenge whereby you are a servant of everyone who is a stakeholder."

"Being a mother, a wife and a citizen is always hard to be there when needed but I try my best to serve the community. I strive to have some time for my children since they are still young, while sparing some small time for my personal needs"

"At least twice a week I attend Christian women’s fellowship where we share challenges we face as women, success stories and we learn from each other."

"I spend some time with my children and whenever it’s possible for me I do some sports to keep myself fit"

"As I am heading towards the retirement age I am planning to establish a consultancy firm that will give service to both the government and international agencies because even today I can see that is needed"

"To my colleagues out there, the sky is the limit"

"No one will respect you just because you are well dressed but almost everyone will respect you if you are knowledgeable and are able to challenge people based on facts."

"Women should be ambitious because there is not a single job that a man can do that we can’t."

"The damage to self-interest and self-worth inflicted by Facebook today will haunt a generation."

"Children of America are hooked on their product. There is cynical knowledge on behalf of these Big Tech companies that this is true."

"Big Tech now faces the Big Tobacco jaw-dropping moment of truth."

"Facebook is not interested in making significant changes to improve kids' safety on their platforms, at least not when that would result in losing eyeballs on posts or decreasing their ad revenues."

"I had seen so many cities leveled, so many people killed, and yet so little really changed. That didn’t mean that some wars weren’t worth fighting. It just meant that the goals needed to be more specific and perhaps less idealistic, grounded in the reality of how parts of the world see us and not just the ideal of how we see ourselves."

"How many times I had been reminded that people are people, that there is a shared human experience, no matter how different our societies, that connects us."

"Sometimes I wanted the call to end, not because I don't want to look at my beautiful children, but because it does become so painful at a certain point."

"What you learn over time is not to try and eliminate fear: It’s there for a good reason. But you have to learn to control it, to lean into it and to ensure that the rational brain is the one calling the shots and making the decisions and trying to get yourself and your crew out safely after, ideally, you’ve done the job that you came there to do."

"Fear is closely intertwined with panic, and panic in a war zone can get you into really, really deep trouble."

"This was a moment where there was no veneer of respectability or politeness. It was push and shove and scrape and push to get in there and get out safely."

"When you go into the cities or you talk to people who are more educated ... those women are on the verge potentially of losing everything, and their stories will rip your heart out in ways you can't imagine."

"You just realize there isn't a huge amount of space or time in their life, at this stage, in these rural areas to worry about much else. And they kind of are in acceptance of their sort of standing in the world."

"It’s a tragedy. I didn’t know her personally, but of course, I know of her. I can’t say that journalism has become more dangerous, although I will say that more and more of my colleagues and friends have lost their lives covering conflicts."

"Bearing witness to trauma can be traumatic in and of itself. There can be the risk of losing loved ones, losing colleagues, watching people die, watching children being injured or killed."

"The goal is to look polished and put together. And the goal is to have my appearance not be a distraction one way or the other."

"Education is really encouraged for men and women. I think you can call that out as an injustice. But it is arrogant to make an assumption that wearing a headscarf is an injustice."

"Good fixer can make the difference between a hellish assignment and a successful and enjoyable one."

"Taking action tells the world every human life is worth something."

"This willingness to stand up and fight for what we believe in must be the hallmark of the student progressive community"

"We believe that we must refuse to let the words “never again” continue to be void of meaning because, as President Clinton stated in his 1998 address to Rwanda, “We must and we owe it to those who have died, and to those who survived who loved them, our every effort to increase our vigilance and strengthen our stand against those who commit such atrocities.”"

"I want the girls to be successful," she said, "Not necessarily to choose to become pilots but to become confident young women who can contribute to society, our economy and give back to our communities."

"You know what? I’m going to fly,” she said, “and that’s what motivated me my entire life, that idea I had as a young child."

"I love the adventure,” she says. “Every day is different. I would wake up today and even though I’m going to the same destination I was going to yesterday, something is going to be different. That’s what I enjoy about my job: Every day brings its own uniqueness."

"I feel like even though there’s just that one person, there’s a thousand more that are excited and are happy about where the world is going for women."

"Everything starts with a dream."

"It has moulded my character as a pilot, and I think what happened to my dad makes me a little more safe. It could have stopped me, but an accident is an accident. If someone is knocked over in a car you don't stop driving. As a pastor's child I know that you have to let stuff go."

"Before you wouldn't find women driving taxis here, and now you see it. There are men who cook now in Rwanda, when, in an African culture, women have to cook. So I think eventually things change. If you really work hard and you prove that you can do something well, I don't think there's a question of you being a woman, it doesn't come into the equation."

"I had to go for it. Even though it looked like a long shot, it was my only shot – that’s how I saw it so I went for it, and here I am."

"You can’t live life being scared an in fear of anything. If something is bound to happen, you can’t stop it."

"Time has changed. Women are out there working, technology has changed, and everyone has the brains to do something, now it’s not about how much bicep or how much energy you have."

"I want to be the one flying that plane."

"I found myself in a profession that I had always looked forward to. I am living my dream to become an international musician."

"My stay in Europe then, has largely influenced my career because it taught me how to be open to life and people in general.”"

"Its not that I’m scared of crowds but it’s something in me that I’ve done since childhood."

"I love positive criticism but I hate people who tell lies about me"

"Being a singer, involves marketing yourself, but being a woman, this is very tricky, I try to stick to our values and remain proud of myself as a Rwandan woman"

"Most of my fans are children under 15, I am a role model to them, I have to be careful about the things I do— I am young, I feel the vibes of modernity but I pay more attention to them (children) because I am an example and I am not only living my life but a life of a generation, I do not want to mislead people, so I try to keep myself clear,"

"If they can listen to our songs, that means they can listen to these messages of hope and change their lives,"

"“I want to be like Chaka Chaka, one day I want to be the ‘Queen of Africa, representing Rwanda to the world as I sing songs full of rich messages, no matter how long it will takes I will work towards that,""

"Music is a business, sometimes if the deal is not worth price, you have to pull out."

"I didn’t trust the whole process in the deal, that’s why I turned it down."

"“I still wonder why people do bad to each other. My prayer and wish is that Rwanda continues to grow and become the best mother land it can be""

"I feel happy that I can express my self and best of all I can pass on a message. I fear that God may ask me why I never used my talent like in the parable of the three servants in the bible,"

"My musical approach adapts the necessary ability needed to memorize what I hear and analyze various contexts that comprise the interpretive process. With all this in mind, nothing was ever going to stop me from singing."

"All the songs are my personal experiences and journey through life. I hope to touch everyone with this album and I pray the people find it worthwhile"

"Music is my passion, my dream. In fact, I am living my dream! I have been unable to stop it’,"

"Everyone was telling me not to do it. They said the society viewed girls who sung as loose and reckless…I had a story to tell, I loved music and I over came these challenges at the end of the day,"

"When I performed, Rwandans loved me, they kept shouting, ‘we want to see Miss Jojo, we want to see Miss Jojo and this was my beginning which was very successful and hopeful."

""...and if Rwandans, can feel me like this, I knew that there was nothing else I could do but to sing words that could change their lives.”"

"“I am happy to provide a gift that makes people happy""

"If fans still remember me, it’s a gift for me and it’s something that is very valuable and I have to pay much attention to."

"[The Women and Equalities Select Committee 2016 report on transgender rights.] The report contains many sensible recommendations that any progressive should support. NHS waiting times for surgery are too long and should be reduced; GPs would benefit from further training; and specialist provision, which is patchy outside London and overstretched within it, could be vastly improved. Police officers should also be given training and encouragement to record hate crimes and to pursue action against perpetrators; schools should institute strong anti-bullying measures."

"[On the issues concerning the jailing of transgendered people.] The second case was that of Joanne Latham, found hanging at HMP Woodhill, also in November. Latham, then Edward, was jailed in 2001 for the attempted poisoning of a woman; he received additional life sentences for attacking another inmate in 2007, then trying to stab a fellow patient at a secure hospital in 2011. He had a history of mental illness and was so dangerous that a court ruled he could be handcuffed to two nurses even when seeing his lawyer. Latham had only recently changed her name and had not requested a transfer; a prison officer told the inquest that it was hard to tell if her plans for transition were serious, as "he went through phases". Despite this, the two cases have been smudged together as examples of the same thing – transphobic prison authorities denying someone the right to define their own gender. It’s not bigoted to ask if putting Latham in the women’s estate (which is ill-equipped for violent offenders) would have been the ideal outcome for her or for any potential cellmate. Yet that is the logical endpoint of Miller's system: prison officials would lose the discretion that they have. (In January, a trans woman who raped a 15-year-old girl was sent to a men’s prison; there was less outcry about her case. Saying that it is obviously transphobic to question housing a sex offender with a penis in a women’s prison would require serious chutzpah.)"

"This debate needs fewer rainbow sprinkles, fewer accusations of feminist bigotry, and more recognition that sometimes there are no perfect solutions."

"Transgender people face discrimination at work, casual abuse in the street and long waits for NHS care. None of those problems will be addressed by the government’s plan to change gender reassignment to a matter of simple declaration."

"The way I see it is this: everyone has a biological sex, and for most of us it’s unambiguously male or female."

"What the government proposes is a radical rewriting of our understanding of identity: now it’s a question of an internal essence — a soul, if you will. Being a woman or a man is now entirely in your head. In this climate, who would challenge someone with a beard exposing their penis in a women’s changing room?"

"But you can’t identify your way out of the gender pay gap. Biological females are a class of people who face discrimination too, and there has been little attempt during this process to listen to their concerns."

"[N]othing about that Senate circus was fair on Kavanaugh or Blasey Ford. It was pure theatre. The FBI "investigation" which followed it was a sham. It could not have been clearer that the Republicans wanted to keep the allegations unresolved, and use them as a wedge issue: hasn’t the pendulum swung too far? Where’s the evidence? It’s his word against hers! Perhaps they suspect that a proper investigation would produce evidence that would have disqualified Kavanaugh, or perhaps they believe him to be innocent, but preferred a quick confirmation to a slow exoneration. Either way, their cynicism is demoralising. The vagueness of #MeToo has helped victims come out (it’s easier to say "me too" than the more stark "I was raped" or "this man harassed me"). The phrase has helped the public discussion to stay "polite", avoiding too much talk of brutality and bodily fluids. But that vagueness is also a drawback, smudging together mere thoughtless entitlement with violence and coercion."

"It is still shocking to me that Miller could be so little versed in feminism that she could sign off a report advising a change to the Equality Act, replacing “gender reassignment” with “gender identity” as a protected characteristic, without realising the profound public policy implications of that change. At a stroke, she advised changing our concept of gender from something that is partially socially constructed – how you are treated – to entirely a matter of internal essence. She entered the realm of metaphysics, asserting that everyone has a gender identity, something which no instrument can measure. That isn’t the kind of thing you can casually toss out in paragraph 4.108 and expect everyone to nod through, unless you have no idea what you’re proposing."

"This is a tragic story, from start to finish. The imperial over-reach of a handful of trans activists, in trying to rewrite widely accepted ideas about gender by stealth, has done nothing to improve the lives of trans people. The time wasted by Stonewall and other organisations, which have spent more than a year chasing a legal change that wasn’t even a priority for those interviewed by the inquiry."

"Those two words—values and competence—are key to Starmer's plan to remake Labour. Britain's Jewish community is small—0.5 percent of the population—but the issue of anti-Semitism cut through more broadly in the general election. To many Jewish voters, the party’s failure to expel anti-Semitic conspiracists and cranks has been personally painful, even frightening. To the wider electorate, it sent out the message that Corbyn was either complicit or incompetent. Neither is an attractive proposition when choosing a prime minister."

"Another adjective often attached to Sturgeon is feminist. When the Conservative prime minister Theresa May visited Scotland in 2016, Sturgeon tweeted a photograph of the two women shaking hands, with the words "Politics aside—I hope girls everywhere look at this photograph and believe nothing should be off limits for them." The majority of Sturgeon’s cabinet is female, as is her chief of staff. She is adored by a generation of young female activists: the SNP store once sold EAT, SLEEP, NICOLA, REPEAT T-shirts."

"Sturgeon's second challenge comes from debates over the rights of transgender women—an issue that is also causing disquiet and dissent among progressives across the world, including in the United States. In 2019, she received an open letter from women in her own party who claimed they were unable to discuss their rights without being called transphobic bigots. The other side accuses her of not doing enough to crack down on all those transphobic bigots. (In January, Sturgeon posted an unscripted video on Twitter, begging young activists who "consider at this stage the SNP not to be a safe, tolerant, or welcoming place for trans people" to stick with her party.)"

"Given all the effort feminists have invested in making language more equitable, you might expect that they would welcome use of the term pregnant people. But some, including me, are concerned that it obscures the social dynamics at work in laws surrounding contraception, abortion, and maternal health. The argument for the second wave’s language changes was that women fought fires in the exact same way as men, so one word should cover both sexes. That’s a different decision from whether we should keep gendered language to reflect heavily gendered experiences."

"Perhaps a comparison will help. The same progressives who push for pregnant people have no problem saying “Black Lives Matter”—and in fact decry the right-wing rejoinder that "all lives matter." Yet, hopefully, all lives do matter—and about half of the people shot by U.S. police are white. So why insist on Black? Because the phrase is designed to highlight police racism, as well as the disproportionate killing of Black men in particular. Making the slogan more "inclusive" also makes it useless for political campaigning. Pregnant people does the same. The famous slogan commonly attributed to the second-wave activist Florynce Kennedy—"If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament"—would be totally defanged if it were made gender-neutral. And if we cannot talk about, say, the Texas abortion law in the context of patriarchal control of women's bodies, then framing the feminist case against such laws becomes harder. No more "men making laws about women." Instead we get: "Some people who are in charge of policy want to restrict the rights of some other people. We oppose that because people’s rights are human rights!""

"That this play is at the Globe, the home of Shakespeare, only underscores that it is not in the Shakespearean tradition. The great English playwright is still revered today because he drove the possibilities of drama forward, creating characters with psychological depth and ambiguity. I, Joan is part of an older tradition, the medieval morality play. These pitted virtues and vices against one another for the soul of the protagonist: Greed and Sloth raged against Chastity and Patience. In I, Joan, that conflict has given way to one between Cisnormativity and Authenticity. I, Joans supporting characters exist not as people but as conduits for the moral lesson being delivered to the audience."

"[Concerning Harry & Meghan, the 2022 Netflix series about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.] Unless you have a gaping void where your soul should be, you will notice that the couple do seem to be genuinely smitten with each other. Yet—and this is where it gets tricky—they also appear to be in love with the idea of being "Harry and Meghan" (or, as they might put it, "H and M"). There's an uncomfortable Bonnie-and-Clyde, John-and-Yoko, folie-à-deux undercurrent throughout, as if taking on the Royal Family’s racism and the British press's lack of scruples has become their mission. Us against the world. That is a noble intention, but it has the side effect of centering their entire lives on two institutions that they despise. Do they really want to spend the next 40 years as small, angry planets trapped in the gravitational pull of the Windsors? And have they not heard of diminishing returns? This plotline might sustain Harry's book sales and one or two forgettable Netflix projects after that, but it ends with them delivering $150 birthday messages on Cameo by 2030."

"[I]n the Netflix documentary the historian David Olusoga makes the important point that Britain tends to celebrate its role in abolishing the slave trade, with rather less focus on its participation in the slave trade. And I recognize a knee-jerk defensiveness in many of the British reactions to Harry and Meghan, including my own. Culture wars flourish best when two things are simultaneously true, and people must choose which one to emphasize. Does the British press sometimes treat the Royal Family appallingly, and do its white-dominated institutions perpetuate racism? Yes and yes. Do Harry and Meghan love rehashing their grievances, and seem unaware that they are wealthy far beyond anything their personal talents would normally merit? Also yes and yes."

"After being raised Catholic, I became interested in New Atheism in the 2000s, because it was a countercultural phenomenon. Like pretty much everyone else, I would argue that my political beliefs are all carefully derived from first principles. But the ones that I choose to write about publicly are clearly influenced by my own self-image as an outsider and a contrarian. Being self-aware about that helps me remember that my fear of normiedom has to be kept in check, because the conventional wisdom is often right."

"When I think back over the most memorable parts of Dahl's work, it's always the nastiness that lingers. ... The awful married couple at the center of The Twits subject each other to a campaign of relentless psychological harassment. The message of George’s Marvelous Medicine is "Why not brew up all the chemicals you can find in your house and feed the resulting concoction to your grandmother?" This is not an easy fit for an era when peanut packets carry a warning that they contain nuts."

"Dahl's novels share many of their flaws with the books of Ian Fleming, born eight years earlier and a survivor of the same vicious public-school system. The writers knew each other, from their mutual involvement in wartime espionage, and their estates pose the same problem: They are money machines, but the original works embarrass their current owners. Fleming's James Bond was a suave misogynist prone to slapping women and making disparaging remarks about "Chinamen." Today's audiences would recoil from that version of 007."

"With the pistols, my shots pulled down from the recoil or the weight. But the AR‑15 nestled into my shoulder pad, and the shots skipped out of it and into the center of the target. I felt like I was in Call of Duty, with the same confidence that there would be no consequences for my actions; that if anything went wrong, I could just respawn. Later, a friend texted to ask how firing the rifle had been. I loved it, I said. No one should be allowed to have one. This is not a sentiment to be expressed openly in DeSantis’s Florida."

"The immediate consequences are obvious: a Labour government with a commanding majority but a demoralizing inbox, and an opposition that will spend the next few days asking what the hell went wrong, the next few months wondering what to do next, and the next few decades arguing over who was to blame. The only consolation for the Conservatives will be to conclude that this was not a defeat for their ideology so much as a punishment for their incompetence."

"What on earth am I here for, what is His purpose for my life? Hopefully, I can fulfill it."

"Sometimes when you are blessed it’s only fair to help and bless others, some people call it paying forward, in my opinion anything to make the world a better place."

"Our aim is to develop the swimming sport in Rwanda, honoring athletes and their coaches. So, there is much more to come."

"Coaches ought to converse with athletes, with objectives they have to contribute a lot to the development of swimming sport in the country."

"it took time, but if you have the passion and the perseverance to stick around,you make it for sure , girls need help, they need to be pushed, they need to be supported , we need more role model, we need more successful women to reach back to these young women."

"Do not let anybody tell you that it is impossible, you can achieve anything."

"It took time, but if you have the passion, and the perseverance to stick around, you make it for sure."

"For anyone in science or not in science, doing what you love is the key, it is the first thing."

"The woman of today is courageous, willing to follow their dream."

"Girls need help, they need to be pushed, they need to be supported, we need more role models, we need more successful women to reach back to these young women."

"Teaching science for a woman is as normal as it is for men, since we both have the capacity."

"What make some other girls succeed in sciences is having the mentality that they are not that difficult."

"I have learnt that one can ‘switch up’ one’s flow and style but one should never change one’s core values."

"One should always be true to oneself. Nothing lasts forever and nothing is do or die. Also, one should always value relationships."

"Women need to not put themselves on the defensive and see themselves as people, and work as hard as the men, the only thing we need to do is to make sure the same opportunities are available to both men and women."

"We think about the people we are entertaining. If they don’t accept you, there is going to be a problem."

"Theatre is my home, it’s like nervous energy, I think it urges and pushes the performance to be high and to be better."

"In order to win your audience over, avoid constantly throwing out ‘preachy’ content that directly tell the audience what to do. The onus rests on the content creators to package the content in a way that allows the audience choose what lesson they want to learn from it. It is our duty as content creators, film makers or story tellers to set the agenda for how we want to be perceived."

"I think it’s the absolving men of these responsibilities that got us here. The responsibility is for both parents. Not one more than the other. Both parents and no excuses for any party that doesn’t want to take responsibility."

"I still wish we will take our elections and holding our leaders accountable as seriously and passionately as we take big brother. I wish young people will give the same energy to register to vote when it is time. We have to do more to fight for our country."

"I chose dance when it was socially, culturally, religiously not acceptable to be a dancer. Dance had almost zero economic value.”"

"We lose our history if we don’t tell our stories,I don’t want somebody from the West to come to tell the story of one African dancer. I am alive and I will tell that story. There’s no other time to do it than now."

"Some people make it back, some don’t; what is ultimate is the outcome borne out of love, rather than looking at someone as the problem, you may be the enabler of that problem."

"When you love someone, you would want to see the best of them."

"There is no impossible for me . In my world that word doesn’t exist. Difficult yes but ACHIEVABLE is my watchword."

"People need to know! A life out there can be saved, a marriage out there can do better than mine and more importantly, a second chance is always there for us all to take!"

"I want to implore those with disabilities to embrace their situation and believe in themselves that there is no stopping them, if they don’t hinder themselves with negative attitudes and self-pity."

"We want laws that can back us in our society and also help our children."

"We have the right to employment, health and education and we can do excellently well if we are supported, encouraged and equipped."

"We are first and foremost women before our various challenges. We are not our challenges, every woman has her own challenges some are physical while others are hidden, they are challenges all the same."

"It is time we begin to think of strategies to ensure women inclusion in all levels of governance."

"If you are at peace within yourself, every other thing will be right with you."

"Anybody can campaign for candidates of their choice, especially if you are doing it for genuine reasons. There is nothing wrong in campaigning, your reason for campaigning is what we should be talking about."

"It’s bad if you are supporting a politician when you know he is not genuine and only seeking political post because of his own selfish interests. But it’s a noble thing if you are supporting a politician because of the deep conviction you have about that person’s good manifesto for the people."

"Social media has become some kind of demon. Everybody wants to talk about their private affairs on the social media."

"Well, controversy is part of life; if nobody talks about you then you don’t exist. So it’s actually good when people talk about you. It helps you to shape up your life and move forward and work harder to surprise people the more and make them understand that it’s not really about what they think. It’s about who you are and who you want to be."

"Well, settling down is what comes whenever it comes and it’s a thing of the mind. When you think your mind is ready to settle down then you do it."

"For too many reasons, I am thankful. Who am I oh Lord that thou art mindful of? What God did for me on Friday 19th April 2019, I cannot say it all."

"Dear Nigerian Government Are We Going To Mortgage Our Children’s Future To Such Shameful Act as Satisfaction Of Some Men Libido at the expense of What? These men Know where to Go if they have such needs .Our Children Can’t Be Exposed To Such Insanity and It Doesn’t Matter If It Happened At Night Time."

"What happened to our Traditional Morals , we can never be more foreign than the foreigners please. We are still Nigerians at heart , at least some of us are."

"Lazy and pompous men really turn me off. I can’t deal with such kind of people, neither would I date any of them."

"I stand against domestic violence. If a man hits you once, he will hit you again. Don’t let it happen. I am against divorce but if a man hits a woman, I advise she separates from him for a while for him to return to his right senses."

"It is important to not depend on just one source of income. It’s very limiting. I have always been very business conscious. I was just waiting for the right time to establish something. I am also equally passionate about food. Food is a basic necessity. I love to work legit for my money, earn money the right way."

"For me, this lockdown has been a blessing in disguise. I have been able to properly position my business as well as spend quality time with my family and God. I have rediscovered myself spiritually and found new ways of communicating with God. It’s been a surreal experience that I never felt before."

"Food, like I said earlier, is a basic necessity. I don’t follow trends. I am very real. I didn’t want to put my money into a business that is seasonal. Food business never runs out of fashion, it’s constant. People must eat everyday. Whether you have money or not, you will somehow have to find money to eat. Food is a need. I decided to be a solution provider for people’s needs. I also like to use this initiative to encourage our young ones not to depend solely on job hunting but establish something of their own. I pray to grow this business into something big that will encourage our younger generation not to lose themselves, but to work hard and be self reliant."

"Everybody has this iota of jealousy inside of them. So, if you say you don’t, then I doubt if you are a human being. I guess I am, but with time, I have learnt how to control it."

"I’ll only be in a relationship with a matured mind, someone who knows the kind of job I do and understand me well. We would have mutual respect for each other. Whatever happens, I’ll always respect my partner and whatever issues we have, we’ll settle it indoors."

"Every role I have played have been challenging for me. I play every role in order for the role to be outstanding irrespective of how simple it might seem. The simpler the role, the more challenging it is for me. Other actors might have played similar roles but I always strive to make mine different. I get very apprehensive each time I get a new script because then I have the task of interpreting it in a unique way."

"Life for me is simple and I live it simply. I put God first in everything because nothing is really anything. I only want the favor from God and so far that has sustained me."

"The truth is I am my own competition, I don’t see any other competition. If I say I’m competing with someone, it’s like saying I expect to be the only actress in Nollywood. On the contrary, actors compliment each other. The sky is big enough for all of us to be relevant. There can only be one Belinda Effah. I strive to surpass my previous glory."

"I stay true to myself and the characters I play. If I don’t feel it, I can’t give life to the character. I always challenge myself to go the extra mile, so I guess that could be it."

"Let’s face it, a lot of people don’t wish you well. Some people want to feel that they have control over your private life. This is the aspect I don’t want. I’d rather not say anything about it. However, a lot of my colleagues have been flashing us with their weddings (laughter), maybe my own will come as a surprise."

"That’s my natural self. There’s no negative energy here. A lot of people see more of negativity than the positive things God is doing in their lives but for me, I prefer to magnify the positivity in my life. There will always be challenges when you want to go to the next level of your life. For me I find solution to the challenge and I just move on."

"I think it’s been more positive. Once you choose this career, you should be sure that your privacy will be compromised. Whatever you do is seen by all. You are no longer seen as a human but a super human. They don’t expect you to be broke and they don’t expect you to buy food on the streets like roasted corn or roasted plantain either. I’m a down to earth person and I love my local food. I love to visit amala joints to eat; I’m a peoples’ person. Part of my dream is to help people. If I raise myself too much, how will I help the common man on the street? People expect me to live this larger-than-life lifestyle but I’m just trying not to change who I am."

"Every actress has a yard stick and Hollywood is that yardstick. If I’m called to feature in Hollywood, I’d be over the moon. Nollywood is my core; I’ll never give up on it."

"Attention should be paid to details regarding every facet of the industry from scripting, to makeup, to costume, to location, to props, equipment, cast and crew, etc. The quality of all these will add to production value. And very importantly, there should be unity among producers to solve the ongoing distribution problem. Distribution is a major problem that needs to be looked into. We have the population yet very limited distribution networks. We need to unilaterally come up with a lasting solution that will benefit everyone. This can also be a revenue spinner in years to come. Royalty will be earned from a movie forever with proper structures in place."

"My beauty routine is to ensure I don’t keep makeup on my face overnight, use a good scrub and moisturizer all the time."

"It has always been my vision to be scandal free, keeping my private life away from my public life. Appreciate me for my movies and what you see on screen, but my life is my life. I treasure that and I just want to keep it that way."

"I’m not acting because I want to act. I have a desire to affect people’s lives positively. Leadership is in service. I don’t want to mess up my reputation now because I am working on a project called “Belinda Advocacy Against Rape.”I have a reputation to protect. I have a lot of things in the offing. If one is tempted, one can easily go outside the industry to get herself a boy friend. I can’t afford to mess around in the industry."

"For liposuction, my policy is live and let’s live. Whatever rocks your boat is fine. I am a very active person in sport hence I try to keep my body fit at all times. So, I don’t think I have need to consider liposuction for now, but I can’t speak for the future."

"All my movies are my favourites. I am not sentimental so I appreciate everything I have done, whether good, bad or ugly. My roles are challenging and I am always looking for different ways to interpret a role even if it is familiar territory for me. It doesn’t matter if it’s something I am accustomed to doing every day. This is how I see it: Now, it’s not me, it’s me in someone else’s character and I want it to be believable."

"Fame has taken away my privacy. Fame has also taken away my peace of mind because people judge celebrities for diverse reasons. They have expectations which one can sometimes fall short of. Before I do anything, I think about it a lot because I don’t know how people will misinterpret it. Some people won’t just let you be. You can’t go out without makeup; you can’t go to events without looking fly (good), and it doesn’t matter if you have the funds for it or not. Before you do anything, you have to think about it because your life no longer belongs to you."

"put God first, be yourself, and attach value to yourself. If you don’t value yourself, nobody will. Believe in yourself; go for what you want and put your all in it and soon, pleasant things will happen to you."

"I am somebody who believes so much in love. So, I started writing love songs and all that. I also developed the art of dancing."

"I can’t go into the BBA house because I am already an ambassador of The Next Movie Star. Moreover, Big Brother Africa is not a career booster but a reality show that showcases how people cope living with strangers in the same house for as long as it lasts. I am a very professional person and I do not have that kind of time to waste. Though the money is cool, I cannot be confined to a particular house for 90 days without being productive."

"I am a very simple person. I do not believe in what’s in vogue, but when I see something that is beautiful, I do not hesitate to grab it."

"Children are born daily and they all have different abilities and selling points. In other words, great talents emerge every day. Just like there are many stars in the sky, but some stars do shine brighter than others without stress."

"I don’t believe in a lead role all the time, once you are good you will stand out. Funny enough, some minor characters stand you out to the extent that they mistake them to be major characters depending on how you handle the role"

"My opinion about Nigerian justice system is that it doesn’t actually work. Often, people say that there is a problem of access to justice but in my own limited experience of the Nigerian justice system, it is not about the access to justice, but about justice been rendered."

"I can never act nude for anything. There are several ways of seducing a man in a movie without completely going nude."

"I find solace in acting than singing, that was the reason I stopped singing. For me, once I get a script, I feel God has answered my prayers"

"This means more open doors to us, internationally. You know, Sembène is the father of the African cinema, the film was given this award because it reflects his aspirations: African filmmakers telling African stories that awaken society."

"The festival is not about film screening alone. There are also numerous events around the festival and ZIFF gives exposure, not only to films and filmmakers, but it also gives that exposure to different forms of art: music, dance, painting, photography."

"We are three African co-productions and we hope to have at least 40% of the budget on our side, and on the other side, that it also comes from Europe. International co-production is important for distribution. We need our films not only to be seen in Africa, but also to be seen in Europe."

"It was a surprise! I didn’t know and it seems like I was the only one who didn’t know I would be receiving an award. People in my entourage knew."

"When I got on stage I didn’t say anything. I was totally speechless. It was the second time a Thomas Sankara Prize was being given out at FESPACO. Everyone was waiting for it because Thomas Sankara was a great hero in Burkina Faso."

"Rwanda is in me, it’s very deep. My creativity is linked to the past, my childhood there. There is much to be said and told, not just through dance and music, but that is one way to address it. It’s a question of creating, mending, performing, witnessing, sharing."

"It’s true that men who invade territories also want to annihilate the physical body, the social body. But I decided to zoom into the stories of the Rwandan women and let that spread out and speak of the others."

"I would ask if I could take a photo after talking to them, and most would change into a beautiful dress. They wanted me to carry beauty and hope with me."

"I recorded their voices and really tried to capture how they held themselves, how they walked, how they wiped away their tears. It all became physical, choreographic, material. We hear some of their testimonies in the piece, and I had to find a way for the body to navigate through these spoken words"

"The choreography was about digging into the physical memories of these women’s tension, their rage, their sorrow. I tried to honestly remember my feelings and the emotional journey I went through in their presence. I am not trying to reproduce rape; I want to cut through the trauma so that people can receive and understand these experiences. The body speaks when testimony has been suspended."

"You know, speaking your own language can be very comfortable than someone else’s language. For instance, you can imagine asking me to scold my kid in Yoruba now, it’s going to flow but in English I will still have to choose my words one after the other."

"I hate when people owe me and I will be going ‎around chasing them for my money. Basically, Bose Alao Omotoyosi is a full time actress."

"No, nothing can stop me from acting except death; it’s my passion."

"I used to be a very stubborn person. I didn’t like saying sorry whenever I did anything wrong. My husband gets angry easily, but when you are remorseful he calms down and tells you he is sorry too. It has really worked for me and I have used that a lot in my marriage. It’s not easy to apologise, especially when you are not the one at fault. I don’t just say sorry I go inside and kneel down to say sorry."

"Fans put pressure on celebrities to lead fake lives. One needs a lot of discipline because the expectations of fans from celebrities are usually too high. A lot of them feel one should have a certain financial level and live a certain way. However, things don’t work that way. It’s not nice. Some people who don’t have wisdom and discipline fall for it. But, I thank God He gave me the wisdom to deal with that kind of pressure"

"It’s not a must. As an actor, the most important thing is for one to interpret one’s roles well, whether one is dark or light-skinned. As a matter of fact, some producers don’t even like fair-skinned people because by the time lights used on set are put on, they realise they have a lot of work to do."

"I don’t have any special routine for my body. I don’t even exercise but I live healthily. I don’t eat junks and sugary foods. I like to cook myself and I like fresh homemade foods. I think my stature is hereditary. I take after my grandma, who has a small stature. My siblings are much bigger"

"It doesn’t help you saying “I’m a no-nonsense woman”. It increases the height of domestic violence, trust me. I’m not going to support it here, but I’m going to speak against it in a way that you’ll understand that most of the time, we really need to sit back and ask ourselves “What do we really want?” I have been in the kind of situation in my marriage where I said to myself “I just need to leave. I’m not doing this anymore”, but inside me, I’m not leaving. Whatever you won’t take, do not dish it to your spouse and vice versa. Marriage has also taught me recently to be very calm in addressing issues and to be very prayerful."

"It just comes up in marriages, and the ability to be able to control your anger during crises in marriage goes a long way. I’m not going to support a wife-beater or a woman that runs her mouth. Most of the time, these two things don’t help. You really need to learn how to take things calmly. Though you won’t tell me you saw the viral picture on my page or that I said anything on it. How it was resolved? It was God and also based on the fact that my husband and I knew what we wanted. I told a particular person that said “It’s so-so person that caused the issue…”, “No, what my marriage needs now is counseling and less talk”. And that was actually what we did and that is how we got it resolved. The viral thing, the battered face…? I don’t even know how to address it. I just want to tell Nigerians we are fine and we are sorry for disturbing you"

"Once an actor, always an actor. Trust me, nobody who has been in front of a camera or who has acted on stage out of passion will want to quit for anything. I’m not ready to stop."

"Domestic violence is terrible. Most times, we need a break to see and know if we really want to stay in such marriage or change the situation. Yes, women are that powerful to end domestic violence. I am sure it is the most terrible time he (my husband) has passed through. I also took a lot of steps and stopped so many annoying things"

"I would advise my colleagues to always have a backup and never rely on any video editor."

"for everyone that faces domestic violence in one way or the other, the first thing to do is to love yourself and ask what you really want. In the process of being in a violent relationship, you can die. Just ask yourself if you want to sort things out or walk away."

"No woman should stay in an abusive marriage. Do not ever say that you are staying for your children"

"When I faced one of the greatest challenges of my life, I did not give up. There were times I did not get acting jobs, and I had to write to producers personally. I sent messages to movie marketers to bid for roles. I got involved in other businesses in addition to my acting career, rather than quit."

"Nollywood is actually lucrative if one is good at what one does, and one knows how to package oneself. I had this mentality until a junior colleague sent me her rates. The film industry is very lucrative. If one does not live above one’s income, it will be lucrative for one."

"“A woman who does not mentor another young woman or does not hold the hand of another woman up is working to diminish her own continued relevance within the public space.”"

"“Everywhere one turns, the Older Men have a retinue of younger Men in their kitty to whom they owe their continued relevance. They mentor, support, teach and create opportunities for the next generation of Men and thereby lives their dreams in these young Men.”"

"“There are so many God Fathers in Nigeria, where are the God Mothers? The Men are making the Boys, Dear Nigerian Women, where are your Girls?”"

"“You are in your 40s or 50s today, Minister for ABC or D, MD of that Company or the other, Wife of the Governor of State A, General Manager or HOD of Department Q, one day, you’ll be just a memory for some people so please do your best to be a good one because there is a place called TOMORROW when the younger woman you despised few years ago will now be the one occupying the position you currently have.”"

"“You can build a Legacy. An Army, a circle of young, strong women into whom you pour yourself often, to whom you make yourself accessible; sometimes it’s not your money we want, a simple line of encouragement or guide on ways to run a business or advice on how to deal with sexual harassment at work or a word of prayer can change the world. You may give a book sometimes. You can also give money to those who need it if you have some extra cash.”"

"“Not all the young woman are ready to learn and give honour and I believe in service and respecting my elders. Please don’t give up on them and don’t use them as a yardstick to judge all of us.”"

"“Everything will come. Nigeria has the promise of a bright future.”"

"“I just want a Nation that works. I've run out of fancy speeches and motivational quotes about Nigeria.”"

"“I don’t like to be given any special treatment because I’m a woman; don’t put me in a box and stereotype me. I am a complete human and a legitimate member of society before being a woman.”"

"“In my marriage, there’s no lopsided leadership; it’s not a master-servant leadership.”"

"“Those are men with low self-esteem.”"

"“Boys are not special and girls are not special. All children are legitimate members of society; treat them as such. Give them equal opportunity and support. That way, we will raise perfectly-balanced human beings and build a perfectly-balanced society.”"

"“Humility is one of the greatest things that I’ve learned about leadership. The second is inclusivity; don’t discriminate against anybody. The third is equity; what you cannot take, don’t do to people.”"

"“We cannot face today’s challenge with yesterday’s knowledge.”"

"“It is important that young people are prepared for the future of work in this 4th Industrial Revolution that is upon us. If we don’t fix our education, what we’re going to have is a generation of university graduates who will not be able to compete with High School students in other countries.”"

"“One of the greatest challenges of Nigeria in this 4th Industrial Revolution is that we don’t have a central data mining system that provides information that guides policy-making on the side of government and guides decision-making for the private sector. If you don’t have data, how can you do national planning? We are not a data-driven country, so, it’s difficult. All of the data that Nigeria is using to innovate are foreign data.”"

"“With technology, there will be a few job losses; but I always say that it is the lazy people that will lose their jobs. If you grow with the trend as the trend evolves, you will be constantly relevant.”"

"“If you can read, unlearn and relearn, you will always be relevant.”"

"“I strongly believe that in my lifetime, I will see Nigeria become the country of our dreams. I will see a prosperous Nigeria that works for everyone irrespective of who you are or where you come from.”"

"healthy rivalry is good in sports, entertainment, business, and every other thing we do because it could be a great motivational tool towards being better. However, once it goes negative, that is bad."

"Most attitudes in adults are spillovers from home training, and you may not be able to change that easily. However, a good structure in the industry will curb a lot of misdemeanours"

"I’m an advocate of don’t let what you see on social media influence your life. You cannot tell what goes on in the lives of people so don’t set a standard for yourself based on what you see"

"If I have being able to influence people positively, that makes me feel good but I do not live my life because I want people to feel attracted to the kind of life that I live. I’m just being myself, I’m not pushed to do things because I want people to see me as a role model."

"Contrary to some people’s beliefs, it is a wrong notion to believe a drug addict has to look like a hardened criminal."

"To every problem, there is a solution. So, any time challenges arise, I just say to myself, there is a solution, find it!"

"We were raised with self-confidence and self-worth in my home. It will take someone with inferiority complex to feel threatened by what anyone around them do. I have a clear-cut mission and vision statement, so, I only feel challenged when I feel I’m lagging in my progressive movement towards achieving my goals."

"Being me! Being real! I am confident and on top of my game. The grace of God is also paramount and I thank God for how far He has brought me in the industry."

"I want to seize this medium to express my profound gratitude for their love and support. I want them to continue to love the Jumoke Odetola brand; stay true to themselves and never doubt their self-worth. You can do it! Just get good mentorship on whatever you choose to do! Bless you all."

"For me, professionalism is the most important factor I consider before taking any role. I have to be sure that the people I would be acting with her professionals. That way, I would feel safe and can take any role with them, even romantic roles."

"think I am a fashionable person. I believe that your style is your image and image is everything. The only thing I cannot leave home without is my phone. I can never be caught wearing the fabric called akpoche."

"Countries can authenticate and confirm the issuing authority of the e-Passport. E-Passport forgery is close to zero because of the embedded chip that contains biometric data of the bearer."

"I know some men are scared of successful women but my man cannot be scared of me. I am not looking for a billionaire or someone that has a lot of money"

"“I cannot marry a man that does not appreciate me or support my career. He would have to look for someone else because it cannot work. Although as a married woman, there may be some roles I would not be able to act anymore. Once a man is supportive, I don’t need a billionaire. I am not a money conscious person and would not cheat on my man. It is very important to marry a man that one loves. Why would a man be intimidated by a woman’s success? Any man that does that is not worthy to be called a man. When a woman does legitimate businesses,"

"Any man that does that is not worthy to be called a man. When a woman does legitimate businesses, the man would need to support her. Any man that does not support a hard-working woman is less of a man and I cannot entertain such a person"

"having a nice shape was not what made me popular, whether you’re sexy or not you must have content. You can’t be a star by being beautiful or fair or voluptuous. Sexiness and beauty can only make people like you but it won’t keep you there for long."

"My ‘sexiness’ didn’t give me any special privilege, although it’s an added advantage. Another thing that helped me is that I carry grace. When you have the grace to make it, no one can stop you. When you look around, there are some actors and actresses that are not fine but there is something about them that makes them successful."

"I feel that many of us are often not open to seeing the bigger picture. Perhaps, in this era of information inundation, we prefer or feel more comfortable forgetting how much we still don’t know."

"I would like to point out that all the information we have gathered, all the observations we have made, have resulted from exploring the unknown."

"Life on Mars will be a precious and fragile resource, and I believe morality there will be defined by a deep appreciation for life and all that’s needed to sustain it, and I believe that this attitude will filter down to Earth."

"Don’t fall for anyone’s hype. Be honest with yourself and keep working."

"Experience is the best teacher and devotion to God will take you much farther than anyone will ever do."

"I’d just like to encourage everyone who is on their path to whatever they believe in to be steadfast, keep learning, be comfortable with the possibility of failing at it. That’s the only way you’ll dare to pursue anything."

"In all your efforts, crown it with prayer for the required discipline and favour."

"Your innocence will always defend you no matter how low you go."

"....when you are dedicated and passionate, even when you think no one is watching, today will be the tomorrow you always dreamt of."

"There are no two ways about it, women must continue to advance. After all, we make up more than half of the world’s population."

"My charge to women is to keep climbing the career ladder. Climb it anxious. Climb it confidently. But just keep climbing. And when you get to the top, because you will – give a helping hand to the women coming behind you – this is how we grow!"

"The government can do a lot more to ensure that there is a sustainable environment for the private sector to flourish."

"I am a firm believer that the world is experiencing rapidly total transformation and if you don’t adapt and move with it, you will get left behind."

"Create your own space. God, not man creates space, what you now decide to do with the space once it’s created is left to you. There is more than enough room for us all to be at the top, the sooner we all realise that the sooner we can all shine together. Stay persistent, stay consistent, stay focused and think outside the box."

"Passion and a sense of self. You need to be passionate about whatever it is you want to do, period. Now with acting, it has to be the same. A sense of self is simply knowing who you are, owning your craft and knowing your worth. You need to believe in your own sauce."

"Be patient. Growing up, I always wanted things to happen fast; I sometimes still do. I try to rush the process and I have realised that the process is totally out of my control. Learning to let go and let God."

"Be opened minded, Lagos is beautiful. Also make sure you take a ride on our infamous napep."

"You know Nigerians are very literal people, what they see is what they take in"

"An award means recognition. It means appreciation. It means noticeability, and that is what everyone wants - to know that you're recognized and appreciated for the work you put into something."

"No matter how little it is, just the fact that people know that you're working and they appreciate it; It means everything."

"There is no magic in sports, as much as we the athletes want to go there and win, but there is always somebody who is working harder than you are, and more is being invested in that person than in you."

"It starts from the way you eat or sleep, the people you surround yourself with, the people that educate you, the people that sponsor you, the people that tell you that you can do it, versus Nigerians, the majority of whom just criticize."

"You get to another stage of your life where you just don’t say things or do things like ‘I don’t know if I want to do this thing, I’m not sure’, no you have to want it, that’s just it."

"Sports is big business. You have to invest. And you know we have great talents in Nigeria but you know, at the end of the day, all do not pay attention to these talents. They don’t prepare us for these major championships."

"I feel like most of the time, really some of us don’t pay so much attention on ourselves and try to put other people or other things into it. At the end of the day, we lose focus on the things we’re supposed to focus on."

"She (Blessing Okagbare) is good, she’s got good character and she’s doing fine. She’s hardworking; she sprints and jumps well. I also want to sprint like her."

"It's that time of the year when we get together to raise a glass to Women who have made a contribution in the energy space. Be they engineers."

"You’ll get knocked down over and over and over again, and you get back up."

"This is what happens when you work to change things, and first they think you're crazy, then they fight you, and then all of a sudden you change the world."

"I know that we made mistakes."

"The wonderful thing about the way I was raised is that no one ever told me that I couldn’t do those things."

"I have done something, and we have done something, that has changed people’s lives. I would much rather live a life of purpose than one in which I might have other things but not that."

"That moment is when you find what you were born to do. For me, I reached the point where I was spending all my time doing this anyway, and I was wasting my parents’ money on courses I wasn’t going to. So I had that moment where I was very clear: This is what I wanted to do with my life."

"When people say, ‘I want to start a business,’ my question is always, ‘Why?’ Because there’s got to be a mission — there’s got to be a reason you’re doing it so that no matter how hard it is, you want to keep doing it over and over and over again, because you love it."

"When you find what you love, you do it. That’s it."

"“ would say three things: Find what you love, and don’t let it go no matter what. I would say Winston Churchill really knew what he was talking about when he said, ‘Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never ….’ And I would say that I am living proof that it’s true that if you can imagine it, you can achieve it."

"What is important in a relationship is love and understanding. Are you guys good with each other? Do you bring yourself peace? If all these are positive, then age is just a number."

"Whether there is love in Nollywood or not is a function of the experiences one has had."

"Money is not everything but being comfortable makes a relationship richer and enjoyable."

"Now more than ever do we as a destination need to position ourselves to support the recovery of the sector, by applying our collective efforts to align with trends and measures that support us all during these challenging times,"

"Having Ironman 70.3 in Rwanda is really exciting. The milestone is going to give a lot of visibility to the race destination. It is a unique opportunity for us, both in sports and business aspects."

"Trusting in yourself doesn’t make you complacent, it’s courage that elevates your talent to the next level. As the ministry and other stakeholders, we are here to support you."

"As a Rwandan, it’s difficult to dissociate one’s journey from the country’s"

"Sport has always been part of my day-to-day"

"I had voices telling me you cannot make it."

"This leadership instilled hope and equal opportunity. The vision of the leadership that picked up all the pieces set a path for me and so many others to be where we are."

"We all, including me, got an opportunity to live again, to see hope, or see a belief that there can be a future because of a leadership that had a vision."

"Confidence is realizing the unique talent in you… Competence means putting in the work… Consistency equals discipline."

"We’ve understood that Rwanda is what we’ve got. There’s no us without Rwanda."

"Without economic transformation, without alleviating poverty, you’ll still be struggling."

"Our leadership has been clear that this is a sector where you have to invest before you attract."

"Are we building ourselves to take up those opportunities and being bold enough to know we can do it… Are they confident enough to seize opportunities they have, to build their skills and their abilities and knowledge to take up the 30%? That’s the biggest challenge."

"We can confidently confirm that we are ready to host this championship, with everything already in place - from infrastructure, team activation, and prepared hotels, to hospitality and communication. All of these elements have been implemented, and the results are visible today, ensuring that everything will run smoothly."

"It is a great source of pride, but also a challenge, because we must ensure that we deliver at the expected standard, as is duly required of us as Rwanda."

"From the preparation phase through implementation and into evaluation, every step is being carefully monitored."

"Each of you has a unique talent. Believe in yourself, stay determined, and remember—true strength is in lifting the team, not chasing personal glory."

"Keep your ambition alive and your eyes on the goal. The journey won’t be easy, but never lose sight of where you’re going."

"Either I win, or they lose. Be tough. Be relentless."

"Every decision you make is yours—but remember, its impact reaches your team, your community, and your country."

"You may be under 16, but your journey is just beginning. Be fighters. Carry Agaciro [dignity] and embrace the Rwandan spirit: think big, think wide, and never limit your potential."

"Our message today is to tell you that we are fully supporting you, that we are all behind you. We trust in your talents, you have the willingness and commitment and that’s why you’re so far here, and we trust that."

"As the way people say, the whole village is behind you, and indeed we are very much behind you. BAL has grown into becoming really recognisable globally, and as a country we are so proud that this is an initiative that started with the vision of our President."

"So when we are playing down there as APR, as Rwandans, it’s not only the game of basketball, it’s also the vision we uphold. So it’s not only that we’re going to win as the talents, as the players in the game, but it’s also to show the rest of the world, because as we know, that actually is possible."

"Good evening! We have continued to see reports related to the match between Rayon Sports and Bugesera FC, especially the incidents that took place there. We would like to remind football fans and all Rwandans that violent or disorderly conduct in sports is not allowed and is punishable by law."

"Regarding how the match went and any complaints the clubs might have, there are legal channels through ‘FERWAFA’ and ‘Rwanda League’ that should be followed. As Rayon Sports, we also have responsibilities and collaboration mechanisms with other institutions, and we will follow up through those."

"The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was planned, taught, and carried out. For all of you who want to distort history, the evidence is there, the survivors are there, and the perpetrators are there. As President Kagame once said, ‘The evidence will never be lost.’"

"All Rwandans, survivors of the Genocide, those who returned from exile, those in the country who were not among the innocent who did not participate in the Genocide, and those whose families participated in the Genocide, were saved by the Inkotanyi led by our hero Paul Kagame. That is the Principle!"

"This Rwanda has come a long way, we owe it to heroes who were not afraid to give their lives to this day so that we can live, have a name, and have an origin. My role is also yours because of Rwanda. Who we are, what we do, all that we own is because we have Rwanda. Without it, it does not exist!"

"Let us, the youth, remember that Rwanda does not owe us anything, but rather owes us much. Let us remember that even though we are educated, we understand, we have been given the opportunity to ask and be asked about our country. There is a limit! The Genocide against the Tutsi is no longer a matter of debate! Let us remember and rebuild ourselves."

"Throughout my life, I have been a sports enthusiast. I played basketball in high school and college, briefly played for the National Team, and then moved on to other sports. Sports are a part of my daily routine, and I still play basketball as a non-professional."

"We all had the opportunity to live again, to have hope, to feel that we can have a future because of a country with a vision, a country that shows us that even though we were in difficult times as a country and as individuals [...] because Rwanda's history is so difficult that some have difficulty having hope for the future, survivors of the Genocide, those who were refugees for a long time, families who found themselves without a vision in a difficult life where some of your family members were killed, another part participated in the genocide; it is a difficult situation that the country found itself in and then in terms of economy, politics and infrastructure, the country collapsed."

"Sometimes we have that hope, but we don't use all our strength, you need to work hard, study, and put in the effort."

"You must also understand that you are here to contribute, and that you are among those who must play a role in building this country. That every opportunity you will be given is for you to contribute."

"Sometimes your history can tell you it's impossible. Personally, I have a difficult time saying how could I do it? I have family members who survived the Genocide, and other family members, especially my mother, who was involved in the Genocide."

"Sometimes I had many voices telling me that I couldn't do it. But what made me realize that I could do it was the leadership that showed you that you don't have to obey your mother, your family, your religion, your values, but rather obey the vision of the country, that you are a Rwandan, that you have a responsibility, that you have a position, and then you have to put in the effort to achieve it, and then the goal is to serve the country because when I serve the country, I am also serving myself, and I am also serving those who will come after me."

"Our Excellence, the international community has rightly congratulated Rwanda for abolishing the death penalty. But I am forced to ask: why are our fellow citizens continually the object of extrajudicial executions? And, as our head of state, why would you condone such executions in your May 10, 2019, Rubavu speech? Your subordinates emulate you. At Mwiseneza's funeral, Chief Superintendent Innocent Iyaburunga blamed Mwiseneza for his own death..."

"“I just came out of a prison but my country still feels like a prison. And the prison guard is none other than the ruling party... dictating to us how to live, what to do and what to say.”"

"“I was not surprised by my arrest. I was kind of expecting it because of what I was doing in the country: if you dare criticise the government that is what happens, you get arrested, imprisoned or lose your life. I expected some form of retaliation.”"

"“I speak the truth, that the system is built on a lie. They simply do not want to be exposed. The lie is that everything is well in Rwanda and I just talk about [the reality] which is the high level of unemployment, the high level of poverty, the disappearances, the killings, all that, and they are not ready for that to be exposed.”"

"I request the president release me and my family.” “I am being victimised … because I have political ambitions.”"

"“I know that you are powerless to deliver a fair verdict and to give me bail. You are trying my case but the real power and decisions will come from the President’s Office, not from you.” “But I urge you to try the best you can and be fair.”"

"“After all the time, work and effort I put in, I am very disappointed to hear that I am not on the list of presidential candidates.”"

"“@PaulKagame why won’t you let me run?”"

"“This is the second time you cheat me out of my right to campaign.”"

"“I am very happy with the court decision. I am continuing with my political journey … everything I talked about in the past has not been resolved. There are still many political prisoners in the country.”"

"“Some of the statistics on Rwanda’s development appear to be cooked.”"

"“I am innocent and the charges are fabricated because I opposed the ruling party.”"

"“I know that you are powerless to deliver a fair verdict and to give me bail. You are trying my case but the real power and decisions will come from the President’s Office, not from you.”"

"“When time comes for leaders to leave power, they get excuses to stay and then say that it is the people who are asking them to continue to lead. This is a bad habit across the continent.”"

"Keep calm and yes, I’m a feminist"

"As the Indian sages pondered on the problem of good and evil, they were confronted with the apparent injustices and cruelties of the world around them, and this state of affairs was finally reconciled with their idea of Brahman by the conception of a universal ethical law applymg to all life. This law as proclaimed as the law of karma. In the words of the Upanishads, "As is a man's desire so is his will, and 1\S is his will so is his deed, and whatever deed he does that he will reap." "India held a strange and irresistible attraction for the whole of Asia in the first millennium. People in the most primitive stage of development as well as the Chinese with a civilization as ancient and illustrious as India's own, acknowledged India as first in the supreme realm of spiritual perception. Yet the civilization of India, transplanted abroad, did not have a deadening effect of suppressing or stifling native genius, as the imposition of a foreign culture often does. On the contrary, it called out the best that others had to give.As a result of India's fertilizing influence, new and distinctive types of culture everywhere arose, and each new colony was able to create and contribute fresh treasure, to be added to the great Asiatic heritage. How Indian religions and Indian culture blossomed anew in foreign environments and endured for many centuries is a fascinating and little appreciated chapter of Indian history." ... "The Indian colonies which began to grow up all along the periphery of the motherland were essentially cultural and religious, rather than political or racial. Yet they were subject to strong Indian influences. These swept outward like tidal waves. They passed south to Sri Lanka and beyond to the remote islands of the Pacific. They inundated Burma, Malaya, Siam and Indo-China. They overwhelmed Nepal and Tibet. From Afghanistan, they passed along to central Asia and China. They lapped at the far shores of Korea and Japan. Indian religious ideas and literature, Indian conventions of art and architecture, Indian legal codes and social practices ... all took root in these outer territories." "For a long time Indians seem to have held the monopoly of maritime commerce in both the southern and eastern seas of Asia. They possessed large ocean-going vessels, in which they first ventured to Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaya and gradually they extended their journeys to Java and Sumatra and then to southern China."

"[From an article on Kanye West's admiration for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.] It's hard to believe that this is all happening in the country of my childhood — a place where light antisemitism sometimes marred small Waspy towns like the one I grew up in, or circulated within certain communities, but didn’t dominate the ether. On the contrary. Crucially, there was a sense, an awareness, that Jews were an indispensable addition to American showbiz — and America was lucky to have them. The idea that celebrities, from comedy to music and sport (the NBA's Kyrie Irving recently promoted a terrifying book called Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America) might weekly spew some new Goebbels-grade sentiment would have seemed dystopian."

"The America of my childhood was not a place where Jews had to brace themselves for constant invocations of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, where Jewish excellence in entertainment triggered public mockery laced with canards about Jewish control, as in Dave Chappelle's monologue. And, on the left, it was not a place where being pro-Israel was seen to be a position of "white supremacy" — a crime, in the new American progressive universe, deemed far worse than antisemitism."

"Anti-black racism rightly gets a lot of attention. But perhaps it's time to figure out where Jews fit into the picture because, as the Tuck report makes clear, our struggles are just as real as those facing other minorities."

"But increasingly "gender critical feminist" is simply becoming another term for members of the public who are not willing to put up with this madness."

"I'm petrified of driving, but what about flying? It’s now cheaper and more reliable than taking the train to Manchester or Newcastle."

"Everyone has the right to say or do what they like within the law, but that doesn't change my conviction – which is considered as extreme as it is obvious to me – that anti-Israel Jews are worse than antisemitic: they are traitors. If their lives were at stake, and Israel was the one place in the world they might be safe, Israel's duty would be to take them in because they are Jews. But to me, now, whatever rituals they perform, they are useless Jews. Superfluous. In the enemy camp, working against all who believe "never again"."

"Despite this near-impossible battlefield, the IDF seems to have managed to keep its ratio of civilians to combatants killed lower than almost any other army ever has. The world eats up Hamas figures for the numbers who have been killed, naturally refusing to distinguish between Hamas fighters and civilians. But according to one analysis earlier this year, even if we accept the terror group's statistics, for every Hamas combatant eliminated, approximately 1.5 civilians have been tragically killed. Given that the UN says that civilians usually make up a shocking 90 per cent of casualties in war (a 1:9 ratio), this is impressive. Unlike most, Israel drops leaflets and sends texts to people before any attacks so they can evacuate; in this war, it has sacrificed some of its objectives in order to limit civilian deaths."

"[T]he Farage approach, much like that of Boris, is not only fun for the man, it seems to be just as fun for the woman."

"Get a little drunk, get a little loud Stupid me and my rebel mouth Ain't all wrong but I ain't alright Don't see the world in black and white And I ain't good at being careful I just say what's on my mind Like my idea of heaven Is to burn one with John Prine"

"Grew up in the sticks where there ain't no light But the stars were big and bright If they told me no I would always wonder why But I tried to be good And keep my head down But there was too much sky around And my daddy said Keep lookin' up"

"If you can't lose the weight, then you're just fat But if you lose too much, then you're on crack You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't So, you might as well just do whatever you want So, make lots of noise (Hey), kiss lots of boys (Yeah)"

"There is a light at the end of the tunnel There is a light inside of me Tried not to show it To make you feel good Pretended I couldn't"

"Bursting with empathy I'm feeling everything The weight of the world on my shoulders Hope my tears don't freak you out They're just kinda coming out It's the music in me and all of the colors"

"My parents were my first major influences. They ran a literary magazine called Imagine, which had stories about Accra; articles on art, science, film, books; cartoons—which I especially loved. They were (and still are) my heroes. I discovered Toni Morrison when I was thirteen, and I was hooked. I devoured everything she wrote. I remember reading Paradise, and while its meaning completely evaded me then, I was left feeling like it was the most amazing book written and that one day I wanted to write a world full of strong female characters, just like Ms. Morrison had done."

"I think that everybody would love to play the bad girl, ‘cause for most of us, it’s a stretch."

"We weren't really raised in the public eye because our dad was a behind-the-scenes person. But I will say being raised with privilege, I think that there's a lot of judgment that comes with it and we would never be so presumptuous to pretend like we haven't had a leg up on someone who has no resources and no help in the world and no one to open a door for them and no opportunities."

"That being said, you can have all of the resources and open doors in the world, but if you know don't know what to do with them, they're useless. And we know plenty of kids who grew up with privilege, who grew up wealthy — way more privilege than [us] — and they do nothing with their lives."

"I know a lot of aesthetically beautiful women who are not nice people, and they do not come across as beautiful to me. I think the number one thing for beauty is a smile. I love a woman with a beautiful smile."

"I have no words. SF [San Francisco] is a complete s—hole. I am a registered Democrat and feel confident saying liberal politicians are ruining cities."

"I am an unapologetic feminist. But I think it’s a misunderstood term. My question to those who say that they are not feminists, frankly, would be ‘why not?"

"Unending jahaalat in this country! Vote for jaahils, make every institution as jaahil as you are, produce more jaahils… it’s an endless cycle! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽"

"Everyone makes mistakes, and they do things for righteous reasons, even if [it’s] not the right thing to do. But, at the same time, I always think it’s best to lead with honesty. Starting any relationship on a lie is not the best foundation to grow up on. Everybody catfishes to one degree or another, though. Everyone’s putting forward the version of themselves that they once were, or they want to be in the future. [It’s] this glossy, perfect version that isn’t real. That’s why they call it a honeymoon phase."

"Obviously everyone has flaws, but, more than anything, it’s not about finding the perfect person — it’s about finding the perfect person for you."

"How do you choose? You choose because of who your heart and your soul connects with more, not the physical appearance that’s gonna fade eventually. It’s all about the person who is going to make you laugh until you cry for the rest of your life, the person you can be your most authentic self with. That’s key, in my opinion."

"Let the universe bring what is meant to bring to you. Don’t hold on to things that aren’t meant to be with you. If you’re on a dating app and you’re putting yourself out there, put yourself out there, but any kind of desperate energy can be felt on either side — especially if you’re trying to do [it] just for the holidays. That doesn’t feel very genuine. If you’re looking for someone for the holidays, specifically, then that probably means you need to call your therapist and do some work on yourself. That’s another thing that I’ve personally been working on for a long time: trying to bring the focus back to myself and be whole in myself, with or without a partner. In order to be with someone else, you need to be there for yourself, first, and be content with who you are. You have to be complete in yourself."

"I really want to immerse myself in the world. In terms of dialogue and writing characters and visuals, it needed to come from me, especially for the first one. I’m not closed off to the idea in the future. I’ve been writing a lot of other things as well. None of them have gotten set yet, but I’ve sold a couple of projects, as a writer. Writing has always been an interest of mine as well. It really just helps you, when you’re the one who wrote it, bringing it to life feels much more colorful and multi-faceted. You really understand that story, you know what you wanna get across, and your vision just feels more full, in my opinion, but mind you, I’ve only ever had this one experience. I can only judge it from this one time."

"When you’re directing something, you have to look at the bigger picture and what the goal is, what the story is that you’re trying to tell, and the emotion that you want to convey. When you change the lens that you’re looking from, it changes the type of performance or the take you might choose. I think I’m more forgiving now because I understand that a little bit better."

"I’ve been producing behind the scenes for a little while now, so that has always been part of my brain and process. If I can add value and be integral in a project or an experience, I definitely love producing. But now that I’ve directed, I look forward to new opportunities to get to do it again. We’ll see what comes next. I definitely look forward to doing it again, for sure."

"I do feel like changing your aesthetic can be therapeutic in a weird way. I mean, it’s odd to even say that out loud because your aesthetic is superficial in so many ways, but it can also affect the way you feel. I mean, I know for a fact that when I cut my hair shorter two years ago, it was almost like I was cutting off old energy."

"I think when I hit 27, my priorities shifted. It was one of those things that I’d been warned about. People told me that when you’re younger, you don’t really have a concept of time. You think the world is your oyster, but after a certain amount of time, you realize that it is finite, and what have you done up until this point? Was it something important to you? What have you achieved? What do you want to achieve? Where are you in that path to achieving it? Once my priorities shifted, I realized that I didn’t have as much time. I started to realize, what was I doing? Was it making me happy? If it wasn’t making me happy, then I don’t need to do it. No one’s forcing me to be here. I should be spending my time with things that make me smile, make me laugh, make me fulfilled. And so as soon as I realized that staying out a little bit later would make me feel not so great in the morning, I’d rather go to bed. I’d rather hang out with my dog and watch a movie and do things that I want to do instead of waste my life and my time."

"There are toxic people who have come into my life before. I feel like when you’re younger, you kind of don’t really realize it. But I surround myself with people who are very blunt and honest and real. And when somebody comes in who doesn’t share that authenticity, you can smell it from a mile away. And so, I trust my friends to tell me if I’m not seeing something or if someone’s not being genuine or doesn’t really want to be my friend for the right reasons."

"I think it’s amazing that there’s this new media that allows you to be more connected with the people that support you. Without their support I couldn’t exist."

"I was a rhythmic and athletic gymnast for a little while. Then, when I quit gymnastics, I fell in love with yoga. So sometimes I think I’d like to open up a yoga studio."

"I started working right away as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal. They put me in the San Francisco bureau of the Journal, which was the bureau that covered technology, and my first beat was writing about Oracle, which was this big business software company, and about Larry Ellison, the CEO at the time of that company."

"I had a kind of Trump-like character, who was very much based on Trump, who I wrote into the book as part of the explanation of the process by which the new world order emerges. I wrote this character before Trump was at all a credible candidate. I think I wrote it in 2014 when there were rumbles that he wanted to run but nobody thought that he was really going to do it and be taken seriously. So, in my attempt at world-building, I thought, okay, there’s no way Trump is going to win now, but I could totally imagine a world in which somebody like him comes along and wins in a decade, or something. Then, later on, when he became President, friends would read that version of the book and be like, "I don’t understand why Trump is here when it’s supposed to be many years in the future." So, I had to change that character and turn the screw a little bit more to make it not as realistic."

"Because I had covered Silicon Valley since 2004, the year Google went public and when Facebook was started, I was able to meet and interview many young technology CEOs. For my novel, I decided to create the character King Rao, have him grow up on a coconut farm in South India in the 1950s, move to the states in the 1970s and ultimately open an Apple-like tech company.”"

"Have discussions with God on the go. Be business-focused and ignore distractions. Be humble and respect all. Do not seek confirmation from another. Only God. Trust your intuition. Move above the best speed you can. When you identify your leading product, run with it."

"“Start with the limited capital you have, never give up, seek knowledge on ideas before and after initiating, diversity in skills within an entrepreneurial team is an important factor for success, networking is an important thing in the business world and passion for a business is good but not enough, commitment and determination sustain it.”"

"What is happening to us right now is a catastrophe. How did we end up in this hell? One person flashing nuclear weapons like keys to an expensive car took it upon himself to determine the future of my children, our children. He decided that the future of children in Russia is poverty, isolation and war."

"Everything on Russian state TV is such a terrible hypocrisy, like they don't remember that Russia has started this invasion, and of course they don't say anything about dead children. Maybe they don't care, I don't know."

"My childhood was colorful and chaotic, unstable and inconsistent, unpredictable and hard a lot of the times. But the silver lining is that it made me a very adaptable person."

"What I have are trust issues and an attraction to emotionally unavailable partners. That, combined with a fear of intimacy that compels me to push away the men who might have the capacity to commit to me in a real and sustainable way, makes for romantic problems. My relationships have been mirrors of how I felt about myself. I've only been treated as well as I thought I deserved."

"One skill a child learns from having alcoholic or drug-dependent parents is to anticipate the needs of those around them. I learned to take care of everyone and make them happy, you before me at all costs, in an unconscious effort to control my environment or to feel needed so to feel worthy, and that doesn't translate into an authentic and trustful relationship."

"Go ahead, Momma. Tell me about your life. Tell me everything."

"I can’t believe it, I’m so grateful for the win. I didn’t give up."

"I am happy to be back at the Women’s 5k Challenge...Last year (2009) I lost in a sprint finish but this time I will be stronger at the end."

"I went out for gold but it was too hard to keep up with the pace of the three on my own. Our team tactic did not work, my team mates fell off and I got tired for the last kick. It is disappointing but at least I got bronze."

"I am hoping to double-up in Daegu. I feel my body is in good shape to handle both races."

"I am ready for the marathon...my management has been able to get me a race in Amsterdam and I want to see how my body will react to it. I have hopes of doing well, but am also not certain how it will go. It is my first marathon race."

"To say something is impossible is to fear. I have no space for the word impossible. I don't tolerate it. Sometimes it gets me in trouble, but whatever it is, I will face it."

"The music don’t stop, it sings to an action. Who are you? Better know your reaction."

"I know I am my greatest enemy. But the good thing is, I was able to harness into my heartbreak positively and create a great product."

"I keep a group of close-knit friends who inspire, build and challenge me to grow in my career."

"I would love for anyone who is on their parenting journey...maybe consider that the world has been optimized for brains that conform to societal norms but there are other brains that have helped us move forward in creativity, in laughter, in joy and there's a place for them.*"

"A pig can actually have qualities to get someone out of poverty if properly looked after."

"It’s important that smallholder farmers integrate livestock into their farming. It’s feasible, productive and profitable."

"Today in Uganda and elsewhere, people use livestock not only for food and income, but also as a bank account and as insurance."

"We think old people are the ones who should have accomplishments. But when you are young, you are energetic then."

"Yet trans activists have succeeded in campaigning for biological males who identify as female to be allowed into women’s sports, women’s hospital wards and women’s prisons, even when these trans women still have intact male genitalia. This is not acceptable, and presents a serious threat to women’s safety, as well as our sex-based rights."

"As a woman, I fully understand the threats to dignity and safety that the Bill poses, because it will change the social contract. In this country, we recognise that in toilets, changing rooms and public spaces, there are areas where only women are allowed. In a restaurant recently, I had an experience where a man dressed as a woman walked into the toilets where I was on my own. He stood behind me and stared at me in the mirror, looking me in the eye. I have no idea whether he intended me any harm, but my evolved instinct as a woman was to be frightened, because unlike in almost any other species, women are far less powerful than men and we cannot defend ourselves. [Interruption.] No, it is a fact. The difference in strength between men and women is phenomenal, which is why we have separate sex categories for sport. Women are evolved to be wary of men in intimate spaces, which is why we have single-sex spaces and why they must continue to exist for the safety and privacy of women. The Bill threatens that social contract."

"[On gender ideology] If there's one place where a woman should be able to speak up about these issues, that should be parliament."

"The problem with this point of view represented by those who subscribe to gender ideology is that they don't respond to rational debate with counterarguments. They respond to it with cries of 'bigots', or cries of trying to silence people who express an opposite point of view. That's what is so frustrating."

"[On a lack of "hope for the future" discouraging the young from becoming parents] That hope is sadly diminishing in so many of our young people today, because liberal individualism has proven to be completely powerless to resist the cultural Marxism that is systematically destroying our children’s souls. When culture, schools and universities openly teach that our country is racist, our heroes are villains, humanity is killing the Earth, you are what you desire, diversity is theology, boundaries are tyranny and self-restraint is oppression, is it any wonder that mental health conditions, self-harm and suicide, and epidemic levels of anxiety and confusion characterise the emerging generation? We must end the indoctrination of our children with destructive and narcissistic ideologies, instead protecting childhood, training children in the timeless virtues and teaching them how to love our country."

"For children are not an economic burden. They are not a threat to personal autonomy or a lifestyle choice. Children are a joy and a blessing, they are the symptom and the cause of a society that has hope. Our children are the reason that we seek to rebuild a nation whose future is prosperous, safe and free."

"I think ... I'm uncomfortable ... I believe every human being is equal before God. That's my faith position. I don't think we can get away from the fact that abortion is taking human life. There are obviously balances of rights, and I'm not an absolutist at all."

"[On motherhood] Some young people are led to believe it's all drudgery [...] 'It’s a noose around your neck.' But most people don't regret having children. We don't talk openly enough as a society about what's great about being a mum or a dad. We talk about what's great about a career, and that's fine. But we should talk about other fulfilling things in life."

"Perhaps we could ask the Church of England to return to their day job and marry people for free."

"We have got a problem in this country with knowing what the problem is but not being able to do anything about it."

"What does it even mean to "undermine British values" when there is no consensus — and certainly no legal definition — of what those values are?"

"Some people think that gender critical views are 'extreme'. I think decriminalising abortion to birth is 'extreme'. Opposition politicians think the current government is 'extreme'."

"If 'extremist' views are illegal, then the person who defines 'extremism' has the power to curtail free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom of association. This is the path to authoritarianism."

"If Britain is to reverse its decline, we would do well to follow the example of countries like Hungary. Of course, high profile policies like building giant border fences would not translate directly into the British context, but we can learn from the principles behind them."

"In the secular world, common sense must be the order of the day. It isn't reasonable not to have women occupying the same roles as men and vice versa. But in a religious sphere, where faith is the binding force of a group of people, rationale has less sway or place. If you started applying logic to the beliefs held in most faiths, things would start to fall apart pretty quickly at the seams."

"Not being able to reconcile my secular views with my religious ones is something I too, find hard to explain. Predominantly I struggle to feel comfortable with female rabbis because the Judaism that feels authentic to me is the Orthodox branch, which does everything it can to conserve and not change. And that's what it comes down to: what part of your religion feels authentic to you – which is very hard to alter when it's been presented to you in a certain way since birth."

"[S]ince the start of the latest conflict between Hamas and Israel, protesters marching in anti-Israel demonstrations have regularly held up anti-Semitic slogans, shouting for Jews to be gassed, invoking the Holocaust's chambers of doom. The situation in Britain hasn't been much better [than in France or Germany]. Last week's major pro-Palestine rally, which stopped London's traffic, was littered with placards comparing Israel's – and Jews' – actions to the Nazis ("Well done Israel – Hitler would be proud", read one such sign, accompanied by a swastika). This casual interchange of "Israel" for "Jews" is not just ignorant but often terrifying, especially when linked to references to past atrocities. Indeed, what other group of people get the worst experience in their – or anyone's – history launched at them like a hand grenade?"

"British Jews aren't scared to talk to each other about the situation in Israel. We're becoming scared to talk at all."

"[The experience of a 24 year old sister of a friend] Just after finishing her master’s in economics, she started her first job at a City firm, full of ambition. But then she noticed something. There were no female board members – and all the way through the company there were far fewer women overall. Rosie invited a large cross section of her female colleagues out to lunch at a local deli and pushed them on the matter. The response? Blank faces all round. None of them had “ever noticed” anything. An awkward silence ensued. Rosie, not wanting to go overboard, dropped the issue. But, right at the end of the meal, the most senior woman present suddenly piped up. "I do sometimes wonder why all of the women who work here are so beautiful," she said. No one knew how respond to another difficult truth: it seemed that looks had played a part in the men's hiring decisions. Rosie, bruised and bemused by the experience, has just let matters lie. She has rent to pay."

"During that first meeting it became clear that this wasn't a party with a long shelf life. In fact the WEP aimed to influence the political debate and then die a dignified and valiant death – gender equality accomplished. Fast forward seven months and the party has officially launched."

"No one said achieving gender equality would be easy. But if the WEP has got a fighting chance it needs to set out its stall on all the big issues of the day – while keeping a laser-like focus on its main battles. That way it might become a credible party that can steal seats and influence people. To get their attention, the new party must target David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon where it hurts. Only then will the parties that dominate Britain be forced to reckon with it. And only then will the women of the WEP truly be able to say that they have achieved a new gender equality – and retire."

"Earlier this week, male MPs struggled to say the same words in a debate about the so-called "tampon tax". This is the five per cent VAT rate that stubbornly remains on all period products – ineligible for zero rating because the European Commission deems tampons (oops, I mentioned them again) "non-essential" items. Try to telling that to any woman. Female MPs and campaigners have been fighting for years to remove this ludicrous levy. If nappies for children, maternity pads for new mothers and incontinence aids are all exempt, why does Brussels have a peculiar problem with blood?"

"Nearly 10 years ago, my father went to prison. I had just turned 23 and was heading home after a long day at work when my then boyfriend, now husband, rang me and delivered the news. I had known my dad was in trouble, but he kept his business life so separate, I didn’t even know he was going to court the day he ended up being imprisoned for living off immoral earnings."

"Anger at my father and the mess he had got himself into. Anger at the situation and anger that something I had no control over was threatening to control me. When your life implodes, either by your own doing or someone else’s, everything slows down. And I found myself presented at a young age with a stark choice: do I let myself be destroyed by a suffocating shame?"

"Non-Jewish friends, colleagues and Wikipedia contributors alike, have mistakenly thought of me or described me as an Orthodox Jew. It is true I grew up with that, and it was the form of Judaism showcased to me on infrequent synagogue visits, but it does not, and never has, described my liberal and largely secular life."

"I know how to read Hebrew, but I've still got no idea what it means. I recognise certain tunes, but have no clue as to the order of the service. And while it would be easy to blame my seating arrangement, I'd still have very little idea of what was going on if my gender permitted me a ring side pew. So I have flip-flopped my way to a few Reform services. And while hearing more passages read in English and regular page number announcements are a comfort, I find myself feeling similarly isolated there. Reform Judaism's ways feel foreign because they lack the familiar rhythms of the Orthodox Judaism I grew up with. However, in Orthodox services I feel increasingly like an illiterate and ill-educated fool, suffering imposter syndrome."

"EB: You're holding your manifesto, you're flicking through it, you've got an iPad there, you’ve had a phone call while we're in here and you don't know how much it's going to cost? Jeremy Corbyn: Can we come back to that in a moment? EB: What, when you've looked it up?! My point is it's quite troubling, this is a policy you're launching today Mr Corbyn and you don't know how much it's going to cost. It hardly inspires the voters."

"[On her tolerance level] I'm OK with sexism, I'm OK with "you look shit", I'm quite good at laughing at the misogynistic stuff. [But she is upset by] the anti-semitic stuff. Because I really don't want that to be a thing in the country I live in — or anywhere."

"The bogus presumptions about menstruating women are tragically not confined to the history books — namely that we are weak, dirty, unhinged, less than and just different. At the heart of this lingering stigma is the idea that we are unequal to our male counterparts. Women then ingest these views and appropriate them as our own, inflicting wounds on ourselves and other women — and girls — around us. And by keeping periods unmentionable, women become unwitting accomplices in perpetuating these myths."

"My experience of periods is extreme because of my endometriosis. But while most women don't have a specific condition, they still often feel grim at that time of the month, require painkillers, need to access the loo more often and may suffer headaches, backache, sweatier brows and the squits."

"My grandmother escaped the Nazis from Wiener Neustadt in Austria and found sanctuary as a housemaid in this country. My husband's grandmother survived unspeakable torture in Auschwitz. In Europe. A two-hour flight from here. I've been. He won't. He can't bear to. Our grandmothers, who read us bedtime stories safe in our beds in this country, this happened to them – people I met and loved. Only two weeks ago, I opened Twitter on my phone and saw "Jewish privilege" trending. Do you know how that feels? Do you how frightening that is? I have had my fair share of abuse online, much of it sexist or politically charged. But the one form of hate that always stops me in my tracks and makes me feel angry and sad and burned? Antisemitism."

"Beginning IVF can be like walking into a high-stakes casino. From the moment you first place a bet, submitting those first bloods or semen samples, you are hooked. Excitement, hope, long odds and croupiers in white coats keep you coming back for more. A tweak of meds here, a change of diet there, the rush of the pregnancy test after weeks of needles and pills, and then the massive low of the single blue line. It all leaves you vowing you will never, ever gamble again."

"I personally found the first few months of motherhood discombobulating, knackering, joyous, emotional, frustrating and quite frankly odd."

"[On suffering from endometriosis] My body's been such an instrument of torture."

"But I didn't want to move on. Not for a long while. I had formed a relationship with our baby, daring to map out a little of our future together. But beyond medical forms, conversations with my stunned and deeply saddened husband, my texts to people about our loss and my memories of such a bond, there was nothing else to show the whole episode happened. Like millions of women before me, the baby lived within me and died within me. My body and mind were the keeper and witness."

"[Barnett suffered a herniated disc four months after giving birth] I'd had a c-section and two and a half years of IVF and heavy steroids. I wasn't physically good going into the pregnancy or coming out of it. It was an unholy situation and one day I picked up my daughter and it went. It was agony trying to breastfeed, do the school run with my older son, hold my baby daughter through gritted teeth and put the car seat in. So I've also been doing months of physio, exercise and Pilates."

"I can see why so many politicians are in for a shock when they come on Barnett's show. The cool ease with which she can segue from convivial to confrontational is quite unnerving."

"During the recent Tory leadership election, one of Boris Johnson’s emissaries struggled to defend his candidate’s erroneous claim about free trade under Gatt 24. After Barnett had conclusively exposed Johnson’s falsehood, he stuttered: "I don't believe he is incorrect." With deadpan scorn, she flashed back: "Because you don't believe facts?" To David Bull, a newly elected Brexit Party MEP who had complained on Twitter about his scandalous discovery that the journey to Strasbourg was quite long, she asked: "Did you not look up how you might get to the European parliament?" "Weirdly," he admitted, "it did not really cross my mind.""

"Giant slayers don’t waste weapons on ants...when God places his oil on you, you choose your battles. Choose your battles. It is not every battle you fight."

"Lions don’t respond to frogs."

"I've personally learned that lies spread faster than truth. People have written entire blogs attacking my expertise and sharing clear falsehoods – such as the claim that I have no published scientific papers, or that I'm a global plant by the World Economic Forum or Gates Foundation, or that I am a philosopher rather than a scientist (because I have a DPhil from Oxford). It's easy to laugh at such obvious untruths, until it sinks in that this clickbait gets shared thousands of times. People believe it, and then they too share it. And there is no way to counter every single falsehood. These lies carry more weight among some internet communities than the fact that Edinburgh University evaluated my expertise and granted me a professorship."

"[T]he people who make up universities: students, researchers, teaching fellows, support staff, lecturers and professors. Brexit, and the associated drop in immigration, means that we are attracting less top talent at all levels than before leaving the EU. This is clear from the student numbers: roughly 40% fewer EU students applied to UK universities in 2021 than in 2020."

"Similarly, Brexit – and the wider tightening of immigration policy – has made it difficult to hire (and retain) international faculty members. This has ramifications for science collaboration and research. Building a research team is similar to building a top football team: you recruit the best players with the right skill set, expertise and training, regardless of nationality."

"Many of the arguments (and counter-arguments) made for reducing cars have centred on the environment. But the real reason that cities such as Amsterdam adopted a less car-centric approach in the mid-20th century had to do with a more immediate concern: children being killed by speeding cars. In 1971, more than 400 Dutch children died in traffic accidents. It was a parent group, Stop de Kindermoord (stop the child murder), angered by the large number of deaths that forced politicians to rethink the design of once car-dominated cities in favour of more inclusive urban planning. In 2021, 17 children across the Netherlands were killed in traffic accidents."

"There is a balance to be found between people getting to where they need to go in reasonable time and a safe travel speed. But "anti-motorist" policies aren't the real cause of traffic slowing down. There are simply too many cars on the road, resulting in jams and standstill traffic, and the obvious solution is to provide alternative, affordable options."

"But it's also true that if people want to have children, governments should remove the financial and practical blocks that often make it an impossible choice. So far, however, even extensive support hasn't put any rich country back on track to grow its population in the future. This means we must think about immigration as a solution, too, including tackling where resistance to immigration comes from – and how to have a nuanced and balanced debate without making racial concerns the focal point."

"Trump embodies unapologetic honesty."

"Trump's leadership style also consternates my fellow millennials, who feel more comfortable with elegant underachievers than graceless bulldozers who "get the job done"."

"Leaver MPs grossly overestimate their opponents. Their centrist colleagues' masterplan for saving the Tories is little more than "suicide on autopilot" by an obsolete ruling class."

"Why haven't the ERG drilled into results from the recent local elections, which reveal Tories are haemorrhaging in “safe” areas from Essex to Somerset? The Brexiteers should use this evidence as a basis for arguing that it's no-deal or bust. Or they should do us all a favour, and defect to the Brexit Party."

"This is why with a no-deal Brexit now "illegal" we are heading for a second referendum, and the Tory Party's obliteration. The problem with brilliant men in politics is that too often their brains go to their heads."

"Indeed, if Boris Johnson does the only thing he can feasibly do and resign, the big risk is that the Conservatives will tip back into civil war."

"There is no point mincing words: Thatcherism and Reaganomics have been demolished by the very animal spirits of the free markets that, some 40 years ago, they unleashed in good faith. History has come full circle, with neoliberalism, like the mythical monster Ouroboros, devouring its own tail."

"It is time for the Leave camp to start saying the unsayable: the Tories have made such a hash of Brexit that the project is probably now unsalvageable."

"The mind boggles when it comes to Sadiq Khan. In many ways, he is a faceless phantom – a fascinatingly bland Labour apparatchik incapable of an original thought or phrase. And yet somehow he has managed to build himself into the consummate dictator-bureaucrat, London's own answer to Leonid Brezhnev or Raul Castro."

"[H]e is a genuinely disturbing political figure, spinning his own universe of deception out of London’s dystopian hellscape."

"You've got to hand it to Liz Truss. It is customary for prime ministers to spend their retirement wasting into tragic figures."

"There’s something slightly different about Truss. Perhaps because she wasn't in office long enough to go mad, there has been no period of roving in the existential wilderness."

"The conventional attitude is that, if World War Three arose, it would be by accident. But we should entertain the possibility that autocratic leaders – tortured by the prospect of death in the event of their fall from power – will be willing to pursue survival strategies that, while irrational to us, appear deeply rational to them."

"Tory Brexiteers promised that leaving the EU would allow Britain to "take back control" of its waters, and enable our fishermen to feast on a "sea of opportunity"."

"The question is why Brexit has spectacularly failed. Of course, the conventional Remainer wisdom is that it was doomed from the start. But this neglects the elephant in the room: as it turns out, Britain is terrified of freedom."

"Britain is equally terrified of free trade, lest it plunges us into a libertarian dystopia awash with cancerous meat and alcoholism. ... The new Brexit alcohol duty regime that links rates to specific alcohol strength outdoes Brussels in its convoluted paternalism."

"[[Nigel Farage|[Nigel] Farage]] has been mocked for espousing unpopular views. But an insurgent, mildly reckless party may be needed to break the stalemate. Reform may even be groping towards an innovative way of doing politics, which might be dubbed "paradoxical populism". The challenges of the day require charismatic leaders who can bank voter goodwill from populist achievements, such as bringing down immigration, in order to drive through less attractive but necessary projects, such as administering tough medicine to the economy or fixing healthcare."

"Trump looks set to prove a pivotal figure. His unimpeded energy, and wars against the legal-industrial complex offer a glimpse of a style of leadership that is willing to take on the biases and inefficiencies of the system."

"[P]erhaps Trump’s most striking "gangster" characteristic – and the one that has won him so many fans – is his bloody-minded focus. The reason we are mesmerised by the Hollywood gangster character – why we both fear him and deep down want to be him – is that he knows what he wants, and he goes out and gets it, not giving a damn about whatever or whoever stands in his way."

"The [[w:Syrian civil war|[Syrian civil] war]] has transformed the Alawi community in numerous ways. The most profound and obvious one for a community numbering about two million people is the scale of loss of men of military age. The Syrian regime stopped releasing statistics regarding casualties in its ranks early in the war, but Gregory P. Waters, a researcher at Berkeley School of Law's Human Rights Center, estimates that tens of thousands of Alawi men have been killed fighting for the regime. Tens of thousands more have been gravely injured, sustaining disabilities that preclude them from participating in the labor force."

"Although Alawis are overrepresented in the ruling elite, this does not translate into any alleviation of their generally deprived circumstances. Those with ties to the ruling family, whether through tribal or business dealings, are rich, while most Alawis live in underdeveloped villages. Unlike the Sunni underclass, which largely resided in rebel-held territory, Alawis—who cannot afford to emigrate, enroll in university to defer their service, or bribe their way out of military service (or into noncombat posts)—reside entirely in regime-held territory, where the draft is imposed and enforced through routine raids and at checkpoints."

"The recruitment to Azerbaijan and Libya reveal the desperate pragmatism of Syrians who have been reduced to subsistence in a country ruined by war—a war whose end is nowhere in sight, and which will, in any case, be determined by outside powers that helped destroy the country. The two countries that intervened most decisively in Syria to advance their interests, Turkey and Russia, as well as those that stood by as Syria drowned in blood, place virtually no value on Syrian lives, but see them instead as pawns in their own geopolitical chess game. Syrians—former rebels, militia members, and ordinary civilians—are simply leaning into the part they’ve been assigned: as pawns. Refusing to accept this logic means they and their families go hungry."

"Liza believed from early adulthood that caring about the citizens of Israel also meant caring about the rights of Palestinians in Israel. Later, she turned her attention both professionally and personally to our Arab neighbors in their fight for freedom during the Arab Spring. But she didn’t want to merely view them vis-à-vis their relationship with Israel; she believed that the right thing to do was to try to understand our neighbors from inside their own societies, the way they experienced and understood themselves. She became fluent in Arabic, and she visited many countries most Israelis will never enter."

"Liza went to Iraq for similar reasons. She intended to research the way Iraqis, and women in particular, were living after ISIS and in the shadow of sectarianism — not, as some online critics have said, to spy for the Israeli government."

"No single person has monopoly over knowledge, hence it is in my own interest to keep an open mind. To learn from the newborn baby and also from the aged woman on her death bed; from the billionaire and also from the street hawker."

"I would be doing myself a great disservice if I do not do what I can to empower those who are less fortunate than I am; so that they can also have voices to share their bits of the knowledge pie"

"We live in a multiracial society, we're very, very comfortable with that because if were weren't we wouldn't have the prime minister, we wouldn't have the home secretary or business secretary that we have. But we have to be very careful about how we explain and express immigration policies so that people aren't getting echoes of things that are less palatable."

"It wasn't until predators started exploiting the loopholes that we are having to tighten this. It is the behaviour of people who are choosing to exploit rights given to transgender people — because the definition is very loose — that we are now having to look at what we can do in order to protect women and children who are the most vulnerable in those single-sex spaces. It is not easy, the ideal situation would have been if the predators had not chosen to exploit this loophole. [Badenoch "insisted she was not saying transgender people were predators."] But there are more people who are predators than there are people who are trans."

"[Predators exploitation of loopholes] We see it with men exposing themselves in bathrooms. We see it with people trying to access single-sex spaces such as women's prisons when they have been convicted for violence against women, and their victims are being forced to refer to them with female pronouns. That is not right. So we have to make sure that we can sweep all that away and when we do, life will get better for transgender people."

"The law is confused because times have changed and words in law are being re-interpreted to meanings quite different from what legislators intended. Clarification is required. Not just to protect the privacy and dignity of women and girls, but also to protect those people with gender dysphoria for whom the law was set up to protect. These transpeople were going about their lives in peace, until predators started exploiting loopholes in the law by calling themselves trans with no evidence beyond their self-identification. Sex and gender, terms once used interchangeably in the law, now mean different things with significant implications. This is being exploited by all sorts of activist organisations, most notably Stonewall for their own agenda. That is why we are today pledging that, if we form a government [[w:2024 United Kingdom general election|after the [general] election]], we will clarify that sex in the law means biological sex and not new, redefined meanings of the word. The protection of women and girls' spaces is too important to allow the confusion to continue."

"I will not shut up. I will not be silenced by men who prioritise applause from Stonewall over the safety of women and girls. A rich, lefty, white male celebrity so blinded by ideology he can't see the optics of attacking the only black woman in government by calling publicly for my existence to end. Tennant is one of Labours celebrity supporters. This is an early example of what life will be like if they win."

"Culture is more than cuisine or clothes. It's also customs which may be at odds with British values. We cannot be naïve and assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnic hostilities at the border, or that all cultures are equally valid. They are not. I am struck for example, by the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel. That sentiment has no place here."

"I would be congratulating Prime Minister Netanyahu. I think what they did was extraordinary. Israel is showing that it has moral clarity in dealing with its enemies and the enemies of the West as well. [...] Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation, and I think that being able to remove the leader of Hezbollah, as they did, will create more peace in the Middle East."

"[On civil servants] There's about 5-10% of them who are very, very bad. You know, should-be-in-prison bad. [...] Leaking official secrets, undermining their ministers … agitating. I had some of it in my department, usually union-led, but most of them actually want to do a good job. And the good ones are very frustrated by the bad ones."

"[About planned changes within her party:] It's not going to happen overnight. I get lots of criticizm of 'You haven't changed anything!' You know, it's been four weeks I think, I have four and a half years to do this, maybe a bit less, but there is a plan. But you have to do things systematically and properly. I'm a systems analyst, I don't rush into things. And I think this is the biggest challenge for people: Having an engineer and a systems analyst in charge rather than a politician or a lawyer who just talks, talks, talks. I'm not somebody who starts with the rethoric."

"One of the reasons I don't like the term 'woke' is because I think it disguises just how bad this stuff is. This is civilization ending philosophy, where really bad ideas are being smuggled in under the guise of civil rights and so on."

"How do you know what an authoritative source is when everyone is trying to make the news rather than report the news? That's the new thing it our age. A lot of media doesn't want to observe and report. It wants to influence. It wants to be on the pitch rather than reporting."

"The middle-class now has changed. It has become a lot more bureaucratic and we are producing more and more people from universities who are going into a bureaucratic job rather than a genuine producing job where you're adding value. And that, I think, is why the growth is reducing at the same time as we're facing increased competition from other countries that are not spending a lot of time on bureaucracy. The EU is the classing of this genre; It's all about pumping out regulation."

"What's decompressing, what’s that? ["Does she break for lunch?"] What's a lunch break? Lunch is for wimps. I have food brought in and I work and eat at the same time. There's no time… Sometimes I will get a steak ... I'm not a sandwich person, I don’t think sandwiches are a real food, it's what you have for breakfast. [...] I will not touch bread if it's moist."

"I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba]. That's what I really am. I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram where the Islamism is, those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people."

"Well, take a look at President Trump. He's shown that sometimes you need that first stint in government to spot the problems, but it's the second time around when you really know how to fix them. And it starts by telling the truth."

"[I]n the United Kingdom, my party is starting the largest renewal of policy and ideas in a generation. ... If we get this right, we stand at the dawn of a new conservative century with so much opportunity and possibility. If we throw this opportunity away because of anger or self-doubt or weakness [o]ur country and all of western civilisation will be lost. And that is why we, the next generation of conservatives, must lead the world back from the precipice."

"Parliament needs to be able to decide who comes into the country, for how long, and who needs to leave, and that does include travel bans.>br />On a country-specific basis it's much tougher, it's often more vague. But I think there are scenarios where that is viable. That doesn't mean that I agree with what Donald Trump has done, I haven't actually seen the list of countries that he’s banned people from. I'm much more focused on (...) what’s happening here."

"He is catching arrows rather than stopping the archer."

"[On Robert Jenrick's defection to Reform UK] I realised he wasn't just leaving because he was unhappy, he wanted to burn the Conservative Party to the ground. That is what Reform wants, not to hold Labour to account or transform this country for the better, but to destroy our party. I am never going to let that happen."

"Reform is the party of traitors. You can’t trust them. Nigel Farage is doing my spring cleaning."

"[T]hey are a flash in the pan if I have anything to do with it. We cannot have people running our country who lie and lie and lie so easily, deceive their colleagues and people around them. We need to have honest people and that is what I am doing."

"It is great to win gold in my first championships race over 10,000 with a personal best...We were inspired by the marathon girls and we wanted to achieve the same."

"My fourth Olympics and I hadn't had gold. Today I said 'I am not going to lose'."

"I wanted to enjoy the crowd and be able to enjoy the atmosphere and just compete to my best ability, and I think I did that."

"My preparation for each race is very key. When the race begins I just like to get into the groove and go from there."

"I have never attempted to change my skin. I am natural. People in Europe and America love my dark skin. But here in Kenya, in my home country, some consider it not attractive."

"The reality in the African (model) industry is: the lighter your skin tone the more beautiful you are."

"I came to learn that this is a different world when it comes to rejection and also why people are looking at me is because I stand out, I am exotic, I am beautiful!"

"Leadership is not about you being a queen or a king, or putting yourself on a pedestal. Leadership is about coming to the ground with the people."

"Today I’m very happy because I won this year in London...I knew I was strong because I have done good training so I was having a feeling that I could do it."

"I knew this morning I was going to run well and there was such a good field you were always worried someone would do better,...It wasn’t until 25 miles that I got that confidence back and felt I could win."

"This is a great moment for me, and this is a day I will not forget for the rest of my life."

"I am convinced that this time is good enough to be selected for the Kenyan World Championships team."

"Some people like to run but they can not run [very fast]. It (running fast) is a talent."

"I don’t do anything. I just run. So I have to just focus on running. We don’t have any other jobs. Where we get money, it is from running. That makes us to work hard. If we do not win, we do not get money. If we do not get money, how can we live? In Kenya, everything is money, money, money. So we have to make it [in running]."

"Myself, I am sure I am clean. No doping scandal at all (with me)."

"I was never worried that I'd lose this,...At 35km I noticed that my other two team-mates had dropped off and that gave me the motivation to carry on."

"I had prepared that I would move out at 35km and my body was responding very well, as well as my movement,...At the 40km mark I knew the gold was mine. It was very hot but everybody had to get through the heat. I had to control my body and listen to my body very carefully."

"I am not happy about my race because I fell with 2 laps to go. The past 3 years I did not perform at my best but I have been improving a lot recently. I am not saying anything about the Kenyan team for the Olympics, but I will try my best in the rest of the season."

"The race, I`m a little sad. The time, I`m like, Wow. I`m stoked,..I`m really happy about the time. I knew I had it in me. This is a place to pop this kind of PR. I`m really pleased with the time."

"My actual finish down the straightaway is something I`m proud of,...That kick isn`t going anywhere."

"There was nothing wrong, I was in good shape. I felt good. I just ran really poorly. Two days ago (20 July 2012) I scared everyone and I cut it too close (in round 1). I am in good enough shape, but I have to realise there are more components to racing than putting one foot in front of each other."

"She was pretty far back, but she is smart and was on splits that were good for her, and she trusted that there would be victims of the early pace, which there were,...She closed hard and it`s a style that she really enjoys. Her last kilometer was about 3:01, which is really fast. She ‘PRed` by 10 seconds and we are thrilled."

"I am honoured and excited to be among top 10 designers from across the world selected to showcase the Qipao at the National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, China. As a Ghanaian designer, it is a great privilege and matter of national pride to represent Ghana on a global stage such as this."

"If ‘Ophelia’, a girl from Osu, can do it, then nothing can stop you from achieving your dreams. Go out and create your magic."

"What I have learnt is that a genuine name and personality will always remain,...Athletes should learn a lesson from these dopers that whatever you take, it will always come out, however, long. Shortcuts are not the way."

"I’m feeling so good to win my first World title. Since I started steeplechase in 2009, I knew that one day I was going to be a World champion. I have been waiting, waiting, and this year it is my time."

"I have had very good training and will be happy to see who the opposition lining up against me is. I want to run a fast time and look at making the Kenya team for the World Championships in 2019 in Qatar."

"I have no plans to compete on the track this season. My focus is on the road race and hopefully, I will string together good results and put my name up for selection to the marathon team for the World Championships next year(2019)."

"I love to compete and run as fast as I can. It is road, time and me."

"I want to continue being in the athletics, and that is why I saw it wise to change from track to the marathon and road races."

"I'm new in marathon races and I will be looking forward to a good performance. It's been a tough training for me, but it has come from me in terms of good will and hard work for good results."

"I have been in athletics for a long period and what I can say is that when you are disciplined, you will be there for a long period. It really motivates me training with the world beaters like Eliud Kipchoge and Geoffrey Kamworor."

"I have done my part on the track and now it is only right to try out a new challenge and the marathon discipline is inspiring enough."

"Eliud Kipchoge has inspired me. I have seen him train, the punishing he goes through to be ready for a marathon and it is worth to try it out."

"I believe 5,000m is my race though I took long to realize and specialized in the 1,500m. Since venturing in the 5,000m, my performance has been growing and I believe the best is yet to come."

"This season has been inspiring for me considering I have been able to lower my personal best. I have decided to settle for 5,000m and just hope for the best."

"For me, the improvement in time this season has been key and very inspiring for that matter."

"We went to like the last sprint and I knew that this was going to be the toughest sprint so I waited and waited so sprinting that I was like I have to go for it or give it everything I have."

"That was like the greatest thing I've ever felt. I feel so happy and grateful to do it here in Boston."

"I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to get second,’ but then realized quickly that she still had a shot. “I saw the finish and thought, ‘Oh, I can kick; I have a chance to win today."

"My coach used to tell me, 'If you win big races, your life is going to change,'... So I was a little prepared, and I'm having fun with it, but you really don't know what it's like until you're there."

"I was trying to help some of the Kenyans coming there to learn Japanese...But I decided I wanted to be more serious about running and make it my job. I felt like I was not going to reach my goals if I stayed there (Japan)."

"I didn't start training for the marathon when I was 20, 21, 22, like a lot of the women now...The other thing is that I didn't want to run marathons just because it was the thing to do. I felt like I wanted to do it only when I was ready to do it well."

"I love racing in New York...I know [the marathon course] is not as fast as some of the other races, but sometimes you have to feel it in your heart. You go where you want to be."

"Returning to Pittsburgh as the defending champion is really special to me....Last year (2022) was my first time in the city and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. The best part of the race is seeing all the amazing spectators on the course, regardless of the weather. My goal this year is to win the race again and see how far I can push my limits."

"It feels great to win my first race ever in Pittsburgh...It was so great seeing all the people on the course and cheering despite the rain. I can’t wait to be back!"

"This will be my first time coming to Pittsburgh...It’s always exciting to travel to new places and Pittsburgh has been on my bucket list. I’m motivated to capitalize on my training this spring, rather than refocus on another marathon. I am feeling fit and ready to run fast in Pittsburgh."

"The great feelings, I still have it. Lots of memories...It’s good to be back, back where I started. Not where I started running, but where I started to run well."

"It’s crazy. When I won the Boston Half, it’s when I was new. I had just started training with my coach and I saw that my training is paying off and all that stuff. Since then I kept going to races and getting better and better. This is where it all started, that year was when we started to get better...I’m excited. I love it here."

"I can tell you, my coach used to tell me ‘If you win Boston or big races like that, your life is going to change and everything is going to change.’ I was like ‘Oh yeah. I don’t think too, too much.’ But I can tell you it has changed a lot. Everywhere you go people stop and talk to me and say good luck, and want to know more about running...That’s one thing — I’m more inspired by it. Just how people are really into it, knowing it and wanting [to run more]. I go to the store and people stop me and that’s really good. It keeps me going."

"Coming back, every time is good and awesome...offering up some last minute advice. Make sure you have enough energy and are feeling yourself and know how much you still have left to go on the hills… Pace yourself."

"Today was a tough day. It was going to be a war of attrition and I knew that from the gun. I figured if we're going to hurt we might as well run fast."

"I think it was the best race for me. I got everything out of myself so I'm very pleased."

"I’m not an emotional person, but today was huge for me, I’m really proud of myself. You don’t get those moments too often, so I’m going to soak it in, be happy, then go back to being a competitor and try to take that next leap forward in racing down Boylston again. Today’s just as big as 2011 for me."

"At this point in my career I enter each race with a heightened sense of urgency and have become very selective in what races I'm willing to commit my time and energy to."

"I'm always grateful to be on the starting line and grateful to see the finish line just like every other 30,000 runners out there. I'm just like them. The conditions are tough today, but it's just so great to be here."

"I just feel like there is so much support and I want to do well for everyone else and it's the greatest motivator."

"I think sports have this great opportunity to bring joy and happiness into a world that’s sometimes a bit uneasy and disappointing and sad. It’s a great responsibility and honor to hopefully inspire people to be the best versions of themselves. If there are enough people in the world bringing the best versions of themselves to their work and families and communities, we would hopefully arrive at a place that is better. It’s an honor to be part of a culture and part of a group of women in the United States that’s doing it the right way, full of passion and dedication toward their sport."

"I was pretty confident that I was going to win, But I realized in the last mile that I couldn’t hang on and I had to settle for second."

"Instead of 'Africanizing' Western stories, I'm interested in reclaiming African history rendering them into what is happening in the present day."

"I would like to insert myself in the tradition of African storytelling through cinematic language."

"Being a Black woman who was born and raised in America to African parents is, naturally, where I draw my inspiration from as an artist and filmmaker."

"Through my artwork and films, I hope to open audiences up to a new dialogue between the continents of Africa and America; one that incorporates more than just stereotypes, but includes both conventionalized and un-conventionalized discourses of race in its service. By creating complex contradictions, I hope that new meaning can emerge and be deposited into the universal consciousness. If I can do this by creating an experience for the audience that enables them to experience what it is like to find oneself, while being foreign in a community, then perhaps I can help that new meaning come to light."

"My definition of success isn’t about the accolades and the awards, but being authentic and consistent in my work and opening audiences up to seeing other perspectives in film."

"I am so happy, it was the only medal I missed in my cabinet."

"I didn’t know I was going to win because the race was tough. I used my mind and decided to be patient...We had the Ethiopians in the races before and we saw they are strong on the hills. This was the last chance, I don’t think I’m going to go for another World Cross-Country."

"I’m satisfied with my second place finish, what matters most was to finish within 1-2 bracket. I will go back and work hard in training to ensure I do well in Tokyo. I’m really not bothered much with Ethiopians, as a team we will deliver good results."

"The race was good. I just wanted to seal top two...I have no pressure; I will be facing familiar opponents in Tokyo. I am used to fast-paced races and all I am going to do is continue with my training."

"I have been running 10Ks and half marathons, so I have lost speed to defend my 5,000m title...I want to leave it to the younger athletes."

"I tried to be patient and wait for the right time to happen...Today was my time."

"In the middle of the race I had to be patient and had to wait for the right time. I knew I trained well, and today I can say it was my time...Moving from track to the road racing was a big challenge for me. In track there was not a lot of mileage."

"In a marathon, anything can happen."

"With a year of marathon experience now under my belt, a win in Boston, and my move to the U.S., I’m coming to New York this year (2023) with more confidence and in search of a title...I’m excited to show the people of New York what I’m capable of and that my win at the United Airlines NYC Half in March was just the beginning."

"It is all about focus. The training for 1500m and 5000m is different, you do more because the distance is longer, you basically change everything in training."

"What came to my mind in New York was to finish the race so I can learn how to do my next marathon...So it helped me a lot to learn about patience. In New York I didn’t know about patience, I ran it like it was a track race."

"I said in my mind let me try to be patient. When were at about 25k, I said ‘patient’. And when I reached 42km, I said, ‘no, I want to win this race.’ And I said, ‘can I just use track speed to go?"

"You know, now you are saying you are not alone...There’s someone who depends on me. My daughter needs to go to school, needs to have a good background, a good life. So you have to work hard because someone is looking up to you."

"It’s encouraged me a lot to work hard because it’s a new life, it’s a new environment...I said, let me try to win because I asked you [to come] here. No excuses, I must perform. So I think they encouraged me a lot to train and to focus well."

"I do hope that next year (2024) is going to be good for me because I’ve done a lot and I’ve won the silver medal...So I want to upgrade it to gold."

"You can’t be like Eliud if you want to sit down and you say, ‘I want to be like Eliud Kipchoge’. Eliud Kipchoge does not sit down and wait to go and win races!"

"There are two types of men; the one who can spoil you financially now and the one who can do that in the future. Don't miss out on your soulmate cos you're blinded by material things!"

"Guys, don't let the internet rush you oooooo!!!!! Life is not a competition!!! Life is working for you in your own time zone. You're not too late or too early."

"My story is a typical grass to grace and from poverty to financial independence or success. Typically, mine is just from zero to hero, a nobody to somebody."

"When I started taking this journey, there was something that was my motivation and my motivation was poverty. I was a broke women, I was poor. There were days when I didn't know where the next meal was going to come from. I used to live with friends."

"None can be compared to me; whether the old or the new generation. I am second to none. My fans on various social media platforms are solidly behind me."

"There is this sudden craze for superficiality. This has resulted in women undergoing surgeries to remove fat from the tummy. Since when did we get here? It is something I can never do because let's just say I am an outmoded woman. I am just focused on my job. I am a very grounded and simple personality."

"I am extremely proud and excited to announce my role as the new National Director for Miss Universe Ghana. I will be working diligently with my team to make sure we make Ghana proud."

"As a former titleholder, the Miss Universe experience taught me a great deal and has shaped me to be the woman I am today. I am very passionate about building and maintaining the reputation of the Miss Universe Ghana pageant in my role as National Director."

"My wife - she's my manager, she's my, she's my coach, she's my everything, she's my everything."

"When you treat a woman right you always get a beautiful home… respect is key. I respect her (Menaye) a lot and she also respects me. People talk a lot but we are focused."

"If the change will come, the change will come from you."

"If you've realized I've kept my relationships secret. When (the relationship doesn't work out) and I cry at home it's me, my sisters and my parents that know I'm crying, that's it."

"I don't necessarily need a man with a mansion full of money, I need a man with focus...a great husband is somebody who is hardworking, a man with focus and a man who is respectful who can make me laugh."

"On the other hand, society does not see anything wrong with a man who has more relationships, they are viewed as champions while we (women) are called names so I am zipping my mouth now."

"A good number of celebs are single because they are confused as to who to accept in their life. You see, you are not sure if the person is coming in because of your fame and money or the person wants to be with you because of real love."

"The issue is men don't have balls to come forward to ask me out because they think I am already hooked or perhaps I am very high maintenance. Also, I may still be single because most people think celebrities are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing partners but that is a very wrong perception."

"We have come to accept certain things- which are our colour, how we look- and in a way we don't let people dictate who we are and what one should be. It is now not about how you look but the kind of story you are telling. The content we sell to people is changing."

"I always say I am African and it doesn't matter where I am from. The important thing is that, I am here and I am doing what I have to do."

"I had the opportunity to be her (Yvonne) friend for two years straight. And the "Letter to Yvonne Okoro" song is just me being creative. Lots of people write songs for people they like, I thought I will just do same."

"When I had the opportunity to be her (Yvonne) friend for two years, I realized she was a good person and at some point in time, I think I did some things that were wrong and I see nothing wrong with me coming out to write a song saying I'm sorry. That was special to me. She was a special friend to me."

"It's a profound honour to be associated with the Vlisco brand and carry the torch from my predecessor, Eugenia Tachie-Menson, who performed her role so well. I am incredibly honoured to fill the shoes of such great women. I want to thank everyone who voted for me and I'm looking forward to the year ahead (2016)."

"I fully support Ghanaians/Africans living outside helping to develop our countries and continent...we all leave our countries for various reasons, but I believe it is important for us to have tangible connections to ensure our participation in our countries’ development even while we are away."

"If everyone came out to tell a story of what people have done to them every step of the way, do you think we would be safe in this world or country (Ghana)??? Don't act like you are a saint when you're not."

"I don’t believe in the past, I only believe that whatever happened then should be able to make me strong and put me on the right path so that I can be a better version of myself."

"If I have to write a book, it will be one to empower people, to advise people. I don't think I want to give a memoir of how I have had sex or how many times I have had an abortion; it doesn't make sense."

"Don't say fix and not fix yourself! Change starts with us the youths. The old folks will leave, and when we hold the fort, we will account to everything we do! COURSE- Means the Direction, Route, Way, the journey!."

"You can be anything you want to be.......IT IS POSSIBLE! Just make up your mind, get at it, go hard at it, don’t give up."

"Once the man I am with is okay why I should bother about what others think? Whatever anyone says is no news to me so far as my man is okay with everything I do."

"I'm facing the biggest public shame ever in my life, but in the midst of the shame, the public ridicule, the insults, the trolls and the judgements, there's only one woman who has found the courage to stand by me and doing everything as a wife. Today I proudly celebrate you Mrs. Nkansah. If this is not an Angel, then I don't know who she is, if this is not every man's dream then I don't know what men want."

"I am strong in the midst of all this because of ONLY one person in my life, my powerful wife, VICTORIA LEBENE MEKPAH now MRS. OSAFO-NKANSAH. I was single and wasn’t finding real love. I never knew I would find a permanent place in the heart of one woman but guess what, I chose to marry the forever beautiful Victoria Lebene."

"Beyond these, I am drawn to the richness of this great country. Richness not summed in any currency, but in the people."

"Our influence in the world around us can be more significant than any of us imagine today – and it could last well beyond our final race, or goal, or jump. Together, we can be a force for good in the world around us. And that can start with the example we set, both on and off the field of play,"

"We are all competitors, but when we compete we should show respect for our sport – for the rules, for our opponents and for the people who cheer us on. Sport is in our hearts, and we should show the world that it is fun and inclusive. Sport has a unique power to speak to young people, and its message should always be a positive one"

"This is a power and a responsibility that is new to our generation. If we see a need for change in our sport or our society, we should speak out. And we must also enact that change ourselves – by using our profile and our platform to engage with the issues closest to our hearts."

"Today, we have the power to change the world in a way that the champions who came before us did not. If we recognize this opportunity and act together, then our achievements as sportswomen and men will only be the beginning of our legacies"

"One of my greatest blessings is seeing athletes who are inspired by me across generations. It has been a blessing to interact with those athletes, and I hope that there is something they can take from this journey"

"I came into this championship with so many odds, but I made the final. And I think that is a huge accomplishment. I remember in 2007 when I started, I was unsure what I wanted to do, but I walked away with so much from the championship. This time around, I came with all those experiences from years of participating in the championships"

"Tonight, I am really grateful that I was able to stand on the track one more time in the 100m finals"

"It has been such a privilege, an honour, and my greatest blessing to stand here tonight"

"I think a have so much fear about speaking out or just having an opinion on something."

"I wanna be the perfect"

"Motherhood is the thing that has touched me the most, really normalizing mothers in sport and women not having to choose between that part of life and staying in their professions"

"Becoming a mother and looking at my daughter and the world she’ll grow up in helped me find my voice and speak on some things I would’ve shied away from before."

"We must see this clearly for what it is—a maternal health crisis. That is why we must continue to fight to protect the lives of every woman and every mother in our nation"

"I realised how limiting it was to run the residency under a private company. Raising funds was not easy and the residency only catered for artists by Undiscovered Canvas"

"I realised that my vision for the residency was changing. I no longer wanted to cater for Undiscovered Canvas artists only, but I wanted to work with female artists across the African continent. I wanted to create a powerful community of women artists, collectors, gallerists, investors who would consciously support each other."

"I am based in France for the past 12 years, and I have been running Undiscovered Canvas (promoting global investment in and profiling of African Art). My strongest impact has been to identify young and emerging artists from Southern Africa and introduce them directly into a mature market"

"I don’t even have words to describe it"

"I didn't know what he was going to look like, but I wondered what my dream man was doing. I made this relationship a reality. True love exists."

"We were some of the experimental kids of the new rainbow nation and we battled a lot"

"I think it gave me my voice because I learned very quickly there isn’t a lot of help. We learned how to speak up for ourselves and how to identify micro-aggressions."

"I think it’s easy to see when someone says the k-word or when someone is outwardly racist. Micro-aggressions are very difficult to pick up on."

"That’s what I try to do with Kelz – expose the racism that doesn’t sound like racism."

"I was like, if we are your friends and went to the same schools, why are these issues not important to you?"

"Because you will speak up about rhinos or puppies – of course you should – but why can’t you speak up about black people?"

"When you go to certain schools and live a certain life, you’re going to have blind spots. Kelz helps me identify my own blind spots"

"I understand being the first generation of black people who kind of made it out, my parents were very nervous about acting."

"The thing that helped most of their peers get out was business, medicine and law. And there weren’t a lot of artists in their spaces who were able to make the money they made and give their children what they gave their children."

"When I lived in South Africa, I was very nervous if people would laugh at me instead of with me."

"I’m not thin. Being in this industry and being told ‘it’s difficult to imagine you in any role because you’re not thin’ was quite frustrating."

"If you’re a chubby or plus-size girl or whatever you want to call it, you’re the comically funny friend. You’re always going to be that friend in the corner who’s like, ‘girrrl’ or whatever sassy little comment. It’s irritating."

"I’ve seen these people in the ANC who just don’t care about the issues that affect less privileged people because they don’t have to care,” Lesego says."

"I think the ANC can feature in those things even if they are made up of black people"

"I really love to do it all, but singing has opened so many doors for me. And that’s definitely a true passion of mine. It’s a natural, God-given gift. I always find comfort in singing, so singing is number one. Acting, modeling: those go hand-in-hand and I enjoy those too."

"You don’t always have to take yourself so seriously all of the time. It still should be a joyful experience in making music. You can definitely hear that in my album. And I really learned that you should seize the moment; you should be present in the moment. It was just a great time musically for me. I evolved so much during Opera Noir, during my album, and it’s just so apparent in the music, in the delivery and the execution of it all. So I’m proud of it."

"You don’t always need all of the bells and the whistles. I learned in my life, throughout my journey, that I’m enough. I don’t need all of the extras. I just live my truth, and as long as I do that, I feel like I’ll be good in whatever circumstance. I apply that to life, to my music, to being a young lady out here. I just have to live my truth and know that it’s okay to rock on my own vibration, because I’m me. I try to stand by that code, especially as a young Black woman in this industry. I try to walk the walk and talk the talk."

"You have those times when you’re trying to fit a square into a circle. I’ve been through girl groups. I went through people saying I didn’t have it. I wasn’t special or I didn’t have the look. It really affects a person’s spirit. My manager, she told me that, ‘You are enough.’ And she also told me that it’s okay to be vulnerable. I took it and applied it to my artistry and it really helped me evolve into what you see now."

"I figured out how to set myself apart and create my own name and really figure out what that meant."

"Acting was the thing I wanted to do; it was the passion"

"It was a means to act, to write my own stuff so that I could act in it. I really fell in love with it and tried hard to get good at it and hone that craft."

"Growing up I definitely wanted to be a lawyer. It was all I could think of or speak about. I did go to law school for a year, I was at the University of Cape Town in the law programme. Once I started studying, I didn’t know if it was for me, especially learning about the industry and the sector, the opportunities – it just didn’t feel like a good fit."

"Make sure your relationship is between you and the person you love, no one has power over it, no one has a say over it and people will always talk, we were laughing. People will try and break something that’s beautiful, there’s nothing you can do"

"A lot of people were surprised about the wedding, but not us and especially not my parents. By the time Zakes proposed, my parents already knew because he asked them for my hand in marriage. So technically I was the last to know."

"Zakes and I went for many sessions of marriage counselling before tying the knot. Those sessions were very insightful into what married life was like and preparing to make that transition from being someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend into being a wife and husband,"

"Motherhood is healing. When done in the right way, it’s healing because you have to heal. You are forced to look at yourself and heal, so it’s humbling as well"

"My kids are like my own dopamine"

"Being a mom is like a passion project that doesn’t stop"

"I pride myself on working on myself as often as I can, and I finally reached a place of real self-awareness after I had kids. For example, I’ve always known I was neurodivergent—I have ADHD—but I didn’t fully understand the effects, especially how it ties into anxiety"

"It’s through my kids that I’ve come to better understand myself and see what else I still need to work on"

"When my daughter got her diagnosis as being on the autistic spectrum, that was enlightening. More than anything, it helped us understand our family genetics. Back then, there wasn’t much information. You didn’t have a name for things, but we were always very sensory sensitive"

"So when my daughter received her diagnosis, it became a moment of clarity—one that also helped me better understand my own family’s history"

"My dad is actually the one who suggested a doctor and by the time we got there, I was already convinced. I was convincing my family she was on the spectrum. I was just happy to get that confirmation. And I’m happy to always talk about it to normalise it"

"I want society to be comfortable with these kinds of conversations—conversations that matter"

"My children are like black and white, the most different ever. And I love it"

"My son is Mr. Entertainer, Extrovert. In a room full of people, he’s that kid who stands out. He loves socialising and is so independent. He even has an exhibition coming up in September and is also a pianist. OMG, he is everything"

"My daughter, on the other hand, is introverted. So graceful, so beautiful. She has this quiet confidence"

"That’s why they get along so well. My daughter doesn’t want the spotlight and my son thrives in it. There’s no competition—just harmony"

"I had to heal so much so that I am able to understand that my children are born through me but belong to God. In that way, I don’t project onto them. I’m even counting down the years until my son leaves home to go flourish,” she jokes—yet it’s clear she’s deeply intentional about preparing them for the world while also allowing them to discover their own callings"

"I love a role that I can ground somewhere in myself. There are actors who love to extend themselves, I like to find extensions of myself."

"Everyone who receives power involuntarily feels omnipotent…superior to all others who fantasize about freedom. But what do we know about the dependencies of those who are themselves omnipotent?"

"Until the last sentence of writing it is always uncertainty"

"In Ukraine, death has become an integral part of everyday life"

"What and how do we remember and what do we forget? What do we want to remember and forget? How does history become a legend and legend a myth? Sofia Andrukhovych reveals to the reader an interlace of stories about human destinies, which form a mosaic of collective Ukrainian memory. A very timely book for modern Ukraine. After all, the future belongs to those who are not afraid to look back and look in the mirror."

"I’m done shrinking. I’m going to grow. I’m going to grow taller than you. I’m going to grow so tall you won’t be able to climb me."

"I've dreamed of having a family since I was very young because I'm very close to my mom and to my parents, I would love to have that connection in the future with hopefully my child. I don't see myself having a child and then coming back."

"It teaches you so many lessons. Certainly all of these are part of it. I continue to learn from it. I don't know if there are some things so challenging and so rewarding at the same time within one week or two weeks, the emotions that you feel, that I'll maybe ever get in my life"

"You know, the last coach of my career coached Sinner for several years, so I got to play with him a few times. So, you know, I'm always rooting for him"

"I just like his humble approach to the sport. I love seeing the younger generation. There's an aura about the men's game, it's very evident. They have different styles of play, different personalities, from different parts of the world, and it's just fun to see these rivalries come together."

"I think the men's game is in a good state"

"Cameroon needs me as a leader and I will be that leader"

"The president [of the Federation] has contacted me and I am on board to bring Cameroon back on the top. It won’t be easy. I know the challenge and I also know what needs to be done, so I have a plan in place"

"As one of the leaders, it is my job to bring Cameroon back to the top with help of other players"

"I have so much basketball to play. My daughter Diana will watch me play and I know my country is still counting on me to lead them to the gold medal. My fans are waiting for my return and I will not disappoint them. I will fight like I always do and having my daughter in the background is a plus for me."

"Playing in front of my family and friends was the best thing that ever happened to my career. Being able to carry my country to the final was my dream but doing it in front of my loved ones was a dream come true. I will never forget the [FIBA Women's ] AfroBasket 2015 in Cameroon because that year was a turning-point in my career and a year my father would have been so proud of me"

"But instead my mother was the happiest woman in Cameroon as her daughter that she long waited 15 years to bring to the world was carrying a whole country in her hands."

"I know that there's a cancel community – you cannot cancel what you have created."

"When I'm needed, and when the time is right, the world will hear my voice. They will not hear my voice when they feel they should."

"A father for a girl-child sets the bar in relation to how you view and relate to men"

"The Kelly today doesn’t care what people say or think of her. The Kelly you see today is not defined by people’s expectations or perceptions of her. She is a liberated being, not defined by society – so, I appreciate her more than I did 20 or 10 years ago"

"Fame has a way of finding you"

"Motherhood is not for the faint-hearted; it’s for soldiers who are godly trusted because kids will test your faith, love and patience"

"My children are a reflection of me – they mirror me in everything, but they’re also a better, upgraded version of me"

"Enough is enough. It stops here and it stops today. I'm not going to be diplomatic about this. I'm not going to release press statements, I'm not going to waste my money hiring lawyers to speak on my behalf"

"I'm not above the law"

"If you haven't been in the child's life for many years you are no longer the father of the child, even if you decide to resurface and take responsibility"

"I feel like I had an innate gift that I was born with to run."

"It’s a blessing to be out there, it’s my pas­sion and the joy I bring to many people when I compete, it’s a blessing. Sometimes I reflect and learn from how far I came. I remember running barefoot in Trelawny, and the whole process to where I am now is just awesome."

"I also like to give back in life. I like to make sure the way I live my life I can influence young people."

"I put the pressure on myself because I love what I do."

"When you achieve that dream, it shows anything is possible if you put your mind to it and work hard for it."

"I dreamed, I worked hard, I received."

"I have just realized that, there are so many issues that eat us up as women or as a people and from my experience of what I have gathered so far I realize that a lot of women want to be listened to, they want people to know how they feel especially when it comes to issues of delayed conception."

"'Silence Is Not Golden'....with a very eye-opening and inspiring journey and we will learn when to be silent and we also know some silence can be very distractive."

"There are times I feel my performance wasn’t the best. Sometimes, I feel embarrassed either by the role or the way I interpreted the role. I sincerely must accept that roles were not put across perfectly."

"It was a very long, tiring, challenging and revealing journey, and once again, MAWU SOGBILISA changed the story to his glory. It has happened, on time, in time, in his time."

"I am aware that lots of people are worried and some have been complaining on social media about the kind of roles I play. They feel my marriage will not last due to the bad girl role I play but I say that, they should not worry at all, my marriage is intact and will continue to be till thy kingdom come."

"What people do not know is that, I don’t just get up and do things on my own. I have an incredible team I work with and my hubby is always in the know of whatever move we want to take. Sometimes, I discuss it with him first to get his opinion. My hubby is very understanding and we communicate a lot."

"It is a choice, creating memories is good for the children. In the olden days, we had photo albums, now we have social media."

"It is very challenging running your own production house and very capital intensive yet profit isn’t guaranteed. The passion for production keeps us going, as well as the hope for a better day, it is, however, not really lucrative."

"I believe most actors have a thing or more going on the side. Acting is not as lucrative as it should be so having a side business is definitely a very smart move."

"Always being negative about the beautiful and fun union. Chill jor; it's not that serious! Live life! You deserve to be happy! Avoid those negative/clueless preachers. Listen to people with positive marriage results! It's not serious like that I beg! Don't lose yourself!"

"There are great people the world today who were born out outside wedlock and there are miserable people today who were born to parents who married virgins. Definitions, determinations and the future belong to God. It is an act of wisdom to desist from defining people based on what you see about them today."

"I've hard conversation about being a woman and the things that come with it, and I couldn't believe it, trust me I couldn't have survived."

"I know I'm so blessed, in fact I'm a walking GRATITUDE list! But this 30's is beginning to get a little scary Let me share this with you: it's so easy to be lazy when you think you're young; a little over 10 years ago, I wouldn't feel a pinch of guilt if I slept 20 hrs a day, I was reluctant to taking advantage of all the hours in a day, I was so content when I should actually be up and cracking...the small positive results from my little efforts made me feel so cool, but these days I can't even sleep in; the moment I realise it's morning and I'm still in bed the way my heart skips is not funny at all, so if you're reading this in your twenties, this is a wake up call for you to be up and cracking...make a "hit" before 30, I guess you know what I mean and come thank me later with only 20%. Don't be discouraged if you're above 30 and feel like most goals haven't been met yet, I'm reminding you that at any given moment of the journey, you have the power to say: this is not how the story is suppose to end ! Cheers to life and more blessings."

"Undoubtedly, my social media platforms have become a space for having uncomfortable yet relevant social conversations. Sharing my story on stillbirths and miscarriages was my own way of dealing with the suppressed trauma of having a child grow in me, and never getting to know them."

"This was an open invitation for all women who had experienced the same or similar to share their experiences. It didn’t end there, the release of my debut book Silence Is Not Golden sealed it for people who have been following me to feel comfortable to share their stories."

"I can’t really remember when it became a thing but for the longest time, I have always let people in on my personal life outside of what is in the press. I operate my social media as an extension of myself as a human first, and a digital journal when I want it to be."

"I’ve been openly sharing stories about my childhood, coming of age, my family and parenting. Most people identified themselves with the stories I shared because they are honest and most could relate to the story because of our shared cultural experience as Ghanaians, Africans, or sometimes as humans."

"I offer advice to the ones I can and direct the rest to the appropriate places they can get help. Most of the problems that come into my inbox are a ripple effect of society and our age-long culture of silence. There are so many stories I haven't addressed, and even more stories I can never share on my timeline no matter the level of anonymity employed."

"I prayed for a time like this – to be in a position to help people. I cannot deny the role of these people in my life, their stories open my eyes to realities my privilege shields me from. It breaks my heart when I am not able to help some of them, but I am hopeful they’ll find help somewhere."

"Simply put, it feels good. It feels good knowing people are living better than they were before they shared a problem, and I even sometimes forget my experiences with these people. Most of these people send me messages and leave me texts after years thanking me for helping them with their education, healthcare, family, or just sharing a post they find eye-opening."

"It’s about time we created a safe space for young people to freely share whatever they are going through without judgement. Not everyone can openly start such an initiative with their social media platforms, also not everyone has numbers, but everyone has someone around them they can start these conversations with. It’s a very big task, but our immediate circle is a good small place to start. We need to constantly learn, unlearn, and relearn a lot of things we have come to accept as our culture."

"Rome wasn’t built in a day, take advantage of the time between jobs and auditions to improve your skill, invest in your craft and don’t take shortcuts, believe in the process. It may take longer than imagined but with the right foundation, the building will be solid and lasting."

"I have always wanted to make an impact and that is what has influenced me to be humble and simple towards my people despite who I am, I want to be an inspiration to the younger ones and that is why I am humble. I know to be make an impact I have to be friendly."

"What I feel about criticisms, I believe in everything you do, you will need people to criticise you so you can pick the productive one to improve on your work."

"It is an exciting feeling and it goes to say that prayers are answered, God gives us what we want at the right time and as the saying goes, He makes all things beautiful in His time."

"Know your audience. The better your understanding of your audience the better you can communicate with them."

"Communication is key in any relationship and journalists are no different; for the more and clearer the information you give the better the relationship."

"Understanding what it is that a journalist needs; if you can make it any easier for a journalist to do his/her job it always helps."

"Try not to influence what a journalist writes, as long as they have the facts."

"As a kid I was bullied when I came to the UK because I was dark-skinned had short hair and just didn't fit in. I didn't speak that much English and was dyslexic so I had many challenges. But my mum was my inspiration as she encouraged me and said you can be whoever you want to be. I was always looking for inspiration and people who could inspire me, I wanted to listen to people's journeys."

"When you ask someone who inspires you they always say Bill Gates or Steve Jobs - there are no African names and we (Africans) have great African people doing great things."

"The best way to celebrate is to give those who lack. 40 years of life has been phenomenal and I want to continue impacting society and humanity."

"I’m at my most confident when I’m in nature and I don’t have to dress up. When I take off my makeup, that’s [Josh’s] favorite"

"I like a guy who has a strong sense of integrity"

"The show becomes about your personal life if you talk about it too much."

"I think there comes a moment in every woman's life — in every person's life — where it becomes less about work and more about family, and that's what happened while I was making the show"

"Doing that many episodes in a different city and then you add Covid to that, most of us couldn’t see our families for almost a year. It really solidified for me that family is where my heart is at the moment."

"The Indy 500 made me realize that life and racing careers are too short not to go for it"

"My interest and passion is to continue to break new ground in motorsports. I’ve been proactive over the last year in thinking about what I want to do in my career and how I can accomplish those things."

"The problem starts with the moment people think that sport is something only for men, when they don’t even realise that these are discriminatory statements"

"Throughout my life I have heard comments of this kind. This is because society is reluctant to accept that women can be more than housewives."

"I’m of the opinion that Angolan clubs don’t invest enough in the women’s game, not even investors"

"I think people just should be happy, and so I encourage everyone — men, women — there's a lot of people who are stuck in relationships when they're not happy because they don't like the idea or the look of what divorce is"

"It's okay. Everyone should just choose happiness."

"I’m really grateful to have been someone who was able to bring representation at a time where there wasn’t very much"

"We’ve grown a lot in this industry and we’ve grown a lot in representation and we’ve grown a lot in terms of understanding the needs of an African American actress"

"Cry in the beginning, so you can smile at the end."

"This shows that women’s soccer has been growing. This shows that women’s soccer is a product that gives profit, that gives enjoyment to watch."

"Women’s football is relying on you to survive. Think about it, value it more."

"Sometimes I’m so overwhelmed by what’s demanded of me as an actor, The selfie phenomenon has taken us down a route where our identity and our values are lost."

"I remember being a youngster, running around and not having a phone and not having any kind of labeling in my mind and just free-playing … It felt timeless."

"With these reels that are 3 seconds, everything is timed and everything has an expiration, and I think that’s where social anxiety comes in."

"We’re migrating from our selfies to what we stand for, she says. I’m very, very grateful that we’re moving toward art, creativity, and community, and that’s where I think the solution lies for all of our younger generations"

"I’m telling you, I’m guaranteeing you, you are not alone. If you have a trusted contact, you [can] feel an instant where you’re not being judged. That is the doorway to your own liberation – and that is the doorway to freedom, freedom from your mind."

"A good script is a good script. I want three-dimensional, truthful characters that the audience will care about and a script that has something to say. Even if the script is just for pure entertainment and escapism it can have something to say. I look now for roles that are different from what I have done before. I want to challenge myself and people’s perceptions of me. If we challenge ourselves, we grow."

"It doesn’t matter what angle you approach a character from (because that varies) ultimately my process is the same regardless of the medium. A human approaching another human. What does this person want or rather think they want?"

"Female education in the world – every girl should have the right to education – and gender equality, hence lending my face and support to Plan UK’s ‘Because I am A Girl’ campaign. And you should watch ‘Girl Rising’ too. I also feel very strongly about supporting charities for vulnerable children. That’s why I ran the London Marathon in 2014 for Barnardo’s. Whether affected by poverty, abuse, disability, addiction or isolation, no child should ever feel that they are alone and life isn’t worth living."

"I do some conventions and that’s always really nice because you get to meet fans, But at the same time, a lot of people, they might have a favorite character, but it’s more that they’re not really thinking about you. They’re thinking about the world and I think the world is what everyone’s obsessed with, really."

"I think Harry Potter works so well because at the core of it, if you think about it, it’s about a kid that is suffering child abuse and finds his family not in family, but in friends. I think that’s such an amazing message and, obviously, it’s coupled with magic, which we all want to want to be real, all of us. And it’s coupled with really trying to process death as well, which is why I think it’s such a successful thing. Because it does all those things for children, but for adults as well."

"I think for me, the biggest thing was my integrity being on the line, my integrity being questioned essentially. I didn’t win the Olympics with special treatment. I didn’t want to be there with special treatment."

"That was a moment that I was proud of because everyone constantly says, ‘Oh, you’re not strong.’ ‘You’re too this.’ ‘You’re too that.’ But to show that, yeah, I’m not physically the strongest one there, but I still was able to do something like that was a moment that made me proud."

"I wanted to give them that feeling of you are special, you are incredible, No matter what your accomplishments are, you are just as good as everybody else. I wanted them to feel like they were competing at the Olympics and now that they had made it, this is your moment, now just go out there and enjoy."

"The Commission plays a vital role in representing the voices and interests of athletes in our sport, and I am committed to continuing the work done by my predecessor,"

"I hope to continue to inspire female athletes all around the world that if you want to have a kid and you want to come back and be at the top of the world, you can, you can absolutely do that and today’s a testament to that."

"The realization of returning to our local league, a goal I thought was impossible after almost 13 years abroad, has been achieved"

"I feel blessed, I feel fulfilled, and I feel all my hard work is there for the world to see. It means everything to me."

"You know, it’s often said that if you’re not making waves, no-one talks about you, but the moment you get some forward momentum, you’ll attract criticism as well as praise."

"There’s nobody here for the day out. To be able to go home with a medal is fantastic. It’s not a personal best, there is more in me, but any day I can throw over 30 is a good day really. I am gaining on her (Nassima Saifi) all the time and the plan is to close the gap and maybe some day take her down. We’ll have to put more work in and see where we can get more distance out of it."

"I am so pleased to get a personal best in this event and I am over the moon with a silver"

"Those girls I was racing against are specialists in breaststroke so to go against them in my ‘fun’ event was really exciting. I have had to do a lot more events than other swimmers so to get silver, I could not ask for more. I have not had a season’s best in that event this season, so hopefully this is the gala where I get it."

"At the time when I did my course it was attached to a Theatre Studies Foundation Degree at Leeds College. I needed to do a top up year to get a BA. The previous course has been more traditional theatre and the year at Beckett introduced me to performance art."

"I recently became a Lecturer in Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University. Previously, I worked at the University of Manchester (Drama), Warwick University (Poetry) and guest lectured at Leeds Beckett (Performance). My teaching is attached to my work as a poet, screenwriter, playwright, dramaturg and director. I have been working as a freelancer for 15 years. I have performed poetry and competed in international poetry slams. My theatre work has been produced across the UK, France, Germany, South Africa, Zimbabwe and USA. I have made short films and produced radio plays. I have purposely worked on multidisciplinary projects to challenge myself as a writer and grow my skills."

"Where possible, I took part in various development programmes and workshops. These helped me move through various mediums and build networks over the years. As a result of my industry experience, I'd be invited to lead workshops for arts organisations, theatres, schools and universities. I built a teaching portfolio while simultaneously continuing to do my vocation. When the position at MMU came up, it welcomed applicants who had industry experience where a PhD was missing. I knew I was qualified for the job."

"The course introduced me to new performance principles and techniques. It gave me an appreciation for performance art. However, it crucially highlighted that as much as I enjoyed performing work, writing was where I thrived more. Researching and creating scripts is a genuine passion."

"I've had many proud moments over the years. When I was 17, I represented the UK with Leeds Young Authors at Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam in New York."

"In 2014, my first play BOI BOI IS DEAD won the Channel 4 Playwrights Scheme and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize."

"My plays are published by Bloomsbury. My first narrative short, THE ANCESTORS premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in LA in February 2023."

"This month, the spin off anime Castlevania: Nocturne premiered on Netflix. I am one of the screenwriters on the series."

"The performance of my final project, HOME HAS DIED was my favourite memory. The project was a tribute to family members who had passed away. It touched on migration, disconnection, grief and healing. It was my first ever solo show. My mum joined me on stage. She played the drum and sang."

"The notion of discovery is very important to hold on to. Sometimes we think we know who we are or what an idea is; or we are debilitated by what it isn't or what we aren't. But by remaining in a space of discovery you'll be open to experiment, to ask for help, to throw things out and receive the unknown, to collaborate with other practitioners and to put yourself forward for opportunities. You'll be scared, but still do it and discover what comes."

"I am fighting always until the end, Nothing is lost until the finish of the competition. I knew that I would fight and I knew that I would throw more, that's what I knew."

"This is my first medal after the second baby, so it is actually a long time, and it's what I told myself before the sixth throw - that I have to show my boys how to fight,"

"That's what I told myself. And then they ran to me and it was the most beautiful moment in my career, I guess."

"I love being African and l love African women, celebrating all that we are and encompass, so I’m inviting women across the entire continent, married, divorced or widowed, to fetch their lives and enter Mrs Universe Africa."

"Let's change the narrative, change mindsets and challenge the stereotypical ideas of what beauty is ... May we change lives together and create a new narrative for women across our beautiful continent."

"You have to cook with your heart in order to make your guests feel the soul of your cooking. You can be a great cook and a great chef, but if you don’t have the passion then it is not going to translate to the guests."

"I get my inspiration from everywhere, and admittedly mostly from places that aren’t food related. I love going to museums, because art really inspires me. When I look at cookbooks, I tend to like the ones that are super artistic- more art books than cookbooks."

"When I was younger I tried to be the chefs that I saw and thought were successful, but that doesn’t work. I was young and trying to make a name for myself. I was trying to make their style of food or personality, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t going to get me anywhere."

"Human activities are the highest contributors to climate change."

"The magnitude and rate of climate change together with associated risks, depends strongly on the near-term mitigation and adaptation actions."

"“These awards reflect the times, and nowadays hopefully recognise how important science has been, and continues to be, not only in understanding what’s changing but also how we can respond to those changes,”"

"“The magical experience of diving in a kelp forest is like flying through a jungle surrounded by an amazing diversity of life,”"

"“Those forests are now effectively gone because of climate change. It makes me sad when I think my kids won’t have that same experience and get to see those environments the way I did.”"

"“I’ve come from being interested in understanding the fundamentals of ecology to thinking more about how humans interact with ecosystems and how we can better connect knowledge to decision making,”"

"“We have this traditional model where scientists go off and do their work, write a paper and publish it in a journal and hope that somebody who needs it picks it up and is able to make some kind of decision based on the information. But it doesn’t work anymore because so many of the problems we have now are very urgent, and we need more efficient ways to connect science to policy.”"

"“The national finalists are an extraordinary group of people whose impact ranges from medical and scientific endeavours to volunteering, human rights advocacy, education, sustainability action and more,”"

"Shoo! I would say it’s one of my biggest career highlights to grab the attention of the most sort after, prestigious and world-renowned university, Harvard."

"Spent a good two years researching about my life, upbringing, career and entrepreneur journey, and the case study was published and first lectured to their MBA students in November 2020, and is now part of Harvard Business School academic literature."

"Government is spending so much on football. Though I am not against that, but it’s advisable for it to shift a little and show more interest in other sports, such as track and field."

"The responsibilities of impacting the right attitude and adequate training can only be achieved by professionals in the industry."

"When you look at the idea behind the race, it is meant to promote peace. And so any thing that will bring peace to this country must be supported."

"At that level, you don’t wait for anybody, it is your career and you have to work very hard to achieve your goals."

"My goal has always been to help our athletics a blend of the old and new by encouraging them."

"When you are a top athlete in the world, if you marry the person on the track with you, whenever you travel, both of you can go together since you do the same thing."

"For me, each race was like a hurdle that I must jump over."

"Motherhood is such an indescribable feeling; it’s the best thing in the world. I think all women should go through the experience to understand what I’m saying."

"I am very passionate about the plight of the less-privileged and I wish that I could set up a foundation to cater for their needs."

"When the ovation is loudest, it’s not when people start saying what else do you want. Because sometimes it’s better to give the young ones a chance to come up, it’s not that some people don’t want to leave, it’s because Nigeria don’t appreciate their own."

"You should not worry about what is going on around you because whatever that’s going on is to distract you, but if you keep on focusing and you talk with the right people, when you talk to one person and that person wants to discourage you, you know that you don’t need such a person, but when you talk to another and he encourages you, you know that the person is your friend that wants you to progress."

"if you keep on working at it, with all your mind and people say they see you everyday passing by to the stadium to train and one day when they see you on the pitch for an international tournament the people will remember how you always went for training every morning, passing through their area all the time, that’s it, you don’t have to give up."

"There are things that matter in sports. You may train an athlete for months and you think that the athlete is good enough to win a medal but on the day it matters the athlete gets into an overwhelming stadium with 80,000 spectators shouting and the athlete freezes."

"My parents bought me my first running shoe , My coach John Afuwape gave my first Spike shoe in 1980."

"Some of the athletes of this generation need to be ready to work harder and not to be telling their coaches that the work load is too much. They must realise that only hard work, determination and discipline can take them to the top of their careers."

"Sometimes you look back in life despite what you have achieved and wished you did some things better, I wish I had listened to my coach to run 400hurdle and put more effort in 200m and 800m."

"Growing up and seeing my mother representing Nigeria as an athlete, I always wanted to be like her. Whenever I watched her races and how she ran so well, I knew I wanted to follow in her footsteps, and like her, my goal is to one day participate in the Olympics."

"My mother taught me to be hard working. She instilled that in me from my childhood days."

"It is every athlete’s dream to compete in the Olympics and the competition is stiff. We might have qualified via wild card but in every sport, anything can happen. I am going there to compete not to make up the numbers."

"It’s always been my goal and vision to take South African food to the world—what an amazing evening & incredible crowd of people to have in one room, definitely one for the books and a very proud moment!"

"There are so many different cuisines in the different regions and in every culture of Africa, If you go to Limpopo National Park to see the big five (lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and Cape buffalo) you’ll also find the biggest mangos and avocados you’ve ever seen, which all get exported to the rest of the world."

"Everyone gets to enjoy our cuisine but needs to celebrate it a little more. I hope to introduce the cuisine of my home more by doing residencies and pop-ups like this. The best thing about African cuisine is the people who make it and the stories behind them."

"No one should say I have to do it, it should come from my heart to stop netball. I cannot just sleep and wake up and say, now I'm done"

"If I'm still strong, I can still go and play. I can say I still have five more years. There are youngsters coming in so I think for them to come while I'm still active, it's a good bonus for the players and share what I learnt with the experience I have with those players before I step off."

"So, I think for me while I'm still active, it's my job to help the youngsters and then when I step off at least there's no gap."

"It is important because obviously these guys playing National Champs, Varsity [Netball], their set up is not the same. So, to come into our setup it's totally different. So, they need someone who's already in the setup. Someone who's gonna guide [them] like a leader. I think that's what we doing as leadership in the Spar Proteas setup."

"Having the opportunity work alongside the Roses in an off-court capacity is a very exciting prospect"

"My passion for the squad and it’s success remains the same as when I was a player. I’m looking forward to positively contributing in whatever way I can."

"Continuing to harness Jo’s experience of playing internationally over an extended period of time and of this Roses team and environment feels like not only the right thing for us to do but also helps to give us a competitive advantage heading into this World Cup"

"Her aptitude for wanting to help others perform at their best and her love for the Roses is clear for all to see and she will be a real asset for us through Cape Town"

"As a player, Jo has always managed to strike the balance of being both demanding and light-hearted. People want to listen when she speaks, such is her credibility in the global game and I have no doubt she will support the team selflessly.(Roses coach Jess Thirlby)"

""In order to prepare our students for the future, we need them to have a broader range of knowledge, and a technique they can use to help them get to the bottom line. They used to call it “critical thinking.”"

"We’re in the service industry. The better we understand the people we’re trying to serve, the better their care will be."

"And it’s important to remember that it’s not just the individuals in the community you’re serving. You’re also serving the community as a whole, which has its own personality and its own issues"

"Heritage was the block I tried since November along with Versace. When I arrived in Ticino, I had in mind that I wanted to do this one but I didn't know if mentally I would be able to give my all in a hard high ball, because the final part of the recovery is not that easy and the fall may not be very good"

"A movement was causing me problems for 6/7 sessions, until the day we went with Mélissa (LeNeve) and Brooke (Raboutou) and we focused on “finding the method”. After that I was able to start testing. But mentally I always said to myself “if I manage to make the movement of recovery I give myself the option of not continuing, if I do not feel confident in the future.""

"I’ve always been an active child – I was the one on school trips clambering up rocks and getting stuck while others complained about blisters and heavy bags – but more adventurous climbing was never on my radar"

"In September 2009 I climbed Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain. It was, without a doubt, my toughest climb to date. I was so far out of my comfort zone. There were moments when I thought I just couldn’t do it. Each day was the hardest day of my life. I’ll always look back at that trip and remember the pain, the fear."

"To be honest, I don’t have the best memories of the summit. When I think of my successes on Everest, I don’t think of getting to the summit, I think of other scary moments, working together as a team. By that point, I’d had all the experience I needed. The summit has been hyped up by the media – there’s so much more to Everest than reaching the peak."

"I have indeed enjoyed it, I just wish I got company on one of the times would be nice. It’s a long way on open roads with the wind today, but it’s good time trial practice. You’ve got to gamble and just try, we’ve got to keep the attacks coming because we’re lacking that strength for the GC, so maybe one day it will go to the finish, but you never know"

"They got across just at the bottom of the first QoM, so I had to suffer a little on that one, but by the second one I was not with the front group anymore!"

"It was tough, but I liked the course today, it’s nice, not super super tough but there were some hard sectors in there and this type of course I really enjoy. And there were good crowds out there."

"I’m interested in exploring matters related to gender, social justice, the environment and educational policy. I love spending time in nature, roaming around forests and swimming in the sea"

"After several years of working at different schools and educational organisations, there’s one thing that has become clear to me: education is key for our sense of community, and our sense of community is an essential aspect of our wellbeing. I’m thrilled to join HundrED as the Community Coordinator since this is an area where I hope I can foster a sense of community -especially among our Youth Ambassadors- while addressing educational matters"

"Schools play an important role in crafting the society, values and culture around us."

"When I was growing up, girls had no say. Your only use is to be married off for your bride price. I saw many girls taken out of the classroom and handed out to men - usually older men."

"I don’t go to church because the churches around where I stay currently make too much noise which doesn’t invite me to worship with them. I believe we go to church to worship God, sing and pray but what goes on in my area is beyond measure."

"I am a religious person but marrying a man of God won’t work for me. I do secular music and a man of God wouldn’t allow his wife to be doing that. I will rather marry a free thinker so that we manage, particularly someone who is not too much into church."

"I can do any kind or style of music I want...Reggae, Ragga, Ballad, African, Afro pop, even Pure pop. As an African, I still have my African thing and I don’t want to lose that because I just believe from day one that would make me stand out quick and I can never let that go."

"It’s true that my music is not always genre specific, but I always see it as Afro-centric. I will be releasing an album of my own songs later this year (2016) and I will be singing in my local languages of Sissala and Wale as well as English. Some of the songs will sound traditional and local to where I grew up, whilst others will be more mainstream influenced."

"All my life, I have dreamt one day I would climb international stages and showcase my talents on behalf of Ghanaians to the world. I say to all Africans, in whatever field you have talent, dream big and go out and live that dream. We can and will change perceptions about Africa."

"If you’re authentic, artificial intelligence can’t kill your career."

"I will be as popular as anything in the North but because it’s (Ghana Music Awards) an Accra-based program and most of the radio stations are Accra-based, it is normal that they only hear Accra songs. Most of the DJs don’t understand our songs and a lot of people are not willing to understand our songs."

"That is why in my opinion I think you would have to understand [the language in] rap music to enjoy it. Because rap is very similar to talking. If you are a rapper and you went to certain places and they don’t understand what you are rapping about because you are talking to them in a much faster pace."

"Every parent must teach their child their local dialect, if you don't do that, it's very embarrassing and when you go home they will be making fun of you... it is one thing you have to learn 'compulsory by force'."

"You need not copy people blindly, else you will find yourself wanting."

"I decided to let people know the real Wiyaala. Rock My Body happened because I was trying to join what was trending. That was because I just allowed myself to be influenced by some friends who said 'oh do this because it is trending. It is going to make you [popular]. [So, I said] let's get it [done]'. Deep down I'm not sure."

"Rock My Body, is a sex song but if it comes out people will just put me in a certain category that is not me. I'm versatile. I can sing any style but I really need to start well. If I don't lay the foundations well and I come with the wrong start, that's how the industry will receive her. Rock my body did that."

"If Wiyaala came from Funsi and has succeeded, then me too, I can make it."

"I always see Wiyaala on TV. I sing MzVee's songs everyday. Today I am seeing them. I think I am dreaming."

"Did Wiyaala say churches make unnecessary noise praising God and praying to him? How I wish there is sense in what she’s said. You play your secular music in very loud speakers for people to dance, sing and praise the devil by doing the unnecessary and you have a problem with those who will make a joyful noise unto the Lord? Well, I think you must put some clothes on to be taken serious. GOD FORGIVE YOU."

"I like the way she (Wiyaala) is doing her things because she has been herself and she only has to improve on her music. But her concept and the way she portrays herself is clear indication that she is on the right path."

"Wiyaala is a unicorn and hard worker in the music industry. We are from the North there are not a lot of us in this space so, when you find yourself here, you feel like you have a lot to prove. So, Wiyaala has really fought hard and I'm so proud of her because she gives me inspiration to do what I'm doing."

"There are also amazing female musicians like Wiyaala, whose powerful voice and unique style have left a lasting impression on me."

"The land is good, the land is fine Gold we have, diamonds we mine Yet we fight; we cover it all in blood Tell me why we wallow in the mud Africa! Africa! Africa!...Mama Africa We cry for peace...Africa! Tell me why you fight...Tell me why we fight"

"Many athletes struggle with the transition. It was a hard decision but I know it’s time to move on"

"It’s important to have an identity without sports"

"The ultimate goal was competing in the Olympic Games and that was a tough one"

"As an athlete myself, we went through loads of psychological training and exercises, When you get to the very top level, the difference does come down to what goes on between your ears - technically, tactically - it’s very, very close and the margin for error is tiny"

"I’m working with the team individually to help them to understand themselves better, how to get to their performance mindset and create consistency within their game, as well working with the full squad and developing a whole, solid team culture that people want to be a part of, so they are also getting the best out of themselves and each other."

"It is incredibly important that people can be themselves, whatever it is and the more that people are able to welcome that and encourage and celebrate our difference the greater our team’s success will be. It goes hand in hand, if someone feels comfortable and is able to be themselves, the more successful that team will be."

"When I decided to go solo, it made sense at the time to reinvent myself in every way, I wanted a name that was African and unique but at the same time relevant to me in some way. My manager, Jimmi, helped me come up with the name Efya."

"I don't think I have any competition. What I think it is there is a big sky, God made a lot of stars and every night they all shine and that's what I believe."

"Efya is like a big sister to me. If I have to get her on a song, it means I'd have to do a vocal training for six months. I have to give it my all because she is amazing. I look up to her so much. I won't just get up to do a song with Efya, it has to be well-prepared."

"When I played golf in Arizona, I noticed I was at a good level and I could compete against the best in the world. I became a professional player and got closer to my dream"

"When I noticed that my priorities changed, I was very excited to get marry and have kids. It was clear to me that I had to retire. It was very nice because I made a decision for the right reasons. I retired in Morelia, Mexico while we played a very important tournament, it was in my country, my people, my friends and sponsors, it was beautiful, she smiled."

"I’ve worked hard on all aspects of my game but coming into this season I knew my irons have always been where I can improve the most, I started the year and felt like I was hitting my irons the best I ever have then suddenly I wasn’t putting as well as I normally do, which has been my strength"

"Sticking to my process means believing in the work I’m doing and the ability to put it all [strengths and weaknesses] together. I’m still kind of bummed about my first nine holes at Massereene on Thursday and my back nine here [at Galgorm] yesterday. But besides that, everything was positive, so that’s what I will take with me."

"I try to lower my expectations because you get pretty excited. You have a lot of family and you want to win, you want to play so well and do well, But I’ve learned to calm down a little bit and lower my expectations."

"I loved it, A lot of drivers off the tee, which I think is great. A lot of character. Greens are massive, so a lot of long putts. And they’re fast … probably a lot of 10-feet-and-in putts for par and long lag putts."

"In 2005, we played a cup match with the team of Equatorial Guinea. I played the game very well because I scored three goals. Soon after, I received a proposal to play for the national team of the country. I did not think for a long time, because in Nigeria you must have connections to play in the national team (Falcons)."

"I am in Equatorial Guinea when we have matches and tournaments. I have an apartment in the country's capital Malabo. In comparison with Nigeria is a very peaceful place. I really feel good out there and I'm glad that I can play for the country,"

"You asked if being with someone helps or hurts, or what effect it has on the work. I think it just depends on who that person is and who you are relative to them. In relationships, we consent to be manipulated by the other in positive and negative ways, all of which inevitably goes into the work"

"I like it! I tend to write about whatever feels vulnerable or messy in my life at that moment, even if that means writing a plot that has nothing to do with anything I’ve ever done or lived. The feelings in a story or novel have to be native to my life"

"But influence is a funny thing. I sometimes feel I’m more influenced by the things that have happened to me, than by anything I’ve read. When I’m reading, I feel I am teaching myself about the tools I want to use, which I feel is a separate thing from what will influence this or that book."

"The real influence on a book is the emotional and intellectual engagement you have with the ideas that are in it. The way other writers exert influence is more about learning skills, like learning how to correctly julienne a pepper or dice an onion. Just having good knife skills doesn’t make you a chef."

"African women‬ are beautiful in every unique way, no matter their skin tone, whether of dark or light hues. We are unique and strong and beautiful and our differences are worth celebrating]."

"Whatever opportunities that are given to you, grab them.They may not necessarily be the opportunities you are looking for but I have found in my journey that by doing something and doing it well lead me to where I want to be."

""Be passionate, whatever you doing be passionate about it"."

""Be honest with yourself, don’t try and be a model if you are an intellectual. Don’t try and be a businessman when numbers are not your thing. Have a general honesty but most importantly have faith of some sort"."

""When things get tough and you want to give up, faith is that one thing that makes you keep on going because you believe in a better tomorrow. Never give up nothing is impossible"."

""So whatever your craft is, for example mine is presenting, radio and acting but the better you are… people see you. Even if you sweeping a floor well people will notice. So I would say more than networking with various brands or corporates to build yourself, let your work speak for you." By Zareef Minty, retrieved 04 Jul 2015."

"Loving yourself is so important, when you achieve this you’ll be capable of fully loving someone else."

"It's human nature to put people on a pedestal."

"When you hit 30 I think, inevitably, whether you’ve had children or not, I think you re-evaluate your life a little bit."

"I think we’re held to a higher standard because we’re meant to be mothers, and I think the Madonna-whore complex still exists quite a lot."

"We are less forgiving of female mistakes in general."

"I just think with boys they get away with being lads and cowboys and it’s an age-old myth that’s existed for a very long time. And I don’t really know how we fight it or change it."

"They are both women trying to exist in a patriarchal world, and it’s interesting that they’re decades apart in time but facing similar problems, which is again, an age-old issue."

"I just think people in the creative industries... crave normalcy and stability and the mundane, and then I also crave producing, writing, developing and working on both sides of the camera."

"All I know is that you don’t have to do any wrong to be hated; everybody must not like you."

"The truth about life is that if people don’t hate or criticise you, it shows that you are not important. You must be important for people to hate you and try to run you down."

"The more people hate you, the more you will progress if you are nice."

"My Mother is Still My Driving Force."

"I missed being at the World Championships and my city would have loved to see me run since I'm based in Germany. They missed me too in the relay team because our team did poorly in Berlin. I'm not saying I'm the best in Nigeria but if I was there and some of us that ran in the Olympics were there, we might have made an impact."

"I used to watch every competition on Skysports to see the times athletes are running and to see if the times aren't above what I can run. They ran well last year but nobody really ran fast among the Nigerian women, unlike in 2008 when I was running. That year Damola ran 11.08 seconds which was really very fast but the fastest last year was 11.16 seconds. It was good but what they were running in Europe, America and Jamaica was faster; they were giving us time to follow because Carmelita Jeter of the US ran 10.6 which was very fast. The Africans didn't do so well but at least we are following up."

"I don't know how it all happened but I was very disappointed and it's coming from athletes you never expected to do drugs. I feel for them but I know one or two things would have led them to do it. Sometimes it's not the athletes' fault but I'm not encouraging drugs. If they do it and they know it, then they should face the consequences. It's just a pity; a sprinter (Gloria Kemasuode) too is affected and she's good. We are all going to miss her. I really feel bad for them because I don't think they are under pressure."

"If you leave athletics, it leaves you. I was getting lazy because this is the build up period from September to December but so far so good, everything has been so good. I have a coach in Germany by the name of Frank Duka that prepares a programme for me. We have a coach in Nigeria that we use whenever we are around too."

"It's not so easy because it's just like when you are in school trying to read and pass your exams without lagging behind. Every year new people come out in athletics so I just have to train hard and see who comes out this year. I ran well in 2008 and I hope to do the same this year (2010). I know it's not going to be easy but I have to come back to it, to tell myself I can do it."

"Our administrators are killing the sport. We have to understand that you cannot reap from where you did not sow. I’m sorry to say this, we believe too much in fire-brigade approach. Sports is dying in Nigeria because our administrators are not doing what they are supposed to do. It was on during our time but it was better. It is that bad now."

"It is a great feeling, having a bronze medal before and now silver, I hope they will soon award the silver medals to us. Even when we came back with the bronze in 2008, we didn’t even get a handshake or a congratulatory message but thank God today that I can now be addressed as Olympics silver medalist. That is the joy of the whole thing but it would have been better if the silver medal had been awarded right on the podium"

"Every single year we (Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria) have taken a group of 68 athletes and coaches to learn and develop the sport. Our goal is to try and compete in 2026. We are developing them along the way, every single year it is getting better and better."

"This sport (bobsled) is celebrating 100 years this year and we are only in our 5th year. it would interest you to see what we have been able to do in 5 years. this is due to our passion, dedication and willingness to be great."

"This sport (bobsled) has the biggest learning curve that I probably have ever experienced in my life. I’ve learned a couple things along the way, but this is totally new. Take a driver who just freshly got their license —16 years old...They know what to do behind the wheel. They have an idea. But then go throw them in Daytona. It might be a little bit different type of driving. That’s how I feel. It’s just straight survival mode the entire time."

"I don’t believe that one body and the other operate the same, particularly in sports. You can’t just give two different people the same workout and expect their bodies to respond the exact same way. They may respond similarly, but there are going to be things that will differentiate between their outcomes. If you can understand the fundamentals of why their bodies respond differently, then you could also be able to contribute to those specific differences, to make that individual athlete better."

"The ability to be selfless is what drives your ability to actually see clearly."

"In being selfless, you’re able to see a lot more sometimes than you really want to. Sometimes you just have to be able to tackle that fear, particularly that of the unknown. It’s always easier to just turn away and walk away from it, but if you just open up to it, you’ll really be able to see exactly what your purpose is."

"When you ride on faith, you’re able to live in that element of selflessness. You’re able to live in that moment of fearlessness. I don’t attribute any type of individual success to myself, but more so to God’s will to put me in places to allow things to flourish or opportunities to present themselves."

"This is a real-life example of what it means to represent African excellence and a true testament to the fact that impossible is nothing. This milestone is truly a blessing."

"Everyone should be held to the same standard of fairness no matter what country they are representing and which sport they play. We all give so much of ourselves every single day and sacrifice our lives to be the best we can be naturally - no one should be able to dilute this efforts or strip them away by cheating. In any country where there is doping scandal, the system and the culture that was in place for this type of behaviour to be acceptable should be broken down and re-educated to prevent innocent-hearted athletes from being punished in the future."

"After we qualified for the Olympics, there was this uproar within Nigeria, the Nigerian diaspora, and non-Nigerian people. People were really excited that there was a winter effort and something positive happening for Nigeria."

"Fear is really just another opportunity to learn."

"This is beyond a dream come true. To be able to bring something back to not only the country of Nigeria – which has so gracefully given me my family, my culture and everything I stand by – but also to the continent of Africa and the world."

"To bring a gift for people to know that resilience is something that you can actually live to achieve, and that the fear of the unknown doesn’t need to be something that limits your ability to thrive in life...Those qualities will be important for everybody to be able to take in."

"Don’t be afraid to take that risk. Impossible is nothing."

"You can sometimes stand in front of a door without knowing what’s on the other side and open it. You won’t know what’s on the other side until you open it."

"Being in an uncomfortable place isn’t bad [and] it isn’t wrong; it’s just different. Sometimes you need to be able to take that chance."

"Although we're American, we're also Nigerian. We're actually Nigerian first. That's the one culture that we know, that we were raised to respect and understand. To show people that it's okay to be both and it's okay to represent where you're from is a powerful message that, hopefully, we've been able to translate."

"You can’t coach someone to have passion, you can’t coach them to be dedicated, you can’t coach them to have heart and you can’t coach them to move with integrity or commitment and those are the things we are looking for."

""My Family Is More Important Than My Career""

""Secondly, I don’t go out much. So, it’s peace of mind, nothing much and no secret really.""

""'I Quit Acting To Dedicate Time For My Children, Family'""

""It’s not so much silence because I want it to be so, but the fact that I am focused more on the family front, which I feel is more important. For all these years, I am grateful for the time that I have spent with my family""

""Solomon revealed in an interview that she started performing on stage while she was in elementary school and had always hoped to become a well-known actor.""

"Not every billionaire is happy"

"Social media era is stirring a lot of things. It is not everything one sees on it that is true, so don’t make people your prayer points. You don’t know what that person is going through (in real life). Why don’t you create your own happiness? Also, don’t ask God for what you cannot handle. Not every billionaire is happy. I weep when I see a lot of things going on online. The morals that we grew up with are all gone. We need to get back to the drawing board. Social media is turning people into what they are not because they want to ‘feel among’, even if they don’t have the capacity."

"I'm Offended When Younger Guys Ask Me Out."

"A lot of men in their twenties say they admire me and want to date me. I am sure most of them think I am really young. Sometimes, I find it annoying because if they know my actual age, they wouldn’t come close or show interest in me. Some of them are young enough to be my younger brothers."

"Real People Don’t Care."

"I feel like a woman who is not yet married."

""I am happy that I am with someone I love and we are both happy to be sharing the rest of our lives with each other. I have no regrets about getting married at the time I did as I believe that God’s time is the best”.""

""I was lucky with the fact that I had access to education; I was able to decide what happened to my body, I was able to go ahead and marry someone that I love and certain things like that. So, other people should be able to have access to those kinds of rights- education, health and others.""

""No Regrets Marrying My Husband""

"I will not say I have always wanted to be an actor, but I have always loved to be on television as a broadcaster. But somehow, acting found me and here I am today."

"When I shot my first movie; after the heat, I disappeared. I told them I could not cope with it and I did not want to act anymore. They called me for a second job, telling me that I would be allowed to leave after that."

"I ran away because I felt I could not deal with the pressure and drama. But, after sometime, I realised that it could be the right place for me. Now, I do not need anyone to tell me that it is meant for me. If I decide to leave Nollywood today, it is because I want to."

"I must not feature, but why would I produce a movie and I am not in it? Remember other people pay me to be in their movies. I feel it is what I love to do and being part of it adds value to the movie."

"I am scared of marriage, we see divorce everyday. Although no one goes into marriage believing she would soon jump out of it. I strongly believe that before a couple considers divorce, they must have put in their best to make it work, all to no avail. Marriage in the limelight is not easy, even those outside it are not surviving easily."

"I don’t like doing something and later jump out of it. I take my time to do whatsoever I want to do making sure it is the right decision."

"There's no separation, where you come from, whether you're Ghanaian, whether you're Jamaican, whether you're Haitian, we're all one and that's what I wanted to portray on my album."

"I always say my motivation came from the unknown, from having the space, being given the opportunity to explore a different country, a different language and having peaceful surroundings."

"Wake up Africa, wake up and stop blaming / Open your eyes, eyes, stand up and rise!"

"Making collaboration with me? Yes, why not! If you got the interest, you like me and I like you, then we are good."

"My music gave me strength and motivation. And it almost seemed like it was not really my words; it was almost like a voice that was outside of me, motivating me. I said to myself that I like what I do."

"The word ‘Supreme’ is just everything; it encompasses all our emotions, all sides of our being. And, for me, I seem like there is so much that has been said before, and so much I had said in the past, and I just felt like if I am going to say anything now, I have to go within. Going within doesn’t necessarily mean superficially going within my ego; it means going within the body to remember whom I am. And when I do that, the world remembers who they are, because we are all connected."

"I see myself as a smaller version of the universe. And everything that is within me is within this universe. And I am a reflection of you and vice versa."

"You want to change something about corruption, then don’t be corrupt."

"If something is meant to move, it will move. Energy goes where attention is. When your attention is on beyond the sky and stars, then that is where your energy is going to flow."

"Love yourself, Nneka; because only so can you truly love God and others.’ I would say, ‘it is okay to go through certain things. It is okay to have had a difficult life experience. It doesn’t define who you are. It is a life experience. It is there, but it is not who you are. And it is okay to be afraid, but bear in mind that most of the fear you have is what they told you to be afraid of. It is the conditioning. Most of it is not real."

"It was a very difficult moment for me, I am so confused. I did not prepare my mind for a higher weight category – 72kg before coming here for the competition (Chief E K Clerk wrestling championship). I have been training under 67kg weight class while my body weight is 66kg. It was really disappointing for me here."

"We hope that she (Ifeoma Iheanacho) would impart her knowledge and make them (younger athletes) aspire to greater achievements. Moreover, in wrestling, we want to ensure that athletes, who have performed creditably for this country in a historic fashion, like she has, play vital roles in the development of younger athletes."

"Social media is already dangerous to our mental health"

"Anyone can be a role model. Whether the person is big or small, it does not matter, as long as one impacts lives positively."

"There is nothing like Mr. Right, you will wait forever if you are looking for that."

"No one is perfect, just deal and learn to adjust to ones flaws."

"I have left Kristianstad because my contract with the club was over. I had a wonderful time at the club but I have resolved leave the team, at least move to a new environment for a fresh challenge in Sweden. Well, I am grateful to Kristianstad and wish them good luck next season, For me, I have decided to sign for Djurgarden for a season."

"I have really liked the idea of moving to the capital [Stockholm] and it's a dream come true. I cannot wait to meet my new teammates and also looking forward to the new challenge."

"I strongly believe in girl-child education. I am set to explore education to the maximum because I know how important it is."

"I have no regrets over what I have passed through because it has paid off in some ways"

"The fact that the marriage crashed does not mean that is the end of life"

"Having represented Nigeria twice at the Olympic games, I can confidently say it is unarguably the pinnacle of any athlete’s dream and getting a medal in such an epic event can be deemed to be one of the highest achievements and a dream come true that any athlete can hope for."

"At the 2008 Beijing Olympics where I and my fellow team mates (Oludamola Osayomi, Gloria Kemasuode, Franca Idoko and Halimat Ismaila) qualified through to the finals and ended up winning a bronze medal in the women’s 4x100m relay, it was nothing short of an electrifying moment. It was as if the world stood still because all the hard work, discipline and sacrifice just paid off."

"For me and the rest of the quartet, it was as if that moment should just draw on and on. Having put in so much work and now seeing it been rewarded with a bronze medal at such an epoch making event was more than words could describe. Little did we know that fate had a whole different surprise package for us all a couple of years down the line."

"It was with mixed feelings that we got the news of the disqualification of the Russia’s women relay quartet due to a doping infraction by one of her team members. On the one hand we had this joy of becoming Olympic silver medallists, but on the other, a feeling of slight disappointment knowing that the winning quartet had an undue advantage due to one of its members spiking her system with banned substances. This type of revelation comes with a bit of a sad feeling considering the amount of work you honestly put in and believing (erroneously as it turns out) that everyone was competing on a level playing field. And when you now find out that some persons had undue advantage due to the use of banned substances and it deprives you of what should have been rightly yours at the time, it gives you a feeling of sadness and slight depression and disappointment in and towards the system."

"It really gladdens my heart to have my bronze medal upgraded to a silver medal because it just simply gives me the drive to work even harder and have a rededication to a clean sports for us all."

"I will also like to use this medium to appeal to all my fellow athletes, both young and old, that no matter what you think you are facing now, I want you to just believe in yourself and continually tell yourself that the seeming punishments and disappointments of today if endured will lead to untold glories in the nearest future."

"Agnes Osazuwa has won the last women's 100m semifinal, clocking 11.35s to beat Gloria Asumnu who finished 2nd #NigeriaOlympicTrials"

"It would have been in the Royal Court Theater in Manchester. I was watching Patrick O'Kane in Shoot the Crow. I was right up against the stage, and he looked down at me. I remember thinking, 'He's looking at me, but he's not really looking at me at the same time.' The fourth wall really blew my mind. I just thought, 'This is magical."

"I really love working with new directors. I've been reading a lot of stuff from new writers, and it's really exciting. But so is working with someone as brilliant and exciting as Sigourney. It's great to sit in both of those worlds."

"I think the acting in Annie (1982) is just brilliant. The music is, obviously, brilliant, and so is the story. But I also think there’s something really relatable about Annie's search for home. As an immigrant, I definitely felt connected to her when I first saw it."

"I am a huge, huge fan of Whoopi Goldberg. I watched everything she did when I was younger, and Sister Act (1992) just brings me joy. When it's on, I can't stop singing or dancing. I can't watch it sat down, really. My husband might even have a video from the other week of me singing a song from Sister Act at my mom's house. It just brings me such joy."

"Black Panther (film) was the first time I had seen Africa depicted in such a way onscreen. I saw me, mine, and ours represented in a comic book world, and I didn't think previously that comics and superheroes had a place for someone like me. I had never really watched comic book movies, so Black Panther (film) was literally my way into the genre. It was my introduction to the MCU, and I loved it. My husband's also African American and I'm African, so I love the sense of kinship in the film, as well as the arguments that w:Killmonger and T'Challa have with each other. I loved the film's ideas and its approach to discussing them. It was very, very Pan-African and clever and interesting, and I didn't expect something like that from Marvel."

"Moonlight (2016) has a special place in my heart, because of the timing of when it came out and where I was in my life at the time. Beyond that, I love seeing Black men be vulnerable and get to really explore a whole spectrum of emotions onscreen. I had never seen that before. The film is so sensitive. It's like love exposed. It's so raw and beautiful."

"When Shoplifters (2018) came out, my husband and my auntie kept telling me, "You've got to watch this film," and I kept putting it off. I'm quite bad in the cinema, honestly. Generally, if you put me in a dark room, I'll want to go to sleep. I'm dyslexic as well, so reading the subtitles in foreign films can be really hard for me. But watching Shoplifters was, for me, like the first time I actually read a novel. I usually just read plays or short stories, but when I read a novel for the first time, I felt like I finally got to experience the full breadth of a story. Shoplifters was the first time a foreign film really opened me up like that. Reading the subtitles wasn't a chore, and my heart really broke open. I wasn't expecting that. I thought the subtitles would create a separation between the film and I, but they didn't. It’s a perfect film. The acting in it is really human and really honest, too. There's no frills in those performances. It's just, this is who we are, how we feel, what we’re doing, and how we're living."

"It was quite emotional to be hearing the stories from passersby telling us what it felt like, and what hasn’t changed, and what needs to change."

"It feels so necessary to tell this story right now. There’s a rot in the system that a lot of people are shouting about, but a lot of people are deaf to."

"It’s very different living here now and being Black in America, being married to an African American, knowing that my future is here and therefore, my safety is in the hands of the people in charge. It’s very sobering and scary. It does feel different, being in a country where police officers have guns. That’s not a thing in the UK."

"[It’s] extraordinary… that the word ‘police’ doesn’t evoke the feeling of safety in you. That’s so profound; I feel like so many people just ignore that. They just don’t relate to that. And I have to acknowledge that I have a privilege – in the UK, as a woman, I’ve never really encountered the police, whereas all of my Black male friends have. And then in the US, when we get stopped by the police, the way they interact with my husband? Very, very intimidating. Very, very scary for me. We’ve made a little thing, where I make sure I say something… in a very, very English accent, and the crazy thing is, the next thing that generally comes out of their mouth is like, ‘Oh, hey, where are you from?’ The interaction completely changes because my accent now makes them interact with my humanity. I don’t know what it is, but all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘Oh, she’s British.'"

"Whether or not you feel safe, if the police, and policing, and the justice system and the society is corrupt, we’re not safe. If there is that kind of pain being inflicted by the people that you deem safe, you’re not safe. This needs [to be] addressed and fixed and cut out, and replaced and reimagined, so that there is actually room for hope. ‘Cause we’re all here, sharing it, and some people get the luxury of feeling hopeful. And some people just… don’t."

"It was just really nice coming back. It's very rare for me to come back to a show. I think I've only ever come back to Vera, and I only came back for one episode. To come back to season 2 to see everybody and be like, 'Oh, we did this' – that was really fun. That was just really new. I think I felt a little bit more... I think I felt a little bit more nervous. I hope we live up to season 1, because... that obviously went down well, because we're here at season 2."

"Sometimes in interviews I get asked a lot of questions about the whole MCU, and I'm not there yet. And I don't have all the answers. But I don't actually feel that outside of the press junket... You know, everyone's just full of love. All the fans are full of love. And then I don't have the pressure of playing a character that already existed. They get what they're given, and I don't have to live up to anything, other than the show and my character. Me – and what I want for the character. But, yeah, I feel like everyone has been really cool. I haven't felt this frenzy. I've never been to a Comic-Con, though, so I don't know what that's like."

"My talent was first discovered at a school athletics day a year after I arrived Norway. We had different events such as sprint, long jump and high jump. I was the fastest girl, and the guys were afraid to run against me, so, I ended up running by myself, but with the best times of all children. The teachers encouraged me after that to take up athletics."

"In recent years, when I am running, it is mostly for the joy of it...to give God glory with my talent and to inspire other people. I don’t attach my accomplishments to any country or to anyone."

"You can be great today and be loved by everyone and the next day you are out in the cold. It is like you are working hard your whole life for a run of a couple of seconds and sometimes you might not get rewarded for it. So, one has to take nothing for granted because nothing is guaranteed in athletics."

"It would have been a great honour to represent Nigeria at some point, but the IAAF has made it very hard to switch allegiance. Now, the athlete has to wait at least two years to compete for another country in an international championships."

"Make the best out of my training, to improve everyday, and reach the potential that I feel inside me and haven’t shown yet. If I manage to do all that, the result will surely come."

"We believe that every girl in society, regardless of her ethnic background, should get equal chance in sports to have fun, develop her talents and enjoy being in an inclusive community. We believe that youth sports is the best tool for girls to develop self-motivation, resiliency and strong appreciation for their own health and well- being. To help young girls become the future ethical leaders and positive contributors for our society, we offer training and equipment for them free of charge twice a week."

"I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have doubts, but at the same time, the player I am, I just always believe that whatever I put my mind to, it’s going to happen. It was a goal and aspiration of mine and I was going to do whatever it took to make that happen. But, yeah, there were many moments along the way where I just thought maybe it wasn’t for me."

"It doesn’t help to live in the past. I’ve learned it’s not going to change the outcome for us, unfortunately. If it did, I would do that all day every day. But because it doesn’t, it doesn’t help to do that. And all I can do is hope for a better tomorrow and hope for a better next time."

"I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by great coaches and fantastic teammates who showed me the ropes."

"I never set out to have a long career in volleyball. I didn’t even know the professional world existed when I started."

"I’m not exactly sure what I want to do once I finish my career, but I do know that I want to do something in medicine."

"I think what’s helped me the most is the fact that I never looked too far ahead. I’ve kept my head down, put in the hard work, dreamed big, and tried to treat others the way I would want to be treated. And above all, I’ve been blessed."

"The notion of having a growth mindset has played an instrumental roll in my development as an individual on and off the court. I'm so excited to share what I've learned along the way, with the hope that the youth will be encouraged to pursue whatever they want in life with the confidence and mindset of a champion."

"I got to compete for Team USA for the first time in almost three years. I never truly understood how much weight the USA jersey held until yesterday. It’s been a long and arduous journey to get back here and there were many times I debated calling it quits along the way, but I’m so glad I didn’t. It was all worth it."

"For the longest time, I dreamt of becoming a mom AND a professional athlete. I’m proud to say that I am now both. Thank you to all the badass mothers who came before me and showed me that it was possible, and here’s to those who will follow in our footsteps."

"Every day we come back and we are trying to play our game. We haven't had much time together in these past months, so it's just about streaming up point by point. The Netherlands are always a dangerous team and both of us came out a little bit slow. I think that when we were able to pick up our service pressure it really helped us with block and defence. Our goal is always to focus on things on the court. There are a lot of things we are working on. I think every time we step on the court, honestly, we are just trying to play our game, to score some points, just execute as much as possible and I think we do a really good job. Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvement, but we can continue to improve and to work on some things and come back stronger next game."

"I feel like I've become more of a feminist through this process of becoming a mom and just knowing that women are badasses. I'm just encouraged every day and I'm so happy that there are people who have pioneered this...There's so many [women] who have gone through it before and so many who will come through after me as well. I'm just happy to be part of it."

"Nobody in this program thinks that anything is impossible for Foluke. You could just ask anybody and they say, ‘Well, of course, it’s Foluke; she would have done it if she had to do it in less than 12 less months and play last year (2020). She’s got a very single-minded way of being able to do that. To be able to do that after having started a family is just blowing people away that she continues to be such a professional and approach her craft in such a disciplined way and crush it as a mom."

"I know that she’s (Foluke) such an inspiration to so many women who want to be moms and continue their athletic careers or other careers. She’s just pulled it off, like everything else in her life, with so much grace and resilience."

"I could not be more proud to have played with Foluke, to have known her in college and to see where she’s at now. Not just as an Olympian, but also as a mother. I think it’s fantastic and amazing what she’s been able to do. It just goes to show how incredible her work ethic is."

"She wasn’t afraid of getting down in the trenches with you when you were at your worst or things were at their worst and helping you figure out how to put the puzzle pieces back together."

"I have never felt like I had to hide my name or show my name to do this. It's like, if you know me, you do. If you don't, you don't. And he’s (her father) always like, ‘Be proud of who you are, like, be proud of what I've done, and what our family's done and what's you’re gonna add to the legacy and your kids will add to the legacy.’ And I just think the honesty of just being 100%, my authentic self has been such a huge thing."

"They were like, ‘What woman who watches daytime talk shows is gonna care about if Miami is gonna three-peat with LeBron (James) and Chris Bosh?"

"When I see the things for Bronny (LeBron James’ son) and I think about my younger brothers and things like that, you know, media does put such a high expectation on you. But when the one person who built this legacy is like, ‘Be yourself. I don't care if you play basketball. I don't care if you're a teacher, as long as you're a good person with a moral compass and you are impacting the world in a positive way that's what every parent wants.’ And I think that is the best part."

"To reach the pinnacle of women’s basketball and coach some of the best players in the world is such an honor and a privilege. I jumped at the opportunity to work with my former coach, Stephanie White, because I know her energy to win from the perspective of a player and now, as a coach."

"If there is one thing that is true about the Connecticut Sun, it's that the organization is putting the idea into action that once you are a part of the WNBA family, you will be taken care of. There is an investment in your success not only during your time in this league, but after you’re playing career is over. I am excited to be a part of this special organization and hope to facilitate great guidance to these amazing professional athletes."

"To be apart of the Frog Family and to be back in the Big 12 is a dream come true. I'm excited about Coach Pebley’s vision for TCU women's basketball and ready to help continue the success that was accomplished last season."

"I was very interested in coaching after playing. It’s a natural transition for players to be closely affiliated around the sport. Playing collegiate basketball makes you very relatable to your players."

"I was lucky enough to have amazing coaches and to play at the highest capacity. It’s one of those things that you are able to relate and have compassion for the players and know what they’re going through psychologically and use the parallels of how to push and motivate without being negative to help them grow to their highest potential."

"A lot of it I am getting acclimated with as well. But we are getting really prepared and I can definitely see that we are getting focused for conference. I am really excited about it."

"I have known Abi for over 10 years and have been fortunate to see her development. Her basketball career is a remarkable one having competed in two Final Fours and playing in the WNBA. While at Cal State Fullerton, she proved to be a dynamic recruiter. I am thrilled Abi has joined our staff and she will make an immediate impact."

"I loved her (Abi) as a player. We played against her when I was at the University of Maryland. I had seen her on TV and I watched Oklahoma religiously. The only time we faced each other was her sophomore year. She’s 0-1 against me."

"I am happy to promote Abi to recruiting coordinator after watching her work this past year(2016). Abi has been a critical part of our recruiting success since we arrived in Ypsilanti. Her ability to organize and execute our recruiting game plans has allowed us to add elite student athletes to our program. Abi's work ethic and attention to detail has earned her the title of recruiting coordinator."

"I look forward to an exciting journey, utilising my international expertise to promote the values and ideals of the Commonwealth."

"Even when it is evident that women are just as able as men, some individuals stubbornly still think women are weak. Female celebrities face hurdles in their journey just like other people. Some people think they have no emotions but they do, they have feelings too. Women can do even better if they are supported fully. We need society’s support."

"The pregnancy news is said to have put a pause on rumours that the two were ready to tie the knot. We are definitely keeping an eye on this one."

"Life is not just ice cream and candy, but there are many challenges. In life, you will face many things that discourage you, but you will be strong because when you know what you want, you get hurt, but what you want to achieve, you achieve."

"God knew the right season and I trust his timing. I am grateful for his grace, mercy, and love."

"For young girls out there, they should excel in what they do because you never know who's watching or listening. I didn't know about LIMA, but they had representatives in every country. Whenever they want contestants from eight or 10 countries, they always send representatives to identify who's eligible."

"This award isn't just for me alone. It's for all those in the media and entertainment industry who haven't received recognition yet. To them, I say, keep going, your moment will come. I dedicate this award to all of you as well."

"I still have a lot to achieve in life. In the morning, I work at the radio station from 6am to 10am, then after I go for rehearsals with the Mashirika troupe. I then go to the night club to spin discs and I finish at 3am and go home."

"Since I was the first born in my family and my father was dead, I had to wake up and look for ways to move forward. I never thought about the fact that I was just a child, but I focused on what I could do. I wanted to be independent and live on my hard earnings."

"Those who know me very well are my family and close friends. They used to fight for me every time someone abused or disrespected me. They will never believe such lies because they know me very well."

"I always try to stay disciplined. To achieve my goals, I don’t need someone behind controlling me because I know what I want."

"I do not use drugs; I have never taken beer either. I believe that drugs can prematurely end a person’s career, so I stay away. I am sure that my future gets brighter every day. I am still far from where I want to reach so I cannot put my life in danger."

"I want to be a role model so that anyone tempted to give up can get motivated by me and keep going."

"I still have very many things to do. I am at 80% - I want to be internationally known."

"I want to have my own entertainment company and focus on women with talent."

"Chances and opportunities are there, they should not slip away. We have to work very hard. We need to have discipline even when others do not know it and avoid drugs."

"We must have friends who are important to us rather than waste time gossiping about others."

"In Nigeria, they see me as a role model and refer to me as 'mother' or 'mama'. When I was playing, my colleagues had a lot of respect for me and now, seeing me as a coach, they transferred that respect to me and made the work easy."

"I was 20 years old and it wasn't easy then because I was still very young to be in the senior team. The coach I had then gave me lots of motivation and encouragement, and made me believe in myself."

"I kept my first World Cup in 2003 and it was a tough set of games. However, my most memorable moment was against the USA in the third game. Even though we lost 5-0, I was the most valuable player in that game. My first World Cup outing wasn't easy. Playing in front of that big crowd seemed too much to take in. However, after the first experience, I came out very motivated and bold for the next one."

"By the time the World Cup in 2015 came along, it was like I was always eager to play. I loved playing the big tournaments -- the World Cup and the Olympics. I loved being there and seeing the crowd cheering me on, watching me doing my best and doing what I love the most."

"I was nearly raped sometime [ago] when I started playing football. That nearly discouraged me [from continuing my career]. I was travelling to Umuahia for a game and in the neighbourhood, [some men] were asking me out about seven of them. I didn’t know how possible [it is] for one person to date seven friends. I know I was very strong, I was [a] determined person. I knew what I was looking for and I tried to put that behind me."

"Everyone knows me but I still don’t have friends because I use every little free time I have to do some more work. I came to India to achieve results. I am here for a goal and I’m not resting on my oars or using my time for other things until that goal is achieved."

"Aside football, acting and entertainment are my passion. Fashion and designing is a third choice. I am a comedian. Anywhere I am, they spot me easily. First time I traveled with the Indian U-17 team to Turkey for International friendlies, I didn’t know I was already acting and people started laughing out loud, clapping and gathering around me. They were actually struggling to catch a glimpse of me."

"I’m not afraid of growing old and I’m not afraid of death because I try to make every second in my life count by doing everything that pleases God. In the next five years, I will like to be somewhere peaceful with my twin babies…by His grace. I love kids and pets to a fault and admire people who are verbally captivating."

"I really enjoy working as a goalkeeping coach and the best part is that I don't need to open any book to teach. I haven't come all the way from Nigeria just to visit India or participate for the sake of it. I am here because I want to create the best goalkeepers in India and each game we play, I want our goalkeeper to be the best player on the pitch."

"I feel that I have tried after 15 years with the national team. For me that is a very good record, and it was about time I left the stage for the younger ones. They are equally good, they can carry on. I wanted to quit before the last World Cup, but I was asked to come back and play. It was very disappointing (Falcons performance at Canada 2015) because I’d thought we had what it took to get as far as the final or even the semis, but I thank God though."

"Lots of people asked me, ‘Why are you going to India? It’s not a football country.’ But I told them that I was coming here to prove a point because, with this U-17 World Cup, we are working towards a goal. And we want to surprise the world."

"The girls know what I’ve done and they look up to me a lot. I can see them paying really close attention when I work with them, and it helps that I can still step on the pitch and show them how certain things should be done. The other day, one of the girls came up to me and asked, ‘Mum — they call me that — can I ever be like you?’ And I told her, ‘No, you won’t be like me – you will be better than me. That is why I am here: to get you to that level."

"It’s not all been easy, of course, because it’s a new environment for me and the culture and food are very different. But the Indian people are so warm and receptive, and the players — because they have the right attitude and willingness to learn — are developing very fast. Each one of them is a work in progress, but it’s clear the talent is there."

"It was a very nice surprise to get the call from Thomas [Dennerby] asking me to do this job. The fact he picked me is a big compliment and it makes me very happy because to me, he is not just a coach or a boss or a mentor. He’s like a father. I have learnt so much from him on and off the field."

"Women’s football is developing very fast, and it’s great to see. When I came through, it was very, very tough for a girl to start playing the game. There were so many barriers, particularly in certain parts of the world. But minds are opening now. Even in more ‘traditional’ countries, it’s becoming easier for girls to say to their parents, ‘I want to play football’. And I think players in my generation have helped pave the way for that. Unlike us, girls nowadays can now look around at women players who have achieved a lot and say, ‘I want to be like her’."

"I gave myself fifteen years [to play with the Super Falcons]. Making it [a] hundred [caps] will be like taking another one to three years again with the national team because I ended in 2015. I joined the Super Falcons in 2000. I looked at myself twenty years then; 15 years and I was 35. I wanted to end when I was still at my peak; I wanted to leave football, I didn’t want football to leave me. I didn’t want to force myself playing football."

"I am very happy to have Precious Dede here as one of my coaching staff. Some will be surprised by my choice of her [Dede] because we did not work together for much time in Nigeria. I like her a lot and I know she is a really good goalkeeper coach and also a role model. I'm glad to have Per Karlsson and Dede as assistants around now, with some good staff from India. I strongly believe we can achieve great things together with hard work."

"Since I am always advocating against period shame, I thought I should go ahead and walk the talk."

"I instigated the conversation around period shame and period stigma with men and boys asserting further that, period shaming starts with the man and the boy, because they have been brought up to believe that if a woman happens to have a stain, it’s an appropriate response to laugh at, or castigate her – and then the woman has been taught that they need to go into hiding. That’s the unlearning that we need to do."

"The first thing that we have been taught is that periods are dirty and shouldn’t be seen."

"I long for the day when accidental period stains will be seen as normal, not shameful. Women and girls are using up valuable sanitary pads by wearing them as a precaution out of anxiety."

"That’s a whole pack that you’ve wasted because of the fear of staining your clothes."

"We need to normalize periods."

"I have never understood why menstruation is spoken of like a secret. She recalled being excited as a teenager to finally have her first period after being the last among her peers to get the mark of womanhood."

"My attitude toward menstruation since then has been open."

"I have warned my teenage son to never shame a girl for having her period."

"Working in cowhide and being a black female in South Africa comes with a whole lot of baggage."

"I think that's one thing we don't allow ourselves: the time to think there's this fear that you need to be rushing."

"When I first started working, before people knew my name, there was an assumption that I had to be a man because of the material and the few number of female sculptors at the time."

"“My work was never meant to be a direct exploration of the African Female body. I just happen to be African and female and use my body in my art making process.”"

"Don’t give motivational talks if you live off men."

"Not every woman wants to be kept by a man, majority wants to add value to their partners’ lives."

""Until you put on those big girl pants, just crawl back into trophy and borrowed life and let hardworking people breathe and appreciate their self-made lives.”""

"I was told I won't amount to anything."

"No tears, No Pain No gain. Just Do It."

"Be careful who you idolise."

"Cold call! Don't wait to be introduced to people. The enthusiasm for what you do will open doors."

"Don’t fear the path less trodden; rather, choose it because that’s what science is all about. In terms of personal qualities and mindset, you need sheer persistence and the ability to remember your ultimate goal of why you do what you do."

"We’re all connected, and we need to start acting like we’re all part of the same ecosystem. We have to address the significant inequalities among countries and regions. Ultimately, doing so will bring us a collective increase in well-being."

"I have always wondered what it truly means to be woman. Not ‘a woman’ but ‘woman’. You don’t choose to be born female, you literally wake up one day and realise that you are. Often times it is because growing up especially in Nigeria, there is a constant reminder of what you should do, how you should act, what you should think simply because you are not male. Little wonder that a lot of young girls grow up not knowing who they truly are because they have been moulded into these beings that have never really discovered their true essence or worth because culture and society have provided all the answers."

"My name is Oluchi Orlandi, you may know me as Oluchi Onweagba, 1998 winner of the 1st Mnet Face of Africa. Needless to say that after winning the competition, my life changed forever. But when I reflect as I tend to do, I realise that as much as I have enjoyed so much success and the stuff that dreams are made of on a global stage – one thing remains the same and that is being ‘woman’."

"I am definitely one of those people who believe that women have super powers, call it female instinct, the ability to multitask, the power to love and nurture deeply and all the other things that women are incredibly good at. I actually have far simpler ways of describing the phenomenon that is ‘woman’. I would say that the female super powers are INTUITION, MATERNAL INSTINCT & THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE. These powers distinguish and unify the female species all over the world, across skin colour, geography, income and status."

"Let’s teach our young girls about what truly matters. Let us let them know that they are not alone. Taking over the world, sitting at the table, smashing glass ceilings and all of that is critical for them to see and know – but also teaching them to understand their uniqueness in it’s simplicity and entirety are lessons that we must also teach them. I have two sons and no daughters so I hope that I can directly impact and inspire others to impact more young girls and women so we have a truly empowered next generation of women."

"I am a 38 year old business woman, supermodel, wife and mother. I have learnt to trust my gut, put myself on the list of all the people that I nurture and care for. Most importantly, I celebrate my feminity in its raw and pure form. My name is Oluchi Onweagba-Orlandi founder of LuLu (LuLu Lingerie, LuLu Liner & LuLu Pads) and I AM WOMAN."

"Nigerian women love fashion. I think Nigerian fashion industry is still at its early stage. South Africa is way ahead of us. Even Senegal and Ivory Coast were ahead of Nigeria. The industry is growing. It takes years of dedication and hard work. It must not be overnight so you have to be patient."

"On the African continent, Nigeria is still way behind. Johanesburg is a lot more structured and I think that it is because they have been around for many years. Nigeria will still get there but we don't have the talent and the skills like South Africans."

"I am an African woman. I am also a Nigerian woman. We grew up with multi-tasking. You learn to know how to work it out."

"I think it is just marrying your best friend more than anything. A man that will understand you; a man that will support you in good and bad times. My husband is my best friend."

"I am happiest when I am dancing to my favorite music."

"Two years ago (1998) I was a student in high school. I never thought I'm going to go on a plane, leave Lagos and leave my mom and dad.... It all happened all of a sudden."

"You don't have to have blue eyes and blond hair to be beautiful."

"Don't try to kill yourself to look like a model because we have so much more time to take care of ourselves. We can wake up, go to the gym, try all kinds of products. Of course, you're going to look good."

"I feel like I'm at a transition where I need to figure it out. In the meantime, I just keep living my life and having fun."

"I immediately noticed the sneakers, jeans, T-shirts, and denim jackets of New Yorkers. As the season changes, their casual uniform always stays the same. The style of New Yorkers and Nigerians couldn’t be more different. New Yorkers are effortless and cool, while the Nigerian woman is more feminine and embellished. However, we all wear the same accessories: Hermès, Chanel, Céline, Saint Laurent, Givenchy. Lagos women also flaunt their culture unapologetically...Where they are from locally has a lot to do with how they style their garments."

"The retail experience is changing in Nigeria, so most of the international designs are either purchased online at a retail outlet like Mall for Africa or at the Palms Shopping Mall in Lekki, Lagos. Others shop at the luxury concept fashion store Alara or Temple Muse. And for a range of designs made in their native country, Nigerian women shop at Grey Velvet. The days of flying to shop is coming to an end. Nigerians now shop with a sense of pride and confidence, knowing that the product they would normally buy a travel ticket to get is now available in their country, and they can trust that it’s all original."

"Weddings are a huge tradition in Nigeria. Our clothes are mostly customised with authentic local fabrics like aso-oke and lace. These are always elaborate and glamorous. Apart from the actual outfit, which is usually made from exquisite embroideries, we would usually wear a head wrap and lots of jewellery. Gowns from brands like Valentino are now being worn to traditional events, as they fit the aesthetic of our clothes. The shoes and other accessories tend to be from top international brands."

"We chose Oluchi because we found that, from all the girls that entered the competition, she had the most personality."

"I love a very elongated kind of Modigliani proportion. I love the shape of her head and the proportion of her body (Oluchi)."

"Naomi Campbell is in a breed of her own. I think she is unbearable from a professional point of view. When it comes to Oluchi, she is completely the opposite. This is someone who is totally centered, totally dedicated, who says 'Thank you.'"

"Oluchi is like a role model to Nigerian aspiring models."

"In my eyes she (Oluchi) is fashion’s biggest model of rags to riches. Not just because she made it from the corridors of obscurity to the world stage, but because when she got there, she gave a hand and a platform to the voiceless but ambitious talents. Here I am, thanks to her."

"I don't think about race before I start drawing. I think about how to make that mark to fit whatever purpose I need it to fulfill. Being a black artist, the first thing people want to talk about is your blackness, the importance of your blackness, and your black presence."

"Being a black artist, the first thing people want to talk about is your blackness, the importance of your blackness, and your black presence."

"The graphic style itself is influenced by a lot of very layered and detailed comics that I read as a kid, like 'Vagabond' by Takehiko Inoue."

"For a while, I was nervous about portraying women because of the objectification that automatically comes with it, whether the artist intends or not."

"I'm really interested in independent publishers and memes and mini comics. But even before that, I was interested in Japanese manga and anime."

"I moved around a lot when I was a child; two of the houses I grew up in have totally disappeared. One was burnt in a riot, and the other was pulled down."

"I kept wanting to push my image as validity; I wanted to see my portrait on a wall and know it was okay."

"The social media bit is really about documenting process. I like the dialogue if it's constructive, but I'm now at a crossroads. I've accumulated a lot of followers, and it's great, but I'm also at that teetering point where people are feeling themselves a little too much, commenting a little too much."

"My identity is not based on performance; it's based on something that's pre-determined by someone else, and I don't even understand what that is because I'm an African who came to America."

"When I was in school, I conceptually didn't want black people to have context, to take it out of all that history. I wanted nothing to indicate where they are or what time it is, to place them anywhere."

"I don't think about race before I start drawing. I think about how to make that mark to fit whatever purpose I need it to fulfill."

"Social media have been saturated by the harrowing memories of a legacy the British establishment has refused to acknowledge. The plunder of land and diamonds in South Africa, crimes that adorned the Queen's very crown. The physical suffering that continues from violence inflicted by her government in Kenya, even as her reign was celebrated for having begun there. The scars of genocide in Nigeria, events that took place a decade into her rule. In Britain, minoritised people are remembering this Elizabethan era through the lens of the racism that was allowed to thrive during it."

"Hirsch’s focus is not the more violent racism she has suffered; the story of the man who took off his belt threatening to thrash her following a racist spat is only given a sentence. Rather it’s the many micro-aggressions that draw her attention. At Oxford University she was a self-consciously alien presence, irritated by porters who insisted she show her ID as she entered its colleges, while her white student friends were not stopped."

""It would be indescribable for any athlete to walk in with the German flag, and it's also a dream of mine"

"“I’ve done everything, I feel good, we’re right on schedule. But it’s too early to make a prediction"

"I knew it was right - it was the right timing for me to get back out there. This is our calling - this is what we want to do. We just need the community to support us."

"I grew up living in the New York City housing projects with my seven siblings and my mom. I grew up in poverty so sports was something that helped me to go to college and travel the world and become a pro - things that would have never happened for someone like me."

"My vision for the space behind me is really an indoor court. A place where we can have two courts going and train athletes and players can have a chance to become great right in their own backyard. I envision a place where I can train those athletes and I can be a part of their journey because I understand what it is to be a young girl and doesn’t have much, but has a heart to be successful and I want to help."

"You better believe if we get the community to back us up on this, the girls are going to be out here working too. Whatever we can do - whatever is legal, we don’t want anyone to get hurt - the girls are going to be out here working to make sure they’re a part of this so they appreciate what they have."

"These girls are going to go as far as we push them. So if we keep pushing them, if we have the resources to keep pushing them, then I think that we'll be shocked and amazed at where these girls can go in the next 10-15 years. And hopefully they come back and give back to the next generation of girls after them. But we just need the community to stand behind us, push us, give us resources, whatever we need to help us give these girls what they need to be successful. That's the most important thing."

"Just as I needed the mentorship of the women in my life to become the woman I am today, our girls also need us. It is our responsibility to encourage the next generation of women to be strong, smart and bold. We cannot wait for someone else to do it. As my coach used to say, if you don’t know whose job it is, it’s yours."

"Everywhere I turned when I grew up in a New York City housing project there was despair and there was struggle and there was just so much strife, but when I got to go to basketball, I just felt like I could breathe. I felt like I was safe...I became passionate about it. I want other young girls to find their passion, regardless of their circumstances at home."

"I think any time innocent blood is being shed, whether it is on the Palestinian side or on the Israeli side, it’s heartbreaking. I don’t pick a side. I don’t think that that is appropriate. I just want the killing of innocent lives to stop."

"Last year (2020) I gave my absolute all to the team. I had film sessions every day, I hired a strength and conditioning coach, and we had weights three times a week. We had practice two hours on days we didn’t have games. Before and after practice, I would stay with girls and work on their skills. We had skill sessions where groups would come on certain days. We had pre-game meals. There were so many things that I was able to do last year that I want to be able to do this season, but I can’t devote that amount of time to the team. I know that if I came back, the girls would know the difference between what I gave them last year and what I’m giving this year. I gave them 100 percent last year. This year, I wouldn’t be able to do that. They deserve a coach who’s going to give them 100 percent. If I came back knowing I was only giving 75 percent, 80 percent, I would be a hypocrite. Everything that I taught them last year was: ‘What’s the point of doing it if you’re not going to give your all?’ If I come back not giving my all, that makes me a hypocrite. It’s not who I am. I want to give them 100 percent, they deserve 100 percent, and they know what my 100 percent looks like."

"As a woman you never want to sit down and not do anything."

"When you are waiting on God for a child, you’re so sensitive that the little things that people do gets to you."

"I should help other people while I wait"

"I’m trusting you on this journey, and I’m going to obey you completely and totally"

"After all, speaking truth to power is one of the hallmarks of good journalism."

"For so long, Africans were not the raconteur of their own stories. That has resulted in skewed nuances and narratives of the continent’s stories."

"A huge part of any storytelling process is the newsgathering. A slight misstep in newsgathering can distort the facts in a subtle but substantial way. That’s why the best way to capture the essence of a story is to allow the people at the heart of it drive it."

"When mothers weep for their departed beloved, what’s primarily stirring their tears is life without a pay check, enough to cater for the kids."

"Years of undercurrent family feud automatically lock many women and children out of their rightful inheritance."

"Wrong narratives imprison the subject of a story and anyone or anything associated with it. It can negatively affect a wide range of social interactions from interpersonal relations to business associations."

"We as Africans must tell our own stories too. No one else can do it better."

"Think of it as a last minute effort to correct generations of social policies and constructs that robbed women and girls the opportunity to get education, to vote, work, to earn equitably, to own properties and the likes."

"What is news? Anything out of the ordinary."

"If you find yourself here, first, you decide if that is what you want, then you go after it; you work hard and find mentors."

"People can tell when you are detached. And when you get on air, find your style, and then you are likely to be a little more confident."

"There’s something about the Yoruba traditional regalia, it takes you from ground zero to a hundred."

"Everyone is not the same. So, don’t expect the other person to be like you. There is the need for patience and tolerance with the understanding that backgrounds are different."

"Women need to understand that when you get married, your husband is actually your mother’s first love, while the mother in-law also needs to understand that her beloved son now has a new love and life partner."

"Mothers-in-law should give their daughters-in-law a chance to love their husbands and enjoy their home."

"Love and marriage is a personal thing, it is not who people choose for you, but the person your heart desires."

"No matter how talented you are, a bad character will take you nowhere."

"I just decided to give up on art. I liked making work, but I think I had a vision of what an artist was. I thought there would be less struggle and anxiety. But it's impossible not to see art in your life. You really can't avoid it, it's everywhere."

"Where I grew up, people heard of (Pablo Picasso) or whatever, but my family was kind of like, 'That's a nice hobby, but you need to go be a doctor or a lawyer or engineer."

"In my heart, I knew I wanted to do art, but there was still that drive to feel like I'm actually doing something with my life in a way that my family would understand."

"It felt like something was missing. After maturing, seeing life and experiencing the death of people close to me, it kind of felt like life really is short and I need to start living and I started small from there."

"When I watched the episode where Jennifer Beals said my name and showed my painting, I squealed a little. I’m happy to see some of my goals begin to come to fruition. There is so much more that I can do with art. I’m just getting started."

"It's taken me years to come to that conclusion, and there are still some times as an adult when those feelings creep in again. But I think just doing my art has helped me a lot, and getting my art out there lets me know it's OK just to be who I am."

"To me, a punk spirit is just living freely, disregarding societal norms and just being free to be themselves."

"Whatever I make is for myself first. And when I do that, it naturally resonates with whoever else it is also for."

"I wanted so badly just to fit in and assimilate with what was acceptable. Which is hard because I felt like I was sticking out like a sore thumb. I wanted to be invisible."

"I want my work to be accessible in different ways, more ingrained into other pieces of culture, other than just being on white walls. I want to expand my reach, because when people find my work and they feel a connection and they get it, then I feel like it was for them as well."

"I want people to walk into the exhibition and feel like they belong. I hope they can feel the sense of movement and see themselves reflected in the pieces."

"I like her (Okoro) confidence and her ability to engage with people, take chances and trust in the process of things. Her future is really bright and her work is uplifting."

"When I first saw Okoro, I thought she was amazing from the get-go, and everything she's doing now is just reinforcing that. I love the way she's constantly exploring her work. She doesn't stay in one place."

"Leave abusive marriages no matter how much repentance promises you get especially when they are becoming life threatening."

"Everything has to do with plans. You draw out your time and you don’t overdo what you shouldn’t do."

"Once you respect men for who they are, you know, men are egocentric by nature, so why not give it to them for peace sake?"

"As a married woman, you can’t always be everywhere. Just be in the middle, don’t be at the extreme."

"One thing is that there is nothing you do that you will be definitely be comfortable with."

"The money can never be enough. It cannot get you everywhere. You cannot get the money to do everything you want to do in a particular place or job. You have to keep doing more things."

"Acting is a place and also foundation that has been set for anybody that feels he has the power, zeal and everything it takes to go into it. You can definitely pick your line from there."

"When you start something, many mistakes will be made."

"In acting, one needs to interpret his or her roles very very well. If you also want your work to make sense to the viewers, you do your best."

"Aim high; don't think that something is too big for you. If you do, you won't get it. Don't ever give up; believe in the grace of God. Be prayerful and also share your dreams with people and the sky will be your limit."

"Artists are sometimes the ones who can tell us what may be coming in the future."

"Science fiction gives you the information you need to figure out what’s happening in our world."

"Science fiction helps us to expose that by dealing with another world, it helps us to deal with different beings and cultures."

"Science Fiction is a combination of entertainment and education. Out of any genre, Science Fiction is the one genre that allows us to go deeper into topics that are difficult to talk about."

"In the end, it’s science that shows us the joy in discovery."

"Radical kindness is also an act of rebellion."

"You must always speak your truth, but remember who you are speaking to."

"An image depicts younger members of society helping a young bride as she walks the short distance to her new home. They carry small cases, some are relatives, wrapped in newly printed fabric to represent the brides family. Other images reveal the beauty of our attire, our traditional dress, Jewellery and the beauty of our landscape."

"I feel incredibly blessed that I have been given a great opportunity to display how much I love what I do and I look forward to having a great night celebrating our musicians on the largest music platform in Africa."

"It is important to go out of the world to be role championship, confident and believed in our self team mate, our coach and believed in who we are, we well be successful It all starts with use in our mindset and being confident."

"I really don’t think rankings matters. What matters is which team goes into each game ready to fight to make sure their country is one of the five teams to leave France with an Olympic ticket to Rio."

"Having power means a lot of things: getting closer to the truth and, therefore, to danger... having to make sacrifices... having to accept that difficult decisions you make will be misunderstood."

"Everyone is unique in a certain way. You can appreciate a person for who they are but not try to be like them."

"The best thing to do is to treat the next person beside you the way you want to be treated."

"Honesty is the best policy. No matter how smart you want to be, at the end of the day, honesty will get you farther than deceit or manipulation."

"Whatever makes you feel comfortable and beautiful without being trashy."

"Be sure exactly why you are coming into the industry because it involves hard work and dedication. If you don’t have passion for it, you will be frustrated or you may end up doing something you will regret in life."

"Work hard, be patient because it doesn’t work overnight. If you want to do it the right way, it won’t happen overnight."

"Passion is the only thing that can make a five-year-old decide on something and then pursue it as a twenty-something-year-old woman."

"What doesn’t kill you, can only make you stronger!"

"Getting hurt helps you grow stronger and more mature emotionally, so that you can handle life and love and relationships better."

"Soap opera is about you trying to merge with the character you are taking one, day to day."

"Love is a beautiful thing. It’s an experience everyone should have."

"Believe it or not, it’s not the end of your life. Don’t stay down."

"If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, we have many goals."

"Losing someone that's dear and you haven't been able to come to terms with it. Sometimes you blame yourself for something you have no control over."

"Depression is wrong, anger, mental illness is real."

"I'm working on bringing more light into my life. That doesn't mean I wasn't funny when I started making movies, but back then I was probably [inhibited] and surrounded by darker, more subconscious things than I am today. I've been working to make things enter my consciousness more and more, in order to surface into the light."

"I played each of my games like it was my last because my opponents were very skilled. I was very serious. This is now motivation for me to train harder as I target a Woman Fide Master title at the Olympiad."

"It is important to spend time training, even if one possesses raw talent. Proper training helps actors to harness their talents and therefore, opens more opportunities."

"You need to be patient with yourself. It is a process and journey. Give yourself time and put yourself out there."

"Trust the process, grow your talent, work on yourself."

"When you marry the right man that understands your purpose and is ready to help you achieve it, then it is easy to combine marriage with any career."

"Acting is emotional. So, every character drains you emotionally because you become one with the character."

"If you can conquer your mind, you can conquer and accomplish anything."

"Acting impacts lives. It can alter people’s choices and actions for the better."

"The qualities that add value to other people are more inside than otherwise."

"The best way to deal with anything is to go through it."

"It is okay to be different. You can be glamourous and beautiful with your own style."

"Determination- Inner strength- Having your own voice- Passion- A bit of stubbornness- Lots of patience."

"Find your voice! Be you; fiercely and firmly so."

"I married Tosyn (Bucknor) because she is Tosyn and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. It is not because she is a Nigerian woman."

"This level of creativity and art, as well as inspiration and passion for storytelling in all forms, has always been there, people are just now noticing on a larger scale."

"This was a dream come true, an absolute dream come true, to be a part of this world."

"There’s the love and the joy and you’re excited, but you also feel the responsibility to this world. You want to do good by it because it’s something that you’ve loved for so long"

"Regression comes from repression. When you’re actually able to face whatever it is, that’s when growth and evolution can occur."

"Its fine to chastise me. It makes me a stronger person. I wasn't bothered at all. Do I look bleached? Some of them (the comments) were really ridiculous. I carry determination - a spirit that is not deterred. As a celeb, you give the room for bashing. People discuss you and doing this for ten years, I have a tough skin (sic)."

"Ageing is inevitable. Ageing gracefully is a gift from God. Challenges are imminent but succeeding is optional...Never quit, never give up. At the end of the day, be contempt with the fact that you gave life your best shot."

"Same with Becca, she was very loud and everywhere but that is not happening with her now. You have colleagues you started with, they are single so they will keep working and then, childbirth also slows you down since you can be off for a year and half."

"Being married definitely slowed me down because some of the directors told me they couldn’t cast me for certain roles which I played previously because I’m a wife. I love that they give me such respect but as an actress, it is my duty to act irrespective of my marital status; so if I can perfectly play a role, I don’t see the reason why I should not be given the chance."

"Those people who overtook me whiles I’m home are also now looking for husbands to marry and give birth. That is how God works in his own way. How God works is different from every individual."

"It is not easy running a business in Ghana. People will sabotage you and getting workers is tough. People are always crying on social media about unemployment. It is all a lie because they don't need any job, they are lazy. The youth are lazy because they think that once you are born, you start walking...it is a process but without any experience, they expect so much."

"We were holding onto hope, thinking it will bounce back but it seems far-fetched, truth be told the industry is dead. I was having a conversation with one of my colleagues about the industry but in conclusion, we realized there is absolutely nothing happening towards reviving the industry. it is pretty worrying."

"Celebrity marriage is just like any other marriage except that it is a bit more costly because both of you are in the limelight so a lot is expected from you than other families."

"I don't compare myself to anybody because at the end of the day, I'm grateful that when you mention Ghanaian actress, I'll be there. If not for that (marriage), I would have done a lot of things. I'm happy I got married; otherwise, I would have done a lot of things. I would have wasted my life because I was wild. It made me stop a lot of things, so it's good."

"They don't see any point of desertion. What they see is a woman who has worked tirelessly as a young woman."

"I made some mistakes in 2023 as a result of things that were beyond my control. But what was so important was that the people of Dome-Kwabenya stood solidly behind me. There is a saying that in your suffering, that is where you get to know your loved ones. The good people of Dome-Kwabenya have shown me love, and I will continue to serve them."

"It takes courage for a politician to accept wrongdoing and ask for pardon. I believe my admission and apology have touched the hearts of people in Dome-Kwabenya. I know they will vote for me into power because it's not easy for a woman in my position to own up to errors."

"It takes a woman of courage, it takes a courageous politician to accept that I have done something wrong, forgive me and that is what has touched the hearts of the people of Dome-Kwabenya and I know that they will still vote for me into power."

"It is the prayer of every pregnant woman that she gives birth to a healthy baby but God does as he pleases. And in everything we give thanks to Him."

"Things you will regret: Allowing your potential to remain trapped behind people’s opinions. Spending too much time dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, Time spent with people that don’t want the best for you, Neglecting family, Never taking risks"

"Everyone is born for a reason and a divine purpose. You can admire someone but don’t desire to be them. God put each of us in the world for an agenda and I see Him working through my talent for His glory."

"I grew up imagining myself in front of the camera. I would hold a cane and address the various rungs of our staircase at home and cane them if I felt they were not listening."

"Stop placing value on women based on their vaginas and marriage. Allow women to be! Enough of this warped mentality!!!"

"Whenever you see a successful person; you only see the public glories; never the private sacrifices."

"Our water bodies are poisoned, and we can't sit aloof! Leaders, if you really care about our beautiful nation, act now!"

"Remember when the last tree dies, the last man dies"

""Environmental degradation is not something we should tolerate, especially when our future and the future of our children's children are threatened"."

"“I am happy to announce that I am a @GlblCtzn advocate now. Take action with me as we focus on empowering girls and women, tackle climate change, and breaking systemic barriers.” she stated."

"It was just so wild because once I settled into the ‘let’s just see, let’s just have fun,’ everything that was already inside of me, that was already purposed inside of me, came out."

"But I put so much work and I put so much effort and I believe in it."

"The first laugh I ever got was when I did comedy for the first time at a beauty pageant in graduate school."

"While Republican lawmakers criminalize abortion in conservative states, and while even voters in conservative states vote for abortion rights when given the chance, the Republican hopefuls were wishy-washy on the issue – not wanting to be accountable for their party’s own extremism, but also refusing to align themselves with America’s pro-choice majority."

"And if this drug gets approved, women will get some very useful information about the men in their lives, and particular those with whom they have romantic relationships: do those men believe that they have an equal responsibility for pregnancy prevention, and are they willing to act accordingly? And if not, are those men with whom women should want to share any part of their sexual, romantic, or reproductive lives?"

"[On Donald Trump] It is odd to see a man who embodies so many sins – including all seven deadly ones; is there anyone who better exemplifies a noxious combination of pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth? – be so widely embraced by the religious right. This is a politician who has no home church and can't name his favourite Bible verse."

"That it is impossible to imagine Trump rocking a wailing baby to sleep may strike liberal feminists like me as a sign of several fatal character defects; for many white evangelicals, it suggests he knows the natural order of things."

"I keep myself going on the track by telling myself, fight your fear, conquer your victory and always have hope."

"My biggest influence has always been my commitment, training and working hard."

"There is a lesson to be learned from [[George Galloway|[George] Galloway]]'s comments, though, which is that rape is not well understood at all. When he says something is "not rape as most people understand it", this is because society still largely imagines rape as an unexpected attack on a woman walking down a dark alley late at night. By describing what [[Julian Assange|[Julian] Assange]] is alleged to have done as "bad sexual etiquette", Galloway demonstrates that he does not understand the legal definition of rape, or of sexual assault for that matter. Neither, he suggests, do many other people."

"Last night, an MP who I've only met a couple of times actually said to me as his opening gambit "I want to talk to the totty.""

"Have been thinking about whether or not to tweet about it, but actually that is NOT on and lobby women shouldn't have to put up with it."

"So I have passed the MP's name on to a whip. I don't betray sources. But I will betray sexists."

"Politicians often repeat the mistakes of the past – the level of turnover in parliament makes it even more likely that no one will notice."

"The message from [[Rosie Duffield|[Rosie] Duffield]]'s experience is that if you are a woman in politics, you'd better think really long and hard before you dare stick your neck out on issues you really care about – and not because people will argue with you, but because they'll threaten you."

"As I stood in a group near the bar, a Tory MP came over to introduce himself. "What are you doing here?" he asked abruptly, in what I can only assume was an attempt at small talk. "I work with the party’s host," I explained. “What are you doing here?" ... And then he said: "If you work at the Telegraph, do you know that slut who writes that Single Girl About Town column at the back of the magazine? What's her name? Bryony Gordon?" The room seemed to fall silent. "Yes," I managed to respond. "I know her very well, because that slut is me." The new minister for can-you-guess-what blushed crimson and spent the rest of the evening apologising profusely."

"These incidents are only trivial if you compare them to, say, the fact that women MPs are frequently mistaken for researchers, or that there are currently more British male MPs than there have been female ones in the entire history of parliament. And if the men who govern us aren't capable of seeing women as anything other than totty, sluts or dears then what hope do we have of them taking the issues that affect us seriously?"

"In a sign of national disapproval, Mr. Johnson was greeted with boos and jeers at the Platinum Jubilee service on Friday. It's not that a Conservative politician being booed is rare; in fact, it's quite common. It's that such a thing is not supposed to happen to him."

"Reform is also thinking long-term. The party wants to seize this moment of peak Tory unpopularity (few prime ministers have seen approval ratings as low as [[Rishi Sunak|[Rishi] Sunak]] has now) and use it for a realignment of politics. Its real focus is the election after the next one, when it hopes a shake-up of the two-party system could take place. Just as the SDP-Liberal Alliance split the left in the 1980s, Reform may split the right now."

"Some candidates describe themselves as feeling numb over the result. Others are simply angry they were put in this position – made to fight an election they thought was a bad idea. It's not just the 'big names' who have lost their seats, it's the losses in areas that have been Conservative for 100 years, such as Chichester. Then there’s Reform gains in former Tory strongholds such as Great Yarmouth. It means the recriminations are well under way."

"I realized that God wanted to use me through sports. I know that I've been successful through God’s grace. I had to ask myself, "do you think you'll be able to impact other athletes?" and thought, I really think I can, and I want to."

"BJP MP from Budaun, Sanghamitra Maurya, visited the victims’ house and assured them her full support. "I condemn the murder of the two minor boys,” she said. Referring to SP leaders remarks on the incident, Maurya said this was no time to do politics. "Samajwadi Party is doing politics on the issue because its so-called fort of Budaun was demolished by people here in 2019. The SP candidate must have seen that there was no one asking about him in Budaun today. This is why they are doing politics on the issue," Maurya said."

"I am fed up with such questions being asked from me for the past two years. I am a worker of BJP, its office bearer and MP and working for the party. Questions should be related to the event."

"The damaged vehicles are proof of the attack. Not only this. When I was coming to Fazilnagar after hearing about the attack, the BJP workers surrounded my car too even though I am a BJP MP."

"She deliberately provided false information to the Lok Sabha Secretariat thereby indulging in unethical, illegal and immoral conduct. She cheated her electorate by giving false information and this brings a bad name to Parliament and its members."

"Not a single vote should go in vain and if some are absent, then it is common everywhere that fake vote is cast... if you get a chance, do take advantage of it... do not do it, but if you get a chance... try to take the real voters to cast their votes but in case... then something can be done in a hidden manner."

"My faith is the centrepoint of my life and it drives me to public service, it drives me in the way that I life my life and I see my life.I believe that life is a gift from God, but it's also a test. I feel like I've been very blessed in my life. But every blessing is a test. It's not just something you bank for yourself. You should almost fear your success because now you have to answer for it. You have to use it for good. And that's how I think about my political career."

"[On her decision not to serve in Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet] I don't like anything that smells of fundamentalism in any way, religious or political or ideological, it doesn't really matter what it is, in the end. It's quite authoritarian in nature, and in my own life experience of people that are most intransigent and the most prescriptive about what everyone else can say and think and do tend not to be the best of people themselves."

"Hashtag movements are sometimes used to shut down debate and often many women have had to go to court, usually in employment tribunals, in order to clarify their rights to free speech.To clarify their right to believe that for example because you referenced JK Rowling, clarify their right to say that biological sex is real and is immutable – a position that I also agree with."

"I know what a Muslim looks like. A Muslim looks like me. I know what Muslim values are. Muslim values are mine."

"Mine is the patriotism of Orwell. Pride in a country that is forever changing, while also, ineffably, always the same. It is a love of this country as an open, tolerant and generous place. But that broad vision of who we are is increasingly disputed. Patriotism, a force for good, is turning into something smaller. Something more like ethno-nationalism, which struggles to accept that someone who looks like me, and has a faith like mine, can truly be English or British."

"AI and technology can be transformative to the whole of the law and order space.When I was in justice, my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.Similarly, in the world of policing, in particular, we’ve already been rolling out live facial recognition technology, but I think there’s big space here for being able to harness the power of AI and tech to get ahead of the criminals, frankly, which is what we’re trying to do."

"The deputy head teacher, Mr Hurst, who was a very fierce character, sent a message to me in class and said he wanted to see me in his office immediately. He said he'd got the list of students who'd signed up for this trip to Oxford [University] and my name wasn't on it, and he expected my name to be on it by the end of the day. The year that I went to Oxford there were six of us that went to Oxford or Cambridge from my state school, which was the best they'd ever achieved."

"Before I was an MP I managed a women's refuge, so I know more than most how important it is that women, especially those who have experienced male violence, sexual violence and trauma, are able to access safe therapeutic spaces, and alongside that, that we make sure that everyone in our society is treated with dignity and respect."

"I speak for the government on this matter, and I can be crystal clear with you that we welcome the ruling."

"I think it is important and welcome that the supreme court have put beyond doubt that providers can make sure that is done on the basis of biological sex [...] I do believe it is important that when women have experienced male violence they are able to heal, that they are able to access the therapeutic support that is required. What they have said consistently, and what campaigners have worked for over many decades, is to ensure that that provision does exist and can be single-sex. And the ruling has made that clear, and made it clear beyond any doubt."

"I wanted to write about extended family systems. You have people you can fall back on, and it’s good. But what if you don’t fit into what is expected of you? If you’re a man, there’s support. If you’re a woman, like Yejide, there’s the expectation that you marry into a family and after a couple of years you have children, and you have a measure of power. I wanted to look at what would happen if you could choose to be what you’re supposed to be, and how the community, in trying to help you become what you think you should be, turns on you."

"I wanted to look at the subtle ways that Nigerians interacted with the Nigerian state. One of the ways we survive darkness—and there’s a lot of darkness in this book—is to find reasons to laugh. Laughter in those kinds of situations becomes essential. It’s not a luxury. It’s not just something you do because you feel like laughing. It’s been one of the ways I’ve coped myself. I wanted to bring that to this book because it would be miserable if there was no humor…"

"There is a strong view in Nigeria, as in many other cultures, that a marriage is not complete without children. I don’t agree; I’m wary of the idea that people have to have some particular functionality in order to be full members of society. I think it’s a very dangerous idea. Humans are humans and they are worthy of respect…"

"I am interested in the idea that people should be able to define their own happiness. It’s not just about fertility; we are often told that we need this or that to be happy. We need to be thin, rich or whatever. But maybe we should decide for ourselves what happiness looks like."

"“If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But when it's in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn't mean it's no longer love.”"

"“Sometimes I think we have children because we want to leave behind someone who can explain who we were to the world when we are gone.”"

"“So love is like a test, but in what sense? To what end? Who was carrying out the test? But I think I did believe that love had immense power to unearth all that was good in us, refine us and reveal to us the better versions of ourselves.”"

"“I understand how a word others use every day can become something whispered in the dark to soothe a wound that just won't heal. I remember thinking I would never hear it spoken without unravelling a little, wondering if I would ever get to say it in the light. So I recognise the gift in this simple pronouncement, the promise of a beginning in this one word.”"

"“OK, we'll tell her you dug the grave." It's the truth - stretch, but still true. Besides, what would be left of love without truth stretched beyond its limits, without those better versions of ourselves that we present as the only ones that exist?”"

"“Before you call the snail a weakling, tie your house to your back and carry it around for a week”"

"“It would take a while for me to realise that each of my children had given me as much as they took. My memories of them, bittersweet and constant, were as powerful as a physical presence. And because of that, as a bus bore me into the heart of a city I did not know, while my last child was dying in Lagos and the country was unraveling, I was not afraid because I was not alone.”"

"“I loved Yejide from the very first moment. No doubt about that. But there are things even love can’t do. Before I got married, I believed love could do anything. I learned soon enough that it couldn’t bear the weight of four years without children. If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it’s in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer love.”"

"“The reasons why we do the things we do will not always be the ones that others will remember. Sometimes”"

"“I had expected them to talk about my childlessness. I was armed with millions of smiles. Apologetic smiles, pity-me smiles, I-look-unto-God smiles - name all the fake smiles needed to get through an afternoon with a group of people who claim to want the best for you while poking at your open sore with a stick - and I had them ready. I was ready to listen to them tell me I must do something about my situation. I expected to hear about a new pastor I could visit; a new mountain where I could go to pray; or an old herbalist in a remote village or town whom I could consult. I was armed with smiles for my lips, an appropriate sheen of tears for my eyes and sniffles for my nose. I was prepared to lock up my hairdressing salon throughout the coming week and go in search of a miracle with my mother-in-law in tow. What I was not expecting was another smiling woman in the room, a yellow woman with a blood-red mouth who grinned like a new bride.”"

"“what would be left of love without truth stretched beyond its limits”"

"“But even then, I could trap those thoughts and keep them caged in a corner of my mind, in a place where they could not spread their wings and take over my life.”"

"“I was overwhelmed with the urge to fill every silence with words. Silence to me was a void in the universe that could suck us all in. It was my assignment to block this deadly void with words and save the world.”"

"“But the biggest lies are often the ones we tell ourselves. I bit my tongue because I did not want to ask questions. I did not ask questions because I did not want to know the answers. It was convenient to believe my husband was trustworthy; sometimes faith is easier than doubt.”"

"“Already, I was coming undone, like a hastily tied scarf coming loose, on the ground before the owner is aware of it.”"

"“I was armed with millions of smiles. Apologetic smiles, pity-me smiles, I-look-unto-God smiles—name all the fake smiles needed to get through an afternoon with a group of people who claim to want the best for you while poking at your open sore with a stick—and I had them ready.”"

"“I would learn later that Akin could keep himself neatly folded in while he drew out other people. He was the kind of person that many claimed as a dear friend. Many of those people did not even know him, but they never knew they did not know him.”"

"“there is no god like a mother”"

"“Even the tongue and the teeth cannot cohabit without fighting”"

"“The reasons why we do the things we do will not always be the ones others will remember. Sometimes I think we have children because we want to leave behind someone who can explain who we were to the world.”"

"“A mother must be vigilant. She must be able and willing to wake up ten times during the night to feed her baby. After her intermittent vigil, she must see everything clearly the next morning so that she can notice any changes in her baby. A mother is not permitted to have blurry vision. She must notice if her baby’s wail is too loud or too low. She must know if the child’s temperature has risen or fallen. A mother must not miss any signs.”"

"“If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break”"

"“Didn’t think it was possible for the world to change so suddenly. I was aware of other people moving up and down the corridor: I heard heels clicking, people speaking, felt some bodies push past mine. But I felt so alone, as though within the space of time it had taken Yejide to say, “They have taken Olamide to the mortuary” I had been transported to a planet with no human life.”"

"“There is nothing stopping a beautiful girl from facing her books”"

"“Now hear me well—what is not yours is not yours o, even if you marry the person that has that thing. If it is not yours, it is not yours o.”"

"Time was unforgiving, it didn’t stop, not even to give people a chance to scrape themselves off the floor if they’d been shattered."

"“He stared back at her, unconcerned. She had always marvelled at his calm assurance that everything good in his life would either remain the same or get better. He took good fortune for granted. As though it were impossible that it would abide only for a spell. She had never been able to shake the sense that life was war, a series of battles with the occasional spell of good things.”"

"Maybe she was one of those people for whom satisfaction lay only in the future, forever slightly out of reach."

"“My mother had become a obsession for me, a religion, and the very thought of referring to another woman as Mother seems sacrilegious, a betrayal of the woman who had given up her life for me to live.”[https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/52027766-stay-with-me?page=2"

"“Di we ever really know what we will do in any situation until the situation presents itself?”[https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/52027766-stay-with-me?page=2"

"“The road stretches before us, shrouded in a darkness transitioning into dawn as it leads me back to you.”[https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/52027766-stay-with-me?page=2"

"....the weapons were pens, books, chalks and blackboards, the heroes simple teachers."

"Mogadishu the beautiful - your white-turbaned mosques, baskets of anchovies as bright as mercury, jazz and shuffling feet, bird-boned servant girls with slow smiles, the blind white of your homes against the sapphire blue of the ocean - you are missed, her dreams seem to say."

"It is the kind of place where human skeletons might sink into the soil undisturbed and unmourned."

"In her orchard the trees had been born from deaths; they marked and grew from the remains of the children that passed through her. She never picked the fruit that fell from them, believing it a kind of cannibalism, but out of those soft, unshaped figures had grown tall, strong, tough-barked trees that blossomed and called birds to their branches and clambered out over the orchard walls to the world beyond."

"In the centre of the city where the alleys narrow at points to the width of a man’s shoulder blades, you can walk as if in a dream, never certain of what might appear after the next bend:..."

"The place has enchantment, mystery, it moves backward and forward in time with every turn of the feet; it is fitting that it lies beside an ocean over which its soul can breathe, rather than being hemmed in by mountains like a jinn in a bottle."

"They have created a man – no, a Frankenstein’s monster – and branded it with his name before setting it loose."

"Standing there, shoulders sagging, in the Law Courts, in Cardiff, in Bilad al-Welsh, he feels the blows of their lies like a man shot with arrows."

"They're doing this because they haven't broken me. If I had lost my mind and sat weeping in my own shit, maybe then they'd be happy to send me to a madhouse like they did with Khaireh."

"....I stand and claim my innocence so they have to finish me to protect themselves. Their lies and evil end with me."

"They say we got you by the balls, darkie! We own your land, your trains, your riv­ers, your schools, the coffee grains at the bottom of your cup. You see what they do to the Mau Mau and all the Kikuyu in Kenya? Lock them up, man and child."

"...look around you, this is the jungle, you got bushes and trees everywhere, in my country nothing grows."

"You are a perpetual motion machine."

"This shop is my life, and if I had just sold it in '48 what good would that have done? A widow, a spinster, and a little girl, jumping from home to home and job to job."

"Not everyone’s gender identity matches the reproductive organs they were born with therefore you have been reclassified as a birthing person rather than a mother. Now are you ready to try chest feeding?"

"It's terrifying and I've had to navigate it all through nine months of ­pregnancy. I created a social network for women, myself included, where we can relax on the ­internet away from death threats and toxic male behaviour."

"We wanted to do equity crowd funding, which would allow women to have ownership in a start-up and have investment in the financial world. No equity crowd funding company would work with us, saying the trans issue was like an open wound."

"It's always been you can't discriminate against anyone except when you can … (because it is) for a positive reason for that group. Female only spaces have existed for such a long time and there has been no controversy in it."

"My goal is not to strip anyone of their rights. My goal is to make everybody's rights clear. If we can get clarity on this hopefully it will stop the fighting between women and trans activists. Let's try and find positives to move forward."

"[Giggle was intended to be] a little corner of the Internet where women from all over the world could have a refuge away from men. It could be for serious reasons, very superficial reasons, or very practical reasons. It would be a place without harassment, 'mansplaining', 'dick pics', stalking, and aggression, and other male patterned online behaviour. A place to vent and get advice from other women and find out what was happening in the real world in a female-only environment."

"[N]ever in my wildest nightmare did I think there was anyone saying men are actually women if they just say it."

"[W]hat's the point of even having a category of woman in law if it's not defined as 'biological adult human female' if it's just a category any man can become. [...] It's meaningless."

"I don’t think it's kind to expect a woman to see a man as a woman."

"[From a series of posts on X/Twitter] I'm being taken to federal court by a man who claims to be a woman because he wants to use a woman-only space I created. [...] There isn't a woman in the world who'd have to take me to court to use this woman only space. It takes a man for this case to exist."

"[Statement in court ] I wanted to create a safe, women-only space in the palm of your hand. [...] It is a legal fiction that Tickle is a woman. His birth certificate has been altered from male to female, but he is a biological man, and always will be. We are taking a stand for the safety of all women’s only spaces, but also for basic reality and truth, which the law should reflect."

"Unfortunately, we got the judgement we anticipated. The fight for women's rights continues."

"If Tickle wins, it will establish that males have a legal right, not just to the female sex category, but to all female spaces, including hospital wards, sports facilities, domestic violence refuges, rape crisis centres, and prisons."

"Sex is discriminatory, it always has been and always will be ... biological sex must prevail"

"[A] small group of people have taken it upon themselves to declare that I am not who I know I am, and they have set about making my life miserable. This case, and the unlawful and discriminatory exclusion from the Giggle app, has stolen the last three years of my life."

"While there are a number of trans-only apps and straight women don't demand access to, say, the gay dating app Grindr, activists want Giggle removed from the Apple platform. They claim its software reads black women's faces as male. Grover says her users are women of all races from 88 countries and this is a vicious slur. Their true motivation is her female-only policy. It enrages a movement whose idea of activism is getting domestic violence refuges defunded for remaining single-sex; which can’t abide women having one damn thing."

"Dangerous women are those who challenge the status quo, defy gender norms and stereotypes, often at personal risk, and who refuse to be charming just for an easy life. Now, as in the past, and across cultures, who is deemed a "dangerous" woman is generally decided by those who oppose them."

"[On the emergence of the #MeToo movement since October 2017] Any institution worth its salt should have HR policies to deal with incidents like this. The problem with the arts is that you have a hell of a lot of freelancers, people working for themselves, you don't have a lot of people who you can go to and say "this has happened to me". The idea that this is all some kind of massive revelation is actually quite offensive. Because women have been talking about this for ages. And just because it was all en-masse and at once, everyone thought "Oh God"."

"Nothing exists in isolation, we are talking about a systemic societal issue which is male violence against women, and within that, abuses of power, and hierarchies in the arts. As I have said about the 'not all men [are like that]' theme – I have yet to hear of a women boss forcing a male artist to masturbate: that just doesn’t happen. That just doesn't happen."

"I was also frustrated with what #MeToo and spoken word in general often demands from women, where you’re judged on your trauma, not your craft, your ideas."

"I knew I had to use spoken word to talk about various things I’d been speaking about in pubs, with women online who were all saying: "Oh my God. What the hell is happening to the world?""

"[On Lindsay's experience of being cancelled] My publisher was harassed. People who worked with me were harassed. Now, bear in mind, I'm not a public figure and all of this was kind of bubbling under the surface for about seven months. People trying to get me fired from things, my income tanking and me not really 100 per cent knowing why. And then it burst onto Twitter in February 2020, quite a febrile time just before a lockdown when a young poet I've never met called me a terf and tried to harass a small publisher to drop me from their programme. I retaliated of course, and then the Scottish Poetry Library got involved issuing a statement. opposing calls for no platforming, they fought against other poets, which led to almighty hell and the SPL accused of institutional transphobia and all of the time this has been reported in the papers with my name sort of attached to it, but people weren't 100% sure what I'd done, just that you got to avoid me now."

"David T. C. Davies [then Conservative MP for Monmouth]: I hear what the hon. Lady is saying. May I bluntly ask her whether she would be happy sharing a changing room with somebody who was born male and had a male body?"

"Layla Moran: I believe that women are women, so if that person was a trans woman, I absolutely would. I just do not see the issue. As for whether they have a beard, which was one of the hon. Gentleman’s earlier comments, I dare say that some women have beards. There are all sorts of reasons why our bodies react differently to hormones. There are many forms of the human body. I see someone in their soul and as a person. I do not really care whether they have a male body."

"[A] woman is a gender, it is a way to self-identify and there are lots of genders. There is male and that is biological. There is female, which is also biological. A woman is a gender identity which is more akin to being a man. Those are the opposites and then there is also non-binary, which is people who don't identify with either."

"Trump has clearly not spoken to a single Palestinian about this plan. Gaza is our land. Palestine is our home. Peace cannot come at the cost of our country. I urge the UK and the whole international community to resist him. Recognise Palestine now, before it's too late."

"Algerian women have gone beyond their traditional role and are now pioneers by assuming the positions that were stipulated in the recent constitutional amendment, which approved the principle of equality between women and men. This reflects the state’s political will to bolster women’s rights and gains similar to their counterparts in the Arab world."

"The Algerian state places paramount importance on protecting and promoting childhood through several measures in favor of this category."

"I would love to get married because I want to share my life with someone, not because society says that I should. But if I don't get married, that is my cross to bear, not society's.""

"Be truthful to yourself is the greatest gift you can give to yourself."

"It is understandable that life can turn to worst, but it is important to be honest with yourself and seek help"

"In this world there are black, white and grey. There are people who would push all kinds of stories."

"So long as you know that deep down it is not your truth it should not bother you"

"You don't know about the marriage until you walk on it"

"Go at your pace, marriage is not for everyone, children are not for everyone."

"I am a married woman and I have children of my own and many whom am sponsoring in various schools including 23 girls and six boys. I feel I have a responsibility as a parent and a leader, when I come across a young person getting to do wrong things"

"There is a need for in-depth due diligence to present findings that can enable us to have a deep understanding of the questions of the balalo for a long-lasting solution to this issue”"

"We must provide the direction for an alternative means of livelihood than sales of land, our people should get into production. Our negotiations should focus on special affirmative actions on Agro- agro-industrialization and related value addition chain support to bring our people into the money economy."

"We need to address the root cause why people are selling their land, once we can dialogue and people understand then automatically the issues would be sorted”"

"Women who vie for direct constituency seats are targeted for abuse, and this has led many to resolve that the violence is not worth enduring,”"

"women are called “prostitute” and other names, told to focus on marital concerns, and generally put down and berated."

"Term limits will not take away the fact that women continue to face systemic barriers that keep them from participating in political processes and decision-making. I’d rather we draw lessons from other countries that have systems of affirmative action, as well as those without,”"

"Whereas almost all districts in central Uganda grow coffee, Bukomansimbi is most known for being highly involved in coffee production."

"It was his action to increase the price and quality of coffee astronomically during his short-lived stint first as chief minister and then as the first Prime Minister of Uganda. I want to continue his legacy in Bukomansimbi as a model district,""

"We want to add our contribution to societal development by ensuring the cash and food crops grown on our small pieces of land are of good quality that meets the local and international market demands, just like our grandfather Ben Kiwanuka used to do in the early 1950s."

"Given that the average Ugandan household is 10 people, this translates into about half of the country’s population relying directly for their livelihood on the coffee crop."

"I look at how women can feel the power of their vote. I also try to convince them to think of good policies and not concern themselves with what political party leaders give them."

"In my day-to-day interaction with the people, I’ve been a little biased because I believe in empowering the woman. So, interacting with them and listening to their stories, gives me a better idea about what they are facing."

"At least, eight communities have so far benefited from the one-district-one-dam project in the Nantong District. Others have also been enrolled in the forestry project. This she said shows the loyalty of the NPP government to their promises and the people of Ghana."

"So, here I am I in bed, just struggling with myself to understand why on earth a deputy minister of state will look at the people who hosted him almost all his life (27yrs) according to him, in the face and tell us we are difficult people and also that we lie to extortionate money from government. I am sure this was said without any evidence."

"You might not feel the impact of free SHS today, especially parents whose children are still below JHS, you might not see the impact, but in the near future, if you go into Accra and you find just 10 girls in agbobloshie doing kayaye, that’s an impact of free SHS. When you find out that the number of kayaye girls has drastically reduced, that’s where you start talking about the impact."

"Nanton is home, I describe the people as very loyal, very very loyal. Both my dad and mom are from Nantong. I think change is a gradual process and I think we are in the process. Once I’m in Tamale, I do a bit of Nantong before I go back to Accra. The fortunate part is, the development is not centered in Nantong alone, it’s getting into the communities."

"The more women were made to head institutions and other places of influence in the governance structure, the more young women would be inspired to go into public service without the fear of intimidation or being looked down upon."

"The decision to renominate Prof. Opoku-Agyemang to partner with him was an endorsement of affirmative action and that former President Mahama was the only President who gave more important appointments to women when he was the President."

"I pledge to work hard to lift the image of the NDC in and outside Parliament, with the hope of inspiring the young ones, particularly women, to also develop the desire to enter politics."

"I call for more affirmative actions for women, particularly those in Parliament, to ensure the equitable appointment of women into leadership positions."

"It has become the norm the world over as more than 50 countries now require people to cover their faces when they leave their homes."

"Proper handling of the home-made ones requires that the masks are washed with warm soapy water , dried and ironed at least once a day if possible but sadly I have seen people wearing masks which appear rather soiled and unkempt."

"In our markets, on commercial vehicles and even at work places, you will find people who wear the mask below their chin, on their forehead, simply hang it around their neck or carry it in their hand and the impression is created that it is sufficient to own a mask and carry it around."

"MPs as representatives of the people must support efforts to educate the public on the wearing of face masks."

"I want to tackle youth unemployment in my district by establishing small income- generating projects."

"My coming to parliament and becoming the president of the IPU youth body is an opportunity to voice the concerns of young people."

"It is about the brain."

"But most of the time, I am just concentrating on my crafts. I am also venturing into making reusable pads to help my women and girls."

"Whether you like it or not, you cannot do everything on your own. You have to consult and get assistance from others."

"“I want to change their lives and make them better. My people come first in whatever I do."

"I have noticed that many middle income earners in Uganda are reluctant to interact with the less fortunate."

"I am the Whip of both Select Committees on Finance and Appropriations and my role is to look at oversight issues related to finance and financial health of various municipalities and government departments."

"My responsibility as an MP is to liaise between the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and Parliament. I also serve as a Whip in the multi-party caucus where we are responsible for determining the programme of the NCOP"

"The Commission consists of legislators and executive members of the justice fraternity and we are responsible for the appointment of magistrates and we look at how courts operate."

"The introduction of new parties and the vigorous kind of debating that is taking place at the moment is putting a spotlight on Parliament."

"The Fifth Parliament has also been characterised by robust debates and the general public is now more interested in what is happening in Parliament as opposed to the previous terms where Parliament was basically known only as a law-making institution."

"I am too young to specifically identify what I have done in my constituency and I always look to elders whenever when I struggle to achieve a particular objective."

"I believe that as South Africans we have a lot more to be grateful for than we need to be negative about - we just do not realise how fortunate we are. It is a fact that transitions and regime changes do not often come in peace but South Africa’s own transition came in a very peaceful manner."

"I am also passionate about the importance of educating all citizens of South Africa with a particular focus on young girls. I strongly believe that education gives women a greater degree of independence and we are likely to see more progress in a society where we educate young girls"

"We have the potential to be a great society and as South Africans we had not been able to tap into our own potential. Let us not focus on what makes us different but rather on what unites us."

"Creating ideas, and concepts and seeing them through makes me feel proud and is for me a true and real contribution to the betterment of society."

"The burning of assets at UCT is not solely about the vandalism of property, but rather the depreciation of the sum total of parts that make an education valuable. It is safe to say that many students do not want knowledge primarily for knowledge’s sake; if that were the case then many more might consider."

"Two out of three ain’t bad South Africans are continuously singing the same tune to the DA, to borrow from the artist Meatloaf “I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you”. But unlike South Africans Meatloaf goes on to say, “but two out of three ain’t bad”"

"like many other words and concepts one comes across at a young age, has been a part of my reservoir of knowledge for so large a part of my life that it is impossible, save with the intervention of hypnotherapy, to pinpoint the first time I heard or understood it. One rarely came across."

"The allure of adulthood includes being allowed to drink alcohol, enter a club or bar, browse any website and other pleasures. The period of abstinence is designed for us to later abhor these things or love them in moderation. Growing up really is a journey towards the light because childhood is a sort of tyranny."

"Parliament urge government to strengthen effort meant for road safety in Uganda."

"There was need for government to ensure the laws and regulations such as the traffic and road Safety regulations 2004 on prescribed alcohol limit,Speed limit…"

"I urge the Minister for Foreign Affairs to put clear guidelines on operations of these companies. Someone pays shs400,000 for an express passport but ends up getting it after three months."

"Stop negligence on Government projects. This morning I visited Rwamabondo HCIII and there was a building that was constructed by Kibatsi Development Association, but the verandah has been destroyed yet there is leadership around and they are not bothered at all. People think that there is no government, please Government starts with you. Maintain every project that is brought to you by the Government. Recently I was at Kitondo H/CII and I observed that the ceiling of that building around there was made of plywood which cannot even last for two years, this is normally done by the constructors due to connivance and lack of supervision by our leaders who are on ground. Stop misusing Government funds. I call upon every leader at whatever level to do your work and role so that we can leave a legacy for our people."

"Some people make phone calls on our local radio stations and start giving wrong information against government facilities. For example in health services, I have someone who recently called on one of the radios in our District and raised false information that in Rwamabondo HCIII there are no drugs, when I visited that facility the drugs were there. People stop misleading the world through wrong information, stop the mentality of half empty, let’s always appreciate and give credit to what government has done in our areas, let us stop demoralizing our technical staff who are trying to serve."

"Thank you for putting your faith in me, Virginia. I promise you this is just the beginning."

"Our work is nowhere near complete! We’re just getting warmed up and we all have a role to play to elect"

"I know their needs. I know their pain."

"I know how to advocate for them because I feel like I basically lived through it"

"For 50 years Hiram W. Davis Medical Center has offered acute medical, skilled nursing, and long-term care to Virginians, but after decades of unmet infrastructure improvements, there is an increasing risk that the quality of care may be compromised and this facility may be an inadequate environment for the workforce serving them"

"“VDOT’s decision to forgo its reduction in service of the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry is a welcomed relief for the communities I represent. The responsiveness of VDOT and the entire ferry operations team, to all of the concerns shared is truly commendable. I look forward to continuing to support the efforts required to ensure we can prevent this disruption in service from occurring in the future"

"It came as a shock to learn about VDOT’s announcement to reduce the service schedule of the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry—without public input and or alerting the state representatives of this community"

"Two years ago today, Trump's Supreme Court stripped away the constitutionally protected reproductive rights of hundreds of millions of Americans with their decision to reverse the Dobbs decision. Since then we have seen politicians hostile to reproductive rights continue their attacks to rob people of their power to control their bodies and personal health care decisions with restrictive bans across the country. Here in Virginia, Governor Youngkin and Republicans in the legislature utilized this decision as an opportunity to propose a 15-week ban in 2023 -- a decision which was met with immense pushback and first defeated at the legislative level, and then once again at the ballot box with my election and Democrats regaining majorities in the General Assembly"

"I am grateful to have secured over $22 million dollars in priorities that will provide critical supports for the citizens of the 13th senatorial district. My funded priorities included key investments in education, violence prevention, poverty reduction efforts, healthcare, good governance and community resilience to continue to move our Commonwealth forward. I am confident that this budget will have direct and significant positive impacts on the residents in my district and I was proud to vote in support of the final budget this afternoon."

"In collaboration with the City’s leadership, this town hall continues to uphold the commitment that the selection of a potential casino operator be a transparent and publicly accessible process."

"As we move closer to the reality of bringing a referendum to the citizens of Petersburg, we are asking the voters of today to make an economic development decision that will affect the City for decades to come. People deserve to be as informed as possible and therefore it’s a personal priority of mine to ensure the vision of each operator is fully explored and that the public has confidence that their interests are represented"

"It is Election Day! No matter what happens today know that I am grateful for the outpouring of support I've received during this campaign. Thank you. I love Detroit and share your desire to see this city reach its unlimited potential. Let's do this!"

"While working as a hospitality worker at MGM Grand Casino, I became one of the youngest members of the UNITEHERE! Local 24 contract bargaining team. It's an honor to receive the endorsement of @unitehere"

"My work is far from over, and I am grateful for the trust of these organizations. I want security for our seniors, stability for our families, and fair compensation for our workers"

"The final two Homeowners Property Exemption (HOPE) drive-thru events are today at Patton Rec Center 10-4pm and on Saturday from 11-3pm Lasky Rec Center."

"Coffee Hours are perfect for sharing your thoughts and learn about upcoming legislation and programs. Hope to see you there!"

"Detroit currently has 15 legislators in Lansing, the new maps could make it zero. These maps also erase majority Black districts and are not reflective of Detroit"

"Covering the eastside of Detroit, I am grateful for the Grosse Pointe Democratic Club's endorsement. I appreciate the support I've received so far for my reelection campaign"

"Election Day is coming up fast! We have thousands of voters to talk to. Let's keep an experienced and dedicated public servant as our City Council At Large member. Help reelect Janeé Ayers by volunteering today"

"During my time as your Detroit City Council At Large member, I pushed for increasing Detroit Department of Transportation funding to improve reliability and accountability so riders can be confident needs will be met"

"Thank you to Michigan's Mighty 14th District Democrats for endorsing my reelection campaign. I am so grateful for your support."

"Detroit's rebound has helped bring back a key industry: private security. . . . However, many of the security officers who keep downtown safe for others are unable to enjoy the benefits of the same prosperity they help secure."

"The SEIU surveyed nearly 50 security officers in downtown Detroit and found that officers can earn as little as $22,000. Nearly half of the officers surveyed say they rely on public assistance to make ends meet, while a quarter note that have to work two jobs to support themselves and their families."

"The same people who secure these downtown buildings are the ones who lived here and stayed here during the city’s greatest struggles. . . . We need one Detroit, where no working person should struggle to put food on the table for their families. . . . All working families [deserve] the opportunity to participate in Detroit’s resurgence and thrive with at least a $15 hourly wage."

"One of the things I’ve realized is that there are harmful assumptions about women. When I started in my leadership role, people expected me to be a no-nonsense, super tough person who would drive my subordinates to work at any expense, even though they had no basis for that assumption."

"Research shows that the same men who agree to female appointments give them tasks they’re highly likely to fail. Instead of doing that, equip them for success when you select them for assignments."

"It’s important that women recognise that these hard skills allow a person to sit on the deciding table and so there is a need for them to grow these skills."

"UWA is currently installing wooden poles, some of which are reused, while others have developed cracks. We would prefer them to install concrete poles instead, as this would demonstrate the government's commitment to a durable, long-term solution to the human-wildlife conflict in the district."

"By "colonialism," I’m referring not just to the 19th-century era when European powers divided and controlled Africa, but also to the earlier colonialism of ancient and medieval times—by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Arabs,” Halevi explained. “The Jewish people, too, freed ourselves from colonial rule. Like Africa, Israel was conquered and oppressed by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Turks. And, like many others, we also lived under British colonial rule in the 20th century.”"

"I’m urging you to stay vigilant and recognize that the future of Alebtong rests in my hands."

"I will this time go to Parliament"

"I stood with the NRM party, and although my votes weren’t enough, I respected the party and supported the flag bearer. She won, but unfortunately, her journey was derailed, and I believe I was treated as a mere backup. Now, I ask the people of Alebtong to choose me, put me in the driver’s seat, and I will lead Alebtong district forward with determination and success."

"A significant amount of land has already been allocated to the government for schools, hospitals, and even barracks, so it should prioritize utilizing that. The remaining land, should be reserved for the people to sustain their livelihoods."

"The real estate industry is one of the cornerstones of our nation’s development,” Namuganza said. “It breathes life into our infrastructure, fuels economic growth, and provides livelihoods to countless Ugandans"

"We are committed to addressing these issues. Buyers deserve to get what they are promised—safe, well-built homes,"

"Traditionally, someone would purchase an apartment, struggle with maintenance, managing tenants, and end up with a payback period of almost 20 years,The stress of managing these properties reduced the attractiveness of such investments."

"This kind of innovation is what we need to restore public trust and make the industry attractive to both local and foreign investors"

"The portal will allow Ugandans to access land title information for a small fee, bringing much-needed transparency to the sector"

"We are building partnerships with private developers to increase the supply of affordable housing..These collaborations aim to attract investment through incentives such as tax breaks and improved access to land"

"Disillusioned supporters return the gifts she had given them in exchange for their political backing."

"How did he manage to get all that on his own?" asked Mary Goretti Kiconco, a local resident. "They give one person UGX 700,000 worth of cement, but all we get is alcohol and waragi. They should distribute things fairly or they’ll face the consequences at the ballot box."

"I know they give building materials to some people, but if they want our support, they need to share with all of us. Otherwise, let those who received the gifts vote for them on their own.""

"What Harp doesn’t understand is that I like my parents—current hiccups in sanity not withstanding."

"“I’m Harp,” my best friend says, business-like. “This is Viv. Personally, I think you guys would make really cute babies together.”"

"“That’s part of the prophecy of the Rapture, right? The dead will rise and crash our parties?” He laughs. “Do you really think that’s a priority, for the reanimated corpses?” “Absolutely,” I say. “No French onion dip in purgatory.”"

"“I mean, these people really believe what they believe.” “But what they believe is so absurd.”"

"In addition to founding the Church itself, Frick was the CEO of its accompanying multimillion-dollar corporation. They publish the magazines and run the Church television networks, and they produce end-of-the-world provisions like these—bottles of Holy Spring Water, a bland SpaghettiOs knockoff called Christ Loops."

"Even now I think I could only list for him the various things I don’t believe in. But still I wish I could. Because I’m starting to narrow it down. I don’t believe in hate. I don’t believe in money. I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe it’s too late."

"“This whole country,” says my grandmother evenly, “supports a culture of ignorance and anti-intellectualism which posits that not understanding a phenomenon is just as valid as understanding one, and frankly I’m sick of it.”"

"“But it was probably nothing.” “Nothing is nothing anymore, Viv.”"

"(“For God saw that Americans were industrious and made money in His name, and he saw that it was good”). It’s one of the many parts of the Book of Frick that makes you wonder whether or not Frick was just straight-up on ’shrooms when he was writing it."

"Believer culture seems to shift so quickly, from benign to terrifying and back again."

"It’s funny now to think that we were ever confused by extreme action taken in the name of God."

"Behind him shines the blinking neon of a casino:"

"But I can’t justify the act to myself, no matter how much I like making out with the boy I’d be trying to save. That would be playing by Believer rules—telling myself that violence and the threat of it is okay, if that’s what it takes to get you what you want. “For God so loved the world,” says the Book of Frick, “that he sent us guns with which to protect our homes and women.”"

"I wonder if this is what bravery is: adrenaline plus love plus absolute stupidity."

"I’ve always believed Frick to be detached from reality, but I thought he was just a megalomaniac, a manipulator, a con artist. Now I begin to slowly understand. He’s far more dangerous than any of those things. He’s a true Believer."

"“What? Why the fuck are you smiling?” “Because you’re so like Winnie, it’s actually spooky. You both clearly possess the take-no-shit gene.”"

"We could conceivably slow this destruction down, but it would require huge overarching changes in the structure of our society—the kind of change we will never achieve so long as we remain distracted by imaginary acts of God."

"I’m starting to understand how little purchase the truth actually affords us in this world."

"I will never understand why Believers cling to this kind of language, this relentless empty optimism, plus all! those! exclamation! points!"

"Harp gives me a look. “What?” “You are terrible at lying, Viv. Embarrassingly bad. Have I taught you nothing?”"

"Everyone seems absurdly rich and very drunk. I notice with annoyance that there’s no adherence to modesty here: I see short skirts and plenty of cleavage, bare necks adorned by jewels. I guess if you have enough money, the Church will overlook a selection of your sins."

"How many simple pleasures I denied myself, because I thought that’s what goodness was. How stupid that it took me until the end of the world to realize it was something else entirely."

"If I ever had patience for believers who wanted to convince me of my own wickedness, I’ve officially run out of it."

"It’s not enough for the Believers to feel abandoned—they need to know they’ve been lied to. Otherwise someone down the line will try again."

"“Bless him”—the Messiah raises a shiny copy of the New Apocalypse Edition of the Book of Frick—“for leaving us this miraculous book, this new edition of his Holy Word, available for only nineteen ninety-nine at Church of America megastores worldwide.”"

"If there are any doctors in the house, could we get Mr. Masterson some medical attention? It would be a shame if he were to pass away before he’s prosecuted for his crimes."

"You know being a girl is natural but being a lady is something that has to be imbibed and I guess I learned a whole lot about being a lady."

"La prière nourrit notre âme! (Prayer nourishes our soul.)"

"Je partage l'idylle qu'adolescente ressent à ce jeune âge; les premières amours, les premières joies et les premières déceptions (I share the idyll that a teenager feels at this young age; the first loves, the first joys and the first disappointments.)"

"Le poète, c'est celui qui invente son monde et qui peint le monde de la manière dont il voudrait qu'il soit. ("The poet is someone one who invents his own world and who paints the world in the way he would like it to be.")"

"... lorsque je me retrouve face au public et que je déclame mes poèmes, j’aime que ça touche les âmes et que ça leur procure un certain plaisir. Je me sens très épanouie sur scène. (...when I find myself in front of the public and I recite my poems, I like that it touches souls and gives them a certain pleasure. Onstage, I feel very flourishing. )"

"Ses intrigues de grands déballages, sanctionnent, rectifient, enseignent, éduquent... En cela, Barbara AKPLOGAN mérite l’admiration de son lectorat. (Her plots of great revelations sanction, rectify, teach, educate... In this, Barbara AKPLOGAN deserves the admiration of her readership.)"

"Anybody can say whatever pleases them with their mouth."

"There’s no such thing as impossibility. It is very important to remain humble, work hard, be good and keep trusting in God."

"... I think stories of transformations, of wild glories and everyday glories, of magic both real and imaginary, can act like a map. They give us a push toward hope. Real true hope isn't the promise that everything will be all right — but it's a belief that the world has so many strangenesses and possibilities that giving up would be a mistake; that we live in a universe shot through with the unexpected. There's never been a single decade in human history when we have not taken ourselves by surprise: we, the ungainly, wonky-toothed human species, have an endless potential for change. I am not an optimist, or a pessimist; I am a possibilityist. The possibilities out there for discovery, for knowledge, for transforming the world, are literally — there are spectacular ideas that we will have in the next ten years that we can't even begin to dream of now."

"I come from a family of pilots. Both my grandfathers flew s in the Second World War, and my uncle can fly a plane. And, so, about five years ago, I started learning for the huge pleasure of being above the world and being given a vision of the sweep of it."

"… I write about s, because it was probably a hermit crab who ate . And I write about s, because there was once a ."

"... Spending hours in libraries, reading old Latin manuscripts and the many brilliant encyclopaedias of mythical creatures: there are few things more wonderful."

"as quoted by Zoe Perzo,"

"Rundell spent her formative years in wild spaces. At age 7, she moved to Zimbabwe, where her mother had family and her father worked as a diplomat, paying the young Rundell 50 pence for every poem she memorized (and extra if it came from the Renaissance)."

"She is best known as the author of prizewinning children’s books (her only book for grown-ups, until now, is the slim and slyly titled “Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise”). While she keeps one foot in the academic world as a fellow of , she has the other planted elsewhere, engaging in and — as good a preparation as any for rendering Donne’s precarious life."

"So, l've been learning chords and arpeggios. In music, just like in Electrical Engineering (my major), theory is one thing, but practical application is another. Applying my new knowledge made me realize I've been playing the keyboard the hard way . I applied what I've learned to a small segment of the chorus of this song, and it's much easier to play now. (Can you tell the line I'm talking about?) Keeping all of my fingers on the keyboard without accidentally pressing the wrong key is still a challenge. I'm looking forward to working with a live tutor soon. And mehn - recording can be exhausting. By the time I got the perfect camera spot, I was already dropping the idea. How do people do that thing?"

"We are focused too much on a financial story of yesterday. Now the dollar is the . The U.S. financial crisis is an aftermath. The financial history or... story of today and tomorrow is going to be about... China's . ...[W]hat is new, and I'm not sure the world is... prepared for it, is... a few firsts of an emerging country. 1) It is the first time a country with only 25% of GDP of the U.S. is leading in many core areas of technology. 2) It is the first time ever that the second largest economy is a middle-income superpower. That has enormous consequences for the... global financial arena. As we encourage China to open up more, are we prepared for, potentially the greater volatility, exchange rate volatility, s... [W]hat... is lacking... even though we've heard so many positive aspects... and I'm completely in agreement, is that China still lacks the micro-foundations in the financial industry, with many more speculators than s, and in that kind of situation, when China opens up completely, is the world ready to absorb the kind of shocks and volatility that even a little tremor of China can send shock waves to... the global economy. So I would pose it as, China's ready for opening up, but is the rest of the world?"

"Lots of people talk about the One Road One Belt, but... we lack... communication with the world. This is the main reason behind the one road one belt initiative, for many reasons, including political pressure. Lots of countries need our support, so... from political perspectives there is a real need. ...[T]here is also economic need behind this initiative ...[T]his initiative is about a network [which] has an impact like the internet. If you have more participation in the network, you can have more effect. If you have infrastructure in Kenya but if cannot be connected to Kenya you cannot do more, and often lots of projects in small countries and similar countries which have not enough capacity to [build] their infrastructure... China, with this initiative tries to create a platform with the participation of all other countries... like when the United States helped Europe, the country tried to create a platform with the participation of other countries like... China [is doing now]."

"China... wants to embrace... trade integration... globalization and more trade and... the pressure is on for more reciprocal... trade protectionist pressures, but... China's also trying to shift its trade... production away from these lower end manufacturing sectors, excess capacity in solar, but that is not necessarily a good signal for the kind of trade tensions that might come about. Also because there's going to be a lot of domestic pressure coming from the Chinese businesses, and the Chinese people to pressure the government to react. So they [the Chinese government] will have to take a stance."

"China wants to shift its production structure, but imbalances in... trade is not just a commercial policy. It's... an imbalance between s and investment, and it's not just due to the currency or trade policies that will solve these imbalances."

"The conversation is missing some fundamental trends, the new paradigm. Larry talked about financial inclusion... about China. The New Paradigm is that it's the first time that a middle-income country is the second largest economy. We're asking it... from IMF, from international pressures for liberalization, exchange rate... flexibility. ...[W]e are not prepared for the volatility that China will bring to the world economy if it does open up. Micro-foundations of the financial infrastructure is very weak, ...dominated by speculators rather than s. So we need to think about this dilemma. We want it to open up. It has a massive amount of saving, connect with the rest of the world for investment, and yet it's going to introduce so much extra volatility typical of a developing country, and the world is not prepared for that yet... I think that is the number one challenge that we need to think about because that is the financial story written today. We also did not mention the dollar challenge, which is the confidence in the dollar. Now, we have s growing. There's a huge demand for dollars. That is rising, but on the other hand, what is backing the dollar or the liquidity is the . We just talked about the fiscal stimulus. ...The share of GDP of the US is going down. We have geopolitical issues, which is a very strong determinant to how much a country wants to hold US treasuries. All this push up to a... multipolar paradigm, and we're not discussing that either. The US maintains the status of the dollar predominantly because [of] a lack of present alternatives."

"Safety, liquidity, trade, denomination, financial services, I think that it's hard to match up with your words, but..."

"That requires global coordination and the role of the US."

"Unless we're making the argument of "Let's leave three quarters of the people in the world living in abject poverty." I do not see any legitimate rationale behind trying to limit China's growth or trying to oust China from the global supply chain."

"It's important to keep open the dialogue channels, to keep on talking. That's the first thing, and second is to see each other's perspective, and understand each other, for instance, people think about China as having a centralized state model, and that it's crowding out the private sector. That's not... the case. Thirty years ago, 70% of the wealth belonged to the state. Today, 70% of the wealth belongs to the private sector, which also provides 80% of the jobs, 70% of industrial output. ...That centralized approach is more poitical centralization and setting the strategic objective, but there's a huge amount of autonomy left at the local level... to the entrepreneurs... to the local Mayors, and they have an interactive dynamic relationship."

"The Chinese dream for me is still about getting the 600 million people who have not reached middle income by international standards... (a monthly income of... $300)... to become middle income, and getting China's average $10,000 GDP per capita to $30,000 or $50,000... That's first and foremost a priority for everyone. We still have a huge swath of the population that can't meet the needs of... dignified life and... secure a good future for their children. ...[T]he China dream ...is that you ...can be in a country with economic opportunities. When you educate, you have better opportunities, when you invest you have a good return, and people live happy and secure lives in a relatively healthy and safe environment. ...China also evolves along with its economy."

"China has a host of very proficient engineers and... STEM students, so the mastery of is something I'm cautiously optimistic about... One of the key issues apart from China's still very centralized state innovation system, the whole-of-nation system, is the impatience of the nation. ...A country with a people that have seen really remarkable growth, that... want to do things... quickly and... see fast results. ...[T]hat kind of spirit, the short, fast, flat attitude ...originally ...a winning volleyball strategy ...then used to describe winning investment strategies. ...[C]reative breakthroughs ...basic research ...people need to be intrinsically motivated by intellectual passion. That's what is needed to have that long-term knowledge economy. ...[T]he reason that China's business models are so successful is that they're very fast and these companies become successful in a very short period of time."

"[T]he backward homeland of my childhood has become the world’s second-largest economy... massive new cities... astonishing technological wonders. Yet... the world is... asking the same questions... comparing China to former Communist... autocratic... repressive regimes."

"The rule of law, sound corporate governance, and intellectual property protection... have been weak... Yet... China... succeeded."

"[F]or those who think that China’s all-powerful political party and numerous s (SOEs) point to a state-dominated economy, consider... [T]he ... accounts for... 60 percent of national output, 70 percent of the nation’s wealth, and 80 percent of urban employment. Thirty years ago, it was the other way around."

"Only by fully grasping the new China model... can we... appreciate how different it is from pure capitalism or socialism."

"Deng Xiaoping... once remarked that it does not matter whether a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice. He... put an end to the... debate about the superiority of socialism and capitalism..."

"[T]hat a could be compatible... with capitalism... [and] socialism was a breakthrough..."

"[I]ts model... embodies a... blend of the state and... market economy, striking a balance between state and industry, coordination and market incentives, communalism and individualism."

"The [West's] market economy... consumers and enterprises connected through a financial system... the state plays a minor role."

"In China, the confluence of consumers, enterprises, and... state (which exerts significant power...) ...[is] a hybrid... of... market and "mayor" economies... [T]he Chinese state... has... more tools and instruments... mandates and objectives to mobilize collective action in service of... goals. ...[I]t can ...impose mandates and ...punishment."

"China’s political centralization is paired with economic decentralization. ...The "mayors" are... equity stakeholders of their jurisdiction. ...[M]arriage of local Officials and ...entrepreneurs is how China reformed, industrialized, urbanized, and ...innovates."

"China has strong state capacity and weak institutions... advanced countries... have strong formal institutions but state capacity is... eroding."

"[[Capitalism|[C]apitalism]]’s... virtue... property rights protection and competition... are... weak in socialist systems..."

"[I]n China, innovation and have been defining features... despite socialist characteristics... It has found a way to combine private and state forces..."

"Western economies... “nudging” s to do the ly optimal thing... have difficulty succeeding. In China... changes can be enacted quickly, with little political opposition."

"Chinese households... make decisions on a collective... basis... a rich network of intergenerational relationships and duties... often... above... ."

"Entrepreneurs... balance... relationships with local officials... national policy directives, and... regulations..."

"Chinese state... power... [and unparalleled] instruments... can... steer, manage, and push the economy... any direction. ...Policy directives, rules, and regulations can be set with little political obstruction. The state can scrap old rules and make new ones overnight... granting or denying... approvals and licenses, or leveraging the to serve a... goal. ...Internal controls and competition curb corruption. ...[C]ivic society holds ...government ...accountable ...Social media ...embodies a two-way monitoring platform ..."

"China’s investment in ... 40 percent... of GDP... for a country... halfway through... urbanization... may not be high...."

"93 percent of Chinese... value security over freedom, as compared to... 28 percent of Americans."

"In China, an interventionist state is rooted in , a hallmark... since Confucian times... intervention by a senior... is justified if it benefits a junior... This helps explain the... government... [urge] to steer the economy rather than just... markets... [a]nd... provides a rationale... to liberalize slowly... avoiding... risks, in contrast to... former Soviet bloc economies."

"[T]he Chinese... try to balance obligation and deference with free will."

"... indicates... 95 percent of Chinese... had... confidence in... government, compared to 33 percent in the US and 45 percent... in the rest of the world. As of 2022... 91 percent, compared to 39 percent in the US. ...[S]atisfaction levels tend to be lower for s."

"Chinese citizens expect... government to take... large roles... and do not see interventions as infringements on liberty."

"China’s economic story... serves as a cautionary tale. [I]n 1978... it began... major reforms... people were mired in poverty. In... ensuing decades, hundreds of millions... were lifted out of poverty. ...But ...[at] a high price ...below-market wages... low... return on... savings... cheaply built housing... environmental degradation and wasted resources... based on a high-cost, high-growth model. A poor nation with ambitions... taking shortcuts. ...Rules and regulations ...bent ...to foster GDP growth. Unfair competition... between... insiders... and the... people... countenanced so long as capital flew in, investment grew, businesses boomed, and GDP surged."

"The same approach applied to... acquire technology. In its rush to modernize... substandard products, copying and counterfeiting, and investments... with little... efficiency and consequence."

"COVID-19... in early 2020 China chose to save lives and forsake economic output... the West... swinging the other direction."

"China’s economy faces major challenges... Catch-up growth is... different from innovation-based growth."

"The apparatus... effective in mobilizing... technology like electric vehicles and clean energy has... produced excess... steel and s... to flood... markets..."

"A wise state needs to know when to recede... loosen its control and let the economy ride its... ebbs and flows. It needs to guide with a lighter hand... and greater skill, especially in this... era of knowledge and information."

"Its rising middle-income group and new generation of s place... demands on civil society and standards of living... a burgeoning emphasis on improving the softer metrics... a cleaner environment... ... . Its new model... slower... saner... growth—more orderly, regulated, and monitored."

"There is a growing consciousness... what is economically efficient may not be socially desirable... economic success does not... guarantee a nation’s... ... China will strive to move beyond socialism['s] shortages and capitalism['s] inequality."

"[[Youth|[Y]oung people]] are big spenders, prodigious borrowers... the potential to unleash trillions... into the global economy... [t]hey are... more open-minded and socially conscious... However, ...less suited to Western-style democracy ...[D]eeply layered in the national psyche ...steeped in their ...culture ...traditions, and rooted in their ...communities ...ushering in an era of economic... without political liberalization..."

"But... the next generation of leaders... more educated and fluent with diverse cultures, are... equipped to bridge the gap between... worldviews. ... US education has opened their eyes to... virtues of an open... if not a wholly free society. Their desire to question... challenge... pursue the truth, and to push back against injustice will have important implications..."

"Extended skirmishes, export bans of semiconductors, and s are reinforcing China’s... course... to attain self-reliance."

"[[w:Self-sustainability|[S]elf-sufficiency]] without... global engagement is... dangerous... in a world where prosperity and technological proficiency are... network based and interdependent. When economic interlinkages snap, everyone loses, especially the vulnerable."

"[W]e can... do our best to rise above... sensationalism, stereotypes, and es. Only then can we engage with China in a measured... effective way, critique... and ask good questions. Until we do... we will... get China wrong... when... common purpose has become crucial to addressing... existential threats..."

"[Some] Latin American countries... and Asian economies... experienced rapid growth, but... [never] graduated into... high-income countries. ...[I]t could have been due to corruption, political instability, poor , or inadequate investment in ...This ...is ..."the middle-income trap." Since 1960, only 13 out of 101 middle-income economies... escape[d] it. ...China ...may follow... Japan['s]... lost decade of no growth in the 1990s. If, however, China can keep growing at 5 percent on average, and... the US continues... at... 1.5 percent... the Chinese... will overtake the US... by... 2030. China would not be as rich... for several more decades, but... more than a billion Chinese would enjoy the same living standards... However, ...China will need a new model of growth. ...5 percent ...seems overly optimistic ...275 percent ...debt to GDP ...as of 2022 points to ...painful ... ...And threats of make an export-oriented economy ...fragile."

"[T]here are still... 870 million people with a monthly income below RMB 2000 (...US$300) ...yet to join the four hundred million in the middle-income group ...by Chinese standards ...RMB 2000—5000—far below the advanced-economy average. ...[A]n enlarged middle-income group ...is the only way to truly bolster China’s consumption engine."

"There is... room for convergence. China’s productivity level is... only a fraction of the US... China’s share of labor force with a college degree is... smaller than... in South Africa and Brazil, and way below rich countries."

"Reforming the system... would allow the flow of talent across regions... improve... allocation of labor... [and] reduce regional disparities."

"China has made the... quantum leap... from US$380 to US$10,000... over... four decades. The second... is to go from US$10,000 to US$30,000... [M]uch... speed of China’s achievement can be ascribed to catching up. But unqualified success... will be... when... 1.4 billion... reach... high-income status, particularly... in a political environment... antithetical to... Western conventional wisdom. ...[H]alf of the most prosperous people in the world... living under Communist rule—not... predicted... when the Berlin Wall fell."

"[[Innovation|[I]nnovation]] has... become... one of the highest forms of... glory. And it is [China's] only... hope of becoming the foremost economic power of the twenty-first century."

"[B]ooms and busts is a natural feature of market economies. In the last 40 years China has really never had a bust. ...[B]ust cycles also oust less productive firms and provides exit mechanisms, and that creative destruction... is one of the bright spots... of the situation."

"China's suffering from a severe deficit in demand because of low wage growth, scarring effects of the pandemic and... the real estate. But... because of China's size today, growing at 3% to 4% even, is not a bad thing. If India grows 4 percentage points faster than China from now until 2030, China's still going to contribute $130 trillion dollars of additional GDP more than India... to the world."

"I totally agree with Mr. Zhu's assessment of transitioning to a productivity, innovation driven economy. That's the only way that's going to sustain growth in the long run. So that's a good thing. But... renewables or digitization in the short term... can't possibly displace real estate as a provider for growth and employment in the way that it had in the last 10 years or so. Second, services right now... only accounts for half of GDP and only 48% of employment. That number is 80% in advanced economies, so you can imagine a whole amount of room for also absorbing the youth who are underemployed, highly educated. They account for a more educated skill force than manufacturing. And you also have almost a billion people who haven't really reached middle income by international standards, living under $300 per month. ...So I could go on and on, when even Japan and Korea leveled off their growth, their productivity as a share of... the US was already 80% and China is still very low... a lot of room for convergence. ...[W]e want to separate the cyclical problems of demand from some of the longer term challenges."

"Confidence has to come from somewhere... There are underlying factors that alter confidence and consumption, and... we've seen the scarring effects of the pandemic. Don't forget that Chinese households did not get the support that European and American households got during the pandemic... [M]ore importantly, could be declining, and we don't really know for sure, but it's not climbing, so without that you can't possibly get consumption to be really... enthusiastic. Of course, there's real estate and the stock market. ...Retail investors account for the majority of turnover for Chinese A shares and... that has also been performing problematically. And... youth unemployment is a challenge, but is it coming from a cyclical feature which is a demand deficit, in which case policies could potentially work, but... As we'll hear from Mr. Zhu, there are also constraints... There's a on s... the key implementers of economic drivers of growth, but now they are suffering from mountainous debt burdens. So these are some of the... short-term challenges."

"Coming back to the trade challenges... We're seeing in the data that trade is simply being re-routed... from countries like Vietnam and Mexico, but... the ultimate demand and suppliers for that is... still the U.S. and China. It's... taking a longer route... that's going to increase trade cost, and... some Chinese companies... have also set up factories in Mexico and... Vietnam to... circumvent some of these... trade barriers, but it still has to come ultimately from countries like the U.S. and China."

"In so many ways China is in transition, and... requires a bit of patience, whether it's real estate, or debt, or ..."

"At the core... the U.S. China competition is about the China... development model, Chinese aspirations and most of all, Chinese technology, or technological competition. ...[I]t's as bad as it is because of a lack of mutual trust and very different world vision, values and culture, which I think we underappreciate."

"President Xi recently said, We hope that America would be prosperous, and hope that the U.S. would wish China to be more prosperous as well. I think that does send a message, but I do think that the two countries are recalibrating the relationship, learning from what has happened. I don't... think there's a set, specific idea of how it's going to look..."

"[R]ecalibration comes from two important things... First... is that internal challenges for both countries, China for sure on the economic... political... military... A lot of the focus is now inward. Chinese don't think about Americans all day long. ...Second, there's a huge unintended consequence of these technological restrictions... We've seen it in history... that whenever there are restrictions or... walls, it accelerates technological development. So what we have seen in China recently is a national mobilization. Unlikely partners from the big techs, working together. Universities, industries, governments, all trying to tackle the hard and impossible... [T]hat's... accelerated some of the endeavors to leap frog... [W]e're going to see much more of that, because of these restrictions, not despite them."

"Before, they were comfortably importing chips. ...Of course Chinese companies would love to import chips. Now they have to turn to domestic substitution, and that's accelerating... making domestic chip companies much more profitable... in many, many different areas."

"[I]t's leaky. You cannot really restrict technology flows... [Y]ou're basically enriching the intermediaries. ...There are a lot of third [party] countries where we're seeing a huge surge in imports of chips. I wonder what happened there."

"Collaborative competition is the way we should define the relationship. ...U.S. and Japan had similar... economic... technology competition, and... everybody was better off because Japan pushed the U.S. to do much more. Lots of these... important innovation pushes were because of Japanese competition."

"The two biggest themes this year, AI and sustainability: one represents competition between the two; the second represents collaboration. There's no way we're going to get to green transition without the collaboration... So my advice would be first... start from small victories to build trust... and recalibrate and readjust to real time circumstances."

"After reading Jake Sullivan's reviving national American economy, it sounds... like the China model with industrial policies, subsidies and a huge national boost... The China model is about having a unique coordination between government and markets... individualism and communalism..."

"[T]here's one fundamental misunderstanding about the Chinese from the American side... that China's sole goal is to try to overtake the U.S. That is not the Chinese aspiration. The Chinese people, with a billion people still trying to have a better life... It's overwhelmingly pragmatic. Chinese people... still think about getting an apartment in the cities and sending their kids to school... [T]hat is the ultimate source of legitimacy, also, for the party. When we talk about war and all that, it's about peace and stability, which is the best conditions to make that happen."

"[C]oming back to the recalibration, look at trade. Yes, U.S. and China's structural trade is declining, but... it's just being rerouted from Vietnam and Mexico, but ultimate sources of demand and supply are still coming from the two largest economies. It's just taking a much longer route and adding to the trade costs. And it's going to add to the cost of innovation... to the cost of inflation... [C]oming back to the American voters... ultimately defining this year's election is still going to be overwhelmingly pragmatic about the everyday livelihoods of these people."

"Keep borders open, student flows, academics, knowledge flows, and leaders should talk more often."

"Jin Keyu is professor of economics at the LSE. She is also a Young Global Leader at the , and I'm hoping she can give us some helpful input as to the Chinese position on where global finance is headed."

"Jin avoids ideology and instead frames basic economic agents in the same manner as any other country. As a result, English-language readers will come away with a more informed and empathetic picture of this still-developing country. ...[S]he addresses the ...reality that the poses no threat to the dollar... a global currency so long as the CCP’s desire for stability demands rigid capital controls. ...Jin’s skill as a communicator pays dividends as she explains the enormous consequences of seemingly arcane regulations."

"Jin... is the Harvard-educated daughter of a former deputy minister of finance who... heads up China’s .... ...She is ...less well placed ...or eager ...to deal with politically contentious questions. ...[S]he displays a ...tendency to omit unwelcome information. Jin’s book... feels... peppered with concealed rabbit holes... Jin refers to a drop in grain production between 1959 and 1961, without mentioning... harvests collapsed because of government policy, and... 30 and 50 million citizens starved... The author... praises China’s Covid policies... [as] embraced... by the population, despite evidence of protests... and... deaths ...being scrubbed from the record. ...Jin is an optimist ...she believes Beijing has a unique ...evolving model ...to grow through ...difficulties. ...Whether she is right ...remains contested. Those who disagree point to endemic corruption... repression and stalled... productivity..."

"Jin... doesn't adequately address the underlying ideological and political issues that have in many cases an outsize impact on China’s economic policies, performance and behaviour. ...Jin notes that Xi Jinping has “himself taken over the job of overseeing China’s technology advancement..." ...But she doesn’t ask whether having Xi — a non-technologist — in charge is the best bet ...[T]he avoidance of politically sensitive topics and analysis compromises the value of The New China Playbook."

"Jin Keyu... professor of economics at the , author of The New China Playbook: Beyond Capitalism and Socialism, and advising lots of companies as well... as the World Bank and IMF on how to decrypt where things are going."

"Studies of the quantum properties of black holes by Stephen Hawking and Jacob Bekenstein in the 1970s led to the development of the , which makes the maximum amount of that can fit into any volume of space-time proportional to roughly one quarter the area of its . The largest number of informational s a universe of our size can hold is about 10122."

"… The whole expanding universe was described by the equations of general relativity, Einstein's theory of space and time and gravity, but the singularity was the one place where the equations couldn't go. If general relativity provides a map of the universe, the singularity is the uncharted spot that the cartographers aren't sure how to draw. '. Quantum dragons, most likely. The singularity suggested that general relativity would eventually give way to a more fundamental theory, but physicists already knew that Einstein's theory wasn't compatible with quantum mechanics, the theory that describes the behavior of matter at extremely small scales. In their day-to-day lives physicists could ignore the problem by keeping the two theories separate, using general relativity to describe how big things such as planets and galaxies distort spacetime and using quantum mechanics to describe the strange dice game subatomic particles play. But at the end of the day, the separation can't hold up."

"... now I know that physics is about uncovering the reality behind appearances. It's about glimpsing this deep and hidden architecture of existence itself. It's about embracing that the world is not what it seems and that everything is stranger and simpler than we can imagine, and yet comprehensible."

"Putnam's insight was that quantum theory requires us to conceive of a world in which cognition is an active, participatory process — one that’s not mediated by internal representations. And so that’s what Putnam set out to do. He wanted to create a model of the brain and a philosophy of mind that replaced the old word “observer” with the new word “participator”."

"Literally the stuff of everyday life is transmogrified into large-scale, vibrant works that combine painting and collage in a style that is instantly recognisable."

"I am very excited because this is my first appearance in the Commonwealth Games. The time I returned didn’t really matter and all I wanted was to win, which I have been able to achieve. I feel good with the way I ended the season. I am surprised at winning the gold medal but it’s late in the season and anything can happen. I would say it was my best race, my best finish to a season."

"We depend on ecosystems for survival, and more so do poor rural communities."

"We must always be aware that any conservation space is a range of components: it’s not just about biodiversity, it’s not just about the local communities."

"It’s a very grey world where you have to focus on everything that has been accomplished in the field because that’s what brings you hope moving forward."

"What motivates me right now is the local communities that I work with. Looking at the small steps they have taken by themselves without a proper plan motivates me to help them further."

"Biology is not really a known career in Angola. The oil and gas industry accounts for over 90 percent of the country’s economy, so biology, conservation, and other nature-related careers are looked down upon. They see biologist as being like the characters in Zootopia — it’s not a real job. Most people would only consider it if they had no other options."

"It’s very sensitive, but also very rewarding."

"As one grows, obstacles along the career path will shatter the dreams you had, but help you to create a different dream. I call it ‘adult dreaming’."

"I think one of the main reasons that projects usually don’t include communities is that it’s a very long-term approach. First, you have to build trust, then you have to learn to speak their language and dialogue. You have to understand what they think, what they know, how they see the environment, and only then can you start proposing certain concepts that they can apply to their livelihoods. That is something that takes a lot of time, a lot of human effort, and a lot of patience."

"As conservationists we see degradation happening every day, so we are always in a hurry – we want things to happen right now."

"The best part of my job is being able to include the environment in topics that most people think are completely unrelated."

"I wouldn’t tell you that X or Y awards were the best parts of my career; it’s actually the work that led me to those awards that are the best."

"One thing that I can say I am actually proud of is overcoming all of the obstacles. So, it’s not the awards, it’s not the positions, it’s none of that, it’s the work that led to those accolades that I think are my biggest accomplishments."

"My first piece of advice is to enhance your skills. By enhancing your skills, even the ones you don’t like, you will understand how to do your job better."

"Sometimes we have to take a step back. That doesn’t mean that you have to stop moving forward, it just means that it might not be at the pace that you want, and that is very normal."

"Motivation helps, but if you are not disciplined, if you are not focused and have no goal, it is very difficult to keep going."

"In the current world we are very focused on having a voice, and having a voice is very important, but hearing the voices of others is even more important."

"There are a lot of people who try to stop you for different reasons – because they don’t believe in you, or because you’re too young to be taken seriously, or because you’re a woman. It has happened to me several times, and I didn’t think it was possible until I entered this world."

"....there is this conception about conservation that you have to focus on one thing and stay with that until you die. I think that is a misconception, especially if you want to push forward change and contribute to the improvement and application of policies, because if you only have field experience then you won’t be able to bring that into influencing policymakers."

"One thing I tell myself is that, if you give up now you are not giving up because of others, you are giving up because of yourself. If you want to stop then that’s your choice, but bear in mind that it is never someone else’s fault, it’s never an obstacle, it’s never a situation, it’s you."

"In the beginning, the hardest things about the expeditions would be superficial things: eating rice and beans twice a day for four months, the relative concept of cleanliness, the lack of affection and communication with the outside world, being the only girl (most times) amongst a bunch of guys."

"... Nowadays I have not only learned to overcome these hardships, but to learn from them. Now I understand they stand for the work we’re doing toward a better future, something greater than ourselves."

"The best part is meeting people from all over who, like me, travel all over the world and never really feel like they belong somewhere."

"There’s a lot of literature that suggests the need for protection of that area. It would be in the southernmost tip of the Angolan coast. And it’s an area that borders Libya which has a high migration route, so we think we have a lot of biodiversity near there. It is also thought to be the largest nursery ground for mackerel, which is important for fisheries in Angola and Libya. It’s adjacent to a protected area in Libya and two national parks, so it would create this whole square of conservation of land and ocean that are independent of each other but can still work together in regards to conservation."

"If it’s to that point where you think you want to do it and it feels right but other people are telling you not to, just do it. No matter what obstacle you think might stop you, when you wake up in the morning just say “I’m doing it.”"

"I come from a society where, if you ask a child what they want to be, they will only think of things associated with material goods. Jobs that will get them clothes or houses or cars. Because paths outside of that aren’t encouraged. Following their hearts isn’t encouraged. But when those people realize how much more there is out there to explore, they become the most passionate people about making a change."

"I hear in the U.S. that women don’t have the same opportunities or the same paycheck as men. Where I’m from it’s worse because women have the same opportunities and paycheck, they’re just led to believe that their opportunities are limited. Helping them understand that they can do whatever they want, that there’s nothing wrong if they want to be a housewife. But there’s also nothing wrong if they want to push the boundaries and do something else."

"Drylands are extremely important not just for the survival of biodiversity but also for us, for our culture, for our survival and for the way we interact with nature itself."

"The plan involves a continuous immunization campaign, which has been highly active, with dedicated teams working diligently. They go door to door, ensuring that children in the target age groups receive immunization against the six major killer diseases, including polio. This ongoing effort has led to positive results for Nigeria. Polio is a viral disease that spreads in unsanitary environments, but thanks to the effective polio immunization programs in place, we are confident that there will be no recurrence of polio cases."

"In recent years, the health sector has not been functioning as it should. A well-functioning healthcare system operates on three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Unfortunately, primary healthcare has not played the crucial role it was intended to. As we know, about 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas, while only 20 percent resides in urban centers. However, healthcare services are concentrated in urban areas, with 80 percent of healthcare facilities located there, leaving just 20 percent in rural areas. This creates a disparity between the distribution of the population and healthcare services. Our goal is to ensure that healthcare delivery is strengthened where the majority of the population resides. To achieve this, we have established a board at the state level for primary healthcare, aimed at ensuring effective connections and a strong referral system to make healthcare delivery more sustainable."

"This issue is not unique to Benue State. There is an Act that allows the marketing of traditional medicine. I’m not suggesting we shut down their businesses, but we will monitor and regulate their activities. Just like in conventional medicine, doctors are prohibited from advertising their practices due to ethical guidelines. We need to educate these producers that advertising is not permitted in health-related matters. It is the quality of their results that should attract patients, not self-promotion."

"For instance, the Hausa community said because government does not want their population to grow, they have brought these drugs. They are alienating themselves from taking it and it is free. It has cost American government money to make these drugs available but because of the belief and lack of understanding they are not accepting the use of those drugs."

"In Benue, almost a whole community of Ikyor in Kwande local government Area of the state was rendered blind because of the Onchocerchiasis. The damage has been done before the Metizan drugs was made available. And for the healthy people in that community, the drugs were supplied to them."

"Benue is a hyper endemic area for the river blindness and if you take it because I also take it, worms will not blind your eyes. The other causes of blindness like glaucoma, glaucoma is our worst enemy. You may be carrying it and may not know until a specialist tells you that you have glaucoma and then you start early treatment. If glaucoma blinds you it’s irreversible but if diseases like cataract blinds you, it’s good news because it is reversible. So people should access the metizan drugs, use it to help themselves."

"The immunization programme has been very active and the people that are engaged are equally active. They have been going from house to house ensuring that children of those ages are immunized against the six killer diseases which polio is one of them. So the sustained action has given Nigeria the positive result."

"Polio is a viral disease and it multiplies where you have a dirty environment. But with the effective polio immunization programmes on ground, we will not have reoccurrence of cases of polio again. This goes for the other childhood diseases as well, If government can sustain the expanded programme on immunization, we will definitely get rid of polio and all other child killer diseases. And I want to assure that my office will ensure it is sustained in Benue here."

"This issue is not peculiar to Benue state alone. They have an act that enable them to market their traditional medicine. So, I am not going to tell you that we are going to close down their businesses but we are going to monitor and control their activities. Like in the conventional medicine, the doctors, we are not allowed to advertise our practices. It is against our ethics. So we need to bring these people to the knowledge that advertisement is not allowed in health matters. Your results should attract more patients to you and not you singing your praises."

"Simple measures like digging pit toilets will go a long way to control cholera. But you see them defecating in the bush and when rain fall, all the feases will be washed into their water source and they will still fetch it to cook and drink. So why won’t there be cholera. So if there is adequate provision of portable water in the state and simple health education to communities that some habits are injurious to their health, it will curb cholera."

"I have witnessed a situation where a patient approach a healthcare centre and the doctor is not there. Anything can happen so I advised them to take their work serious and to be there when they need to be there. Healthcare delivery is like playing football. If I pass the ball to you and you refuse to pass it where it is supposed to be passed, the person can die and you know death is irreversible."

"Whenever I am in a relationship, I go all out for the person. I always put the people I love ahead of my needs. When I am in a relationship, I invest all my energy and resources which ends up draining me and slowing me down. I get turned off when I realize the affection is only one-sided."

"It is not something I'm looking forward to or looking at all. I'm not with anybody, but I'm not interested. I'm not looking forward to be with anybody because that is not my focus."

"It annoys me when some men take advantage of me after showing them love and care."

"I don't have those emotional stories. I did not face challenges as such... God planned my story well."

"In science, you are dealing with facts. You prove them or dispute them, not the complicated stories of wars that happened before we were born."

""From Standard One, dad gave us over 100 mathematical numbers to solve every holiday. That is how we got used to mathematics"."

""Finding scientific solutions to key problems affecting society, like maternal and infant mortality, malnutrition among mothers, children, and people living with HIV, is the most beneficial research one can ever do"."

""The natural products industry in Africa has existed since time immemorial, but we need to rethink how to make things better. When you go through Kampala streets, many people are packaging in polythene and others. So we need to rethink and find a way of getting away with this polythene and standardize our products"."

""I accepted without hesitation because I trust myself and have the confidence that I can do anything and deliver appropriately"."

"If it's time for work or study, be serious, be the best. Then go out, dance, have fun-enjoy life to the fullest"

"To succeed in tech or any other male- dominated field as a woman, you need more than the technical skills; you also need to be confident, speak up and make your presence felt.Rachel speaking to women during an interview with the founding women"

"We need something like this back home. I’m going to start it. Rachel speaking on her inspiration and motivation for starting mHUB"

"If you don’t start now, you probably never will.Rachel speaking to African women."

"I realised my biggest asset was my technology skills and I started volunteering on various projects to gain relevant experience. Rachel during an interview with founding women"

"It is still tough because you constantly have to make sacrifices in order to strike a balance.Rachel speaking on the challenges of being an innovator"

"Realising that I need to make the best out of these opportunities not only for myself but for them has helped me manage the guilt, even though I still do feel it.Rachel speaking on the challenges women face especially childbearing and the tough decisions she had to make as a woman after a lost opportunity"

"I established coding clubs for girls and children; a robotics club and machine learning community camps that have trained over 92,000 children, girls, youth and women to develop innovative technology solutions. I am also an entrepreneur in the energy space championing the development of low cost power through a thermal chemical process for rural micro grids. Rachel speaking on some of her achievements"

"I am a dreamer. I like to dive into the depths of curiosity where introversion meets outspokenness, and geekiness reigns supreme! Rachel speaking on her drive"

"“My parents supported me to pursue whatever field I wanted and raised me with the mentality that girls could do anything just as well as boys." Rachel speaking on the role her parents played in her growth and success"

"For someone like me who wanted to do something different in the technology domain, I didn’t have many role models I could look up to. I think this is why I’m so passionate about mentoring young girls.Rachel speaking on why she mentors young African women in STEM"

"We all hold the piece of knowledge that can be instrumental in designing a better future."

"The misuse of user data has been linked to the unethical manipulation of wide swaths of the population, like interfering with democratic elections and protests."

"Preventing harmful AI practices will require risk assessments, pathways for public consultation, and Afrofeminist frameworks that center on ethics. Developers need to constantly research impacts, but also create a future with beneficial tech."

"This sounds cliche, but I’m just always driven by this need for social justice. I do feel like, on one hand, that digital tech has the ability to transform people’s lives in terms of improving their life experiences and how they interact with governments, how governments provide services, how you receive education, how you receive entertainment, and how you work."

""Some of my proudest moments in STEM have been around conducting vital research on our technological and data ecosystems to put our needs, challenges and solutions on the map." Neema speaking on her proudest moment as a scientist"

"There have been many advances in e-government across many of the countries that we work in, but there is still a very, very long way to go, not just in the digitalization of services and service design, but in even making sure that all citizens can then access these digital services.” Neema speaking to dai-global-digital"

"“I would love for Global North-based organizations to not view organizations within Africa and the expertise that they hold as ‘local.’ There is a massive imbalance in power whereby Global North-based organizations can set up shop in Africa and run the show with little context or care, and establish themselves as experts. However, within this worldview, Africans can only be experts, if that, within their own community.Neema speaking on the the role of africa in the Global scene"

"“I’m proud of the breadth of feminist technology research that we have put out in our short existence and in pushing for these issues to be at the forefront of technology development, research, and deployment. My favorite projects, as an artist, are the ones that deal with art: painting murals across Kampala based on citizen data, creating an interactive fictional game on digital safety for women in East Africa, curating short stories on speculative fiction by young Africans, and when I can, creating the illustrations and visuals for our reports.”Neema speaking on some of her proud moments"

"we have our feet firmly on the ground in Uganda, across Africa, and now, across the world.”Neema speaking on her plans to make pollicy a global company"

"I've always been a feminist and grew up with those ideals. The more I studied these spaces, the more I realised that there is a very significant gender digital divide. For reasons such as costs, safety, access, education, skills, and patriarchy, among others, women are not getting to use data and digital platforms in the same way. This was where we saw the need to bring in this gender element that if you just apply a one size fits all, it's not gonna work. So that's how technology and feminism came together.Neema speaking with digital earth in an interview"

"I think there's many different ways people can understand feminism. I think some people would say feminism is equality, right. But that doesn't really make sense because human beings are not equal at all. So I think for me, I really think of feminism as the freedom to really live your life in the way you want. To live it free from fear and to live it in a way where you can make the most of whatever opportunities are out there.Neema speaking on feminism and African women"

"Extractivism refers to colonial practices that have existed over the last several hundred years with the goal of wealth and resource accumulation, regardless of the oppressions that geographically separate taker and giver. Digital extractivism is a form of extraction that’s made possible by digitization and exacerbated through borderless capitalism. Neema speaking on the challenges of the digital sector in Africa"

"I know my crafts and I can defend my handiwork wherever, whenever, and to whomever."

"My passion, commitment, resilience, and love for excellence always make me want to do things better and bigger."

"It all matters, what you read, what you watch and listen to. Take care of your health. Nothing in life is handed to you, embrace hard work. In everything you do, look out for balance; not perfection."

"I am usually inspired by things around me; any situations I go through either Joy, pain, fear, doubt, love, anything… they are all things I take to God and deal with or pray about."

"I would love to be the first Nigerian woman to read through the Bible and represent Naija."

"Message of faith’s the only evergreen, says gospel singer, Tomi Favored; tours Africa. 25 August 2021, Vanguard Newspaper."

"Create an inclusive environment where people of all ages and backgrounds can engage in communal worship, even incorporating songs in various languages to reach a diverse audience."

"Fame is weird. I’ve never been super famous. I’ve always been somewhat recognizable. It’s been the healthiest trajectory. [It’s] not a scary spike. I have my priorities. I know who I am. I know where I’m going. I know what it means. It means that I’m getting to do what I love."

"Jennifer's Body is my favourite movie that I've done. It was overlooked in theatres, but it does have a DVD following. I can't believe nobody wanted to see Megan Fox and me hitting it. They had an extreme close-up of our tongues, and I'm telling you, the thing about the scene is that it's actually really sexy. For a young girl to say that about her own sex scene - it must be because it's special. I think Megan and I kissed really well together. We have similar kissing styles and it worked. We got it done for the masses, and the masses still didn't show up."

"“This is a period of their lives filled with awkwardness and bodily insecurity. In engaging with them, we can explore resistance and resolution through those bodies.”"

"“We aim to speak to the art world in their language, much of the time,”"

"“And yet, we also exist to reach those not in the art world, the tourists and passersby who might be intrigued by the playfulness and color. We’re trying to draw them in.”"

"In every studio, I always cover the table with brown kraft paper. It's partly to protect the drawing but also so I can have somewhere to scribble down words (which i love almost as much as I love drawings)"

"Ink and graphite. Photo transfers and glitter. For the most part, my material notices are very analogue. Drawing can be many things, but for me still incorporates a pencil on paper. All of my supplies can fit in my tote bag."

"From the minute I sit down to the minute I wrap up for the day, I stay with my headphones on, even if no one is around. It's always music, but today it was Quadron's album, Avalanche"

"“I think and know that religion is not race-specific,”"

"Our love embraces and sets free the best that is in us now and in the future"

"Together we are our better selves"

"“create interactive sculptures that collapse the divide between fine art and play spaces”"

"“I found that as a foreigner, embarking on this project with little knowledge of the local culture, it was easier for me to find value in what is available locally, especially because much of what I encountered was new to me. At the same time, I enjoyed integrating my memories of Lagos – histories of threaded hairstyles and plants, with these Italian references. In the end, I learned quite a bit and hope that I was able to begin a dialogue between these two cities.”"

""TEMITAYO OGUNBIYI AND HER PLAYFUL VISIONS FOR NAPLES - THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 21 March 2025."

"“I feel accomplished having gotten my kids to do the better part of their school work!”"

"“Teeming spaces and troubled vision make good fiction for thinking.”"

"“Information is one of the greatest currencies in Lagos,” Dike says."

"“Information is hidden and buried; it is inaccessible to the people and only permitted to those in power.”"

"“To fill a lagoon with a bottle of wine, without money etc… this is a miracle,”"

"“The artist is the one who has to mend the fragments for them to make sense,”"

"“A curious observer of the world around her, Ogunbiyi crafts forms that indirectly suggest the need for protective spaces that nurture.”"

"“Systems that capture, mediate, and direct the movement of people and matter is a recurring subject of investigation in her practice,”"

"“Her work considers both the overt and conscious as well as the unconscious or surreptitious categorizations that define and propel the fate of art in multiple contexts: institutions, the marketplace and the academy,”"

"“One of the things that I find most compelling about Tayo’s studio work is its engagement with circulation systems: the way in which products, ideas and images circulate in a global marketplace. … What Tayo says about circulation in her art — that it isn’t seamless or neat and that it can involve rupture, violence or misrecognition — speaks eloquently to the difficulty, even perversity, of defining or knowing identity (national as well as individual) in the 21st century.”"

"Luckily this time it was only music and no interaction so I performed for about half an hour. It felt good at the end when the crowd called for extra songs shouting ‘we want more."

"By the first concert I still couldn’t believe I was in Berlin. We had lunch with the Namibian Ambassador to Germany, Neville Gertze at a restaurant near the embassy. Then it was the interviews with the radio stations and the first sound check."

"I strongly believe in taking Africa to the world and when you get an opportunity like that, you take it with both hands."

"I wish I could win but it’s okay if I didn’t. I am not going home with nothing, I am going back home with lots of opportunities. Big brother stargame is only the beginning of many doors that are going to open. My experience in the Big Brother house wasn’t all about the money; yes I would have loved to win the money. Being in the house for all of Africa to see me was worth as much as gold. I enjoyed it."

"I will love to work with my fellow musician housemates. I am open to anyone."

"If contemporary art is defined as ‘art that is created now’, then the Spier Contemporary is the visual and aural barometer of what it is like to live in South Africa in 2010."

"Populism and opportunism are the order of the day and all manner of insincerities abound – none of which bring us any closer to finding ways to solve the real problems of the day – poverty, hunger, unemployment, our lack of solidarity, community and ethics, the need for better systems of accountability and governance."

"It seems to me however that its greatest contribution is in giving us art as another language to understand and express ourselves, especially during this time when the conventional political discourse is severely limited. And it’s not all serious, thank goodness. Humour, irony and sly jokes abound in many of the works that cast a jaundiced eye on our contemporary leaders and problems."

"It's a dream to make a documentary about the story of my mother and our family. It's a way of paying tribute and also taking control of my life. I'm the one who knows what I went through to be here, what I built. As an artist, I want to tell relevant stories that contribute to making the world a better place than it is."

"I am no longer interested in telling stories of pain in the audiovisual industry, being in a work environment of disrespect and oppression."

"This moment we are living in is very special because it is the fulfillment of a debt. I don't think people are putting black artists to work because there is compassion," ... - Veja mais em"

"It's a simple story, but these layers of black women's loneliness, abandonment, using religion as an escape, which are Brazilian issues, are layers that I add,"... - Veja mais em"

"I want to thank all the people who contributed to my success. I am the result of the investment and trust of each one of you."

"For all the victories, for all the achievements, it is with enormous gratitude and humility that I receive recognition for the work I do for the love of music."

"I’m a soldier in love with this game and I’m never gonna stop/ And this love hurts but oooh, it’s never gonna stop/ Natila ahhhwe, Ninaka"

"..Image lost in the translation, who I was and what you see, I’m a queen, I’m a mother, but I’m out here hustling …"

"Got that diva mentality but a beast on the mic / I got that butterfly swag but I bring the fist to the fight…"

"I dictate how I slice the cake I’m boss lady/ they hate how I wake and bake but stay amazing/ you couldn’t walk a quarter mile in my Jimmy Choo’s / I’m a born champion , I won’t stop / and I don't care if I win or lose /I'm holding onto my crown ,stay ahead and on top /single parenting /no procrastinating /I got to get up /God speed / we elevating /we celebrating / and even though we underrated, we keep the whole nation motivated and educated."

"They know what I'm capable of doing and they know I am a go-getter who will raise my Zambian flag colours high."

"nothing will stop me from getting what belongs to me – I am going all-out."

"Basically the album shows my skills and to show that the talent is in born and natural. A lot of people have been complaining about my silence that I have gone so quiet whereby am not doing much to contribute anything to the music industry but what they don’t know is that every time am quiet it means am occupied with shows such that I do not have time to be in the studio and record. I will be releasing a new video next month for the Walilowelelela song which is a club hit."

"As a popular artist, her music has given her the opportunity to also perform abroad. From the many international performances, performing in Seychelles was her biggest highlight. The bright colours, welcoming people and instant happiness from the nation had her fall in love with the country from the moment she landed."

"When asked who were her greatest musical inspirations, she mentioned that she is highly inspired by both international and national artists. One inspiration is Brazilian singer Alcove, who sings a calmer genre of music compared to hers. In the future, she hopes to collaborate with great entertainers such as Beyonce, who she highly relates to as an artist."

"She still remembers her first song, “Como ela dance” (how she dances), produced by the Mozambican producer “N-star.” Since the release of her first song, she has been nominated for many awards, including the “Ngoma" music award"

"The essence of being South African, with all its issues, angst, triumphs and glorious celebrations has been distilled into a unique exhibition which opened at Spier in Stellenbosch"

"“Maybe the greatest yearning of South Africans is to find a canvas on which to express themselves,”"

"“It is through exhibitions like this that we become a country that is grappling with its soul, rather than a country of one dimensional theme parks”"

"“Art plays a significant role in the transformation of our country,”"

"“Exhibitions like this break down barriers and create linkages between us in the unique mix that is South Africa”."

"“A place of collective residential isolation, where the living environment becomes a site for production. The work that has come from this time deals with the act of conversation in an intimate environment and the physical realization of our online relationship on our website.""

""As collaborators, we are interested in the dialogue that occurs between two artists and how this connection manifests – both as a competitive and a supportive force. We find that our work illustrates both of these qualities, and shows the bond that can come from knowing another’s work as well as your own. We approach our individual work in distinctive ways - one subjective and intimate, another cerebral and pragmatic. Together, these traits play off each other, forming a new space in which to create.”"

"I am so motivated (by my family)"

"I hope I can run my personal best and get a good result there"

"Yes all I can do is try my best. I don't have any information about Toronto"

"I didn’t expect these conditions but I can run in hot conditions"

"I’ve always been very vocal about my frustrations around race in this industry"

"I am proud to be able to share my own story so people can better understand the true plight of refugees. I want to use my own experience to educate others about a very real issue that – in one way or another – really does affect all of us"

"If I had this access when I was growing up, I probably would have turned out better. We need it. We need to save the children from what’s really happening"

"Some young Syrians struggle to remember a time before violence and loss, before they had to flee their homes and become refugees. We provide a safe space for them to play and be children again"

"It’s still so strange when people come up and recognise me. But I am so happy to inspire others in similar situations to mine"

"Put your best foot forward. I am happy to announce that I am officially done with the fashion industry, I will be moving back to Australia In [sic] order to live the life that I fully deserved. Which is real life. I can no longer deal with the fakes and the lies. My life is too short for this dramatic life. I am thankful and grateful for every sweet souls [sic] that I have crossed path with."

"I’m starting to feel like myself again, Yoh I went through it. Taking care of your mental health should be a priority, not a lot of people will get it, but zinakekele"

"Satan is taking advantage of the situations we find ourselves in. There's a demonic spirit going around taking our children who are coming with better things for the future of our country"

"Something is going on in the spiritual world. We need to stand up. We stood up and fought apartheid and many other ills that make us fight, let this be one of them"

"One thing about me, I am not shy to express how I feel. I have checked myself into a mental health wellness facility. I haven’t been OK for the past few months. I have been so depressed. I have decided to fight this by taking a break and dealing with this one on on"

"I am excited about the future;Venturing[out] independently after being in a label that took care of everything for me was a bit scary,but I'm ready and prepared to conquer what's ahead"

"i decided to leave because I felt it was time.I've learnt from being at the label,not just as my brand [as]Miss Pru,but I learned more about the business industry.Its time to leave the nest."

"When I was a student I used to be a good volleyball player. But internally I wanted to become a dancer and singer."

"Since it was my first acting experience I was shy and afraid. But I think I did well. I got good reviewers from the audience saying that I did well."

"They see it positively. My father and mother especially encourage me a lot. They remind me to keep the time of my rehearsal, etc."

"I grew up in Asmara, as a kid I was very quiet and silent and very active at school, I remember how scoring low marks would leave me disappointed so to prevent this I was always stuck with my books aiming to score high marks. I was a member of the volleyball team at school; I actually loved this sport so I played till high school but later I totally dropped it off."

"Because I started my acting carrier right after high school, so I shifted my concentration from sports to acting."

"I would not know because I was just a beginner, but many people were: including my parents whom at first hesitated with me pursuing acting rather than my studies, matter of fact afterwards they encouraged me to discover my talent and work on it."

"I have lived my childhood dream and given everything I could to the badge. Every match, every moment, and every experience has been a privilege that I will cherish forever."

"I’ve had a couple of setbacks in my career since the 2012 Olympics and I just really wanted to go there again, because it is the pinnacle of hockey and was always my dream"

"I had to give myself the opportunity again, otherwise I knew I would regret it once I’ve retired. So I’m really happy to be in Paris!"

"So I’m just super-happy he’s coaching us, we’re lucky to have him. That’s what you need if you’re playing in the Olympics – the best. We don’t have the resources and sponsors that push other teams like the top four, but Giles is so passionate and he gives us a sense of calm and belief"

"I pride myself on my fitness and keep my body as healthy as I can"

"It’s about being the best you can be physically and mentally. Having the right mindset and work ethic definitely helps me keep playing. A lot of players get injured when they are past 30 and that’s when their career ended."

"With my previous experience at the Olympics, I know what to expect. It’s going to be a packed stadium and you can hardly hear each other, it could be distracting. So we have to focus on that more in our preparation and I will help the others in the team who don’t know what it’s going to be like. We just need to stay calm and shut out the noise, and at least we know what’s coming"

"At the Olympics, every team is so on form because this is what they have been planning for, but anything can happen. We’ve focused on what we can control, like working on our structure"

"I find it’s the small details that really help and I spend so much time in the gym to prevent injury. It’s also to maintain my strength and I also watch my nutrition. If you are going to stay at this level, then you have to keep up with the youngsters and the energy they have."

"I have a Brazilian nationality, thus I already had a visa to visit France whenever I wanted to. I used to go to France once every three or four months. I did not insult Moroccan people, I insulted those who didn’t want to leave me alone, who didn’t see and understood the concept of the movie and believe in whatever the yellow journalism says about me […] In fact don’t consider ‘schizophrenic’ an insult as much as I consider it a fact."

"For over two years, I've been suffering from being labeled a 'whore.' I only played the part of a whore [in the film 'Much Loved'] and did it well. That's it. I am not really a whore. Generally speaking, the Moroccan media confuses my role in a film with reality. They have forgotten that I was an actress before that movie, and that I have played other roles on TV, in cinema, and in theater. But the word 'whore'... To this day, in Morocco, when one person wants to curse another, he calls him 'Abidar."

"Because I am a courageous woman, and the film's script was very powerful. It presented the truth, and we, Arab and Muslims in general, are afraid of the truth about us. We refuse to look at ourselves in the mirror."

"Nabil Ayouch has ruined my life and compromised my future; he didn’t keep his promises."

"When I went to France, I had a residence permit for skills and talents, and since I received a certificate while waiting for the passport and therefore the French nationality."

"We need to set up relay camps because we’ve been getting away… We haven’t been doing no handoffs and no training, nothing. We just kind of come to competition and just kind of wing based on talent."

"I’ve never been African champion in the 100m, so it’s something I’ve always wanted to accomplish"

"I think it’s consistent, I have no special objective as I’m just working on the first 60m of my 100m for this summer."

"I'm going back to prepare in the United States and I'll come back stronger. This isn't the end of my career."

"I was raised as a Muslim but my family and I celebrated both Muslim and Christian holidays."

"I have so many childhood memories of Morocco."

"My parents heard me singing and they were surprised because they did not know I could sing."

"It actually helped me sign contracts with record labels and management teams (…) it just went very fast after Idols."

"All contestants were imitating famous singers (…) I was imitating Vanessa Williams and managed to reach the finals"

"My lawyer, Channing Johnson, introduced me to Adrian Miller and we talked about music. I was impressed with how he helped Anderson Paak build his career as an independent artist. That matched up well with what I wanted for myself. Adrian introduced me to DJ Chris Cox, who has over 60 number 1 hits on the Billboard Dance Chart. He made the remix for my single “Lost.” In January of this year my single “Lost” was released. The second week after my single was released, I made my debut on Billboard."

"My relationship at the time ended and I decided to go to Nashville to record country music and try something new. When I was in Nashville I unexpectedly received a phone call from the well-known songwriter Philip Lawrence. He asked me whether I could come to Los Angeles. It’s Philip Lawrence, so I got on the plane and met him in a studio in L.A. He had just finished rehearsing with Beyonce and Bruno Mars for the Super Bowl."

"Oh, yeah, many, many times. I often cried on the phone when I was talking to my parents. At some point, I almost lost my confidence. My hair started to fall out from all the stress. My mother told me to come back home, but I told her that I believed in my songs and that I had to stay and give it a shot."

"For refugee and displaced families who are observing the holy month far from their homes, faced with poverty, hardship, and uncertainty, the coronavirus pandemic adds another burden to their daily lives."

"Some of the most vulnerable communities in the world will fast with little means, and they cannot afford to be at risk. Please help prevention efforts and protect refugees this Ramadan."

"I would want my audience to see me as a neutral but firm personality, who would ensure the right things are done and said the way they should and ought to be said. I would love my audience to see me as an inspirational figure that understands their peculiar problems and is ever ready to reach out to them."

"I believe my personality which is the fun, extroverted and easy going will definitely be advantageous in making an impact."

"While a woman will certainly support her partner, it is ultimately the man’s responsibility to ensure everything is in order."

"Communication is the second most important quality."

"It’s essential that a man communicates in a way his wife can easily understand. If he doesn’t communicate properly, it will lead to issues in the relationship. A relationship without effective communication is bound to face challenges."

"I had a life-changing, massive audition for an international show that was going to be on Fox TV, but two months later I heard I didn't get it. I was gutted for months. After that I thought, 'I don't want to act for the rest of the year"

"I’ve been very fortunate. Having to work in such a tough yet competitive industry isn't easy. It can be quite difficult to maintain the standard. It’s good to still see that I can be hired for roles on TV."

"While I was home taking care of my child, I got time to re-evaluate my life and what I wanted to do next. I used that time to work on myself and take care of my mental health."

"I’ve always wanted to tell stories of dynamic African women such as Nokutela, Charlotte Maxeke… women that history finds a way to erase, those we don’t talk about enough. I feel that is my duty to tell their story," the 39-year-old says about her portrayal of Mdima-Dube being one of her lifelong dreams"

"I genuinely respect the gift of storytelling that I’ve been entrusted with. I know it comes from a higher place. Keeping my personal life separate from what I do for a living. At home, I’m a mom, a wife, a neighbour, a sister. I learnt very early in my career not to make the job my life."

"I’ve been toying with the idea of creating work that educates, stories about ordinary people. I love history, and with the internet becoming more accessible to many, there’s room to create work that speaks to audiences across the globe. There is a series that’s now in post-production which should air later this year. Look out for that one, it’s gonna be fantastic."

"If I were to wake up one day and decide not to act anymore, I’d be really grateful to have had those opportunities. I take none of them for granted"

"Depression is real and I am opening up for the first time about abuse and depression."

"There is no formula as to how to keep yourself sane. It’s important to talk about it when you’re ready but we need to address it because people think I am the only one…the glowing people are most probably the ones hiding something."

"You need to find a mirror and ask: Do you love yourself? For you to stick around there must be a problem and it’s okay – we all have problems."

"I don’t succumb to cliques. I can’t have that kind of pressure. My friendships have to be natural or really meaningful with people who share my vision‚ especially spiritually. The energy has to feel right and I think that has helped me not lose who I am in this often chaotic industry."

"Look‚ you get frustrated when you keep going at something and it doesn’t materialise‚ but for me that is when I stop and reflect. I check what this could mean for me‚ like working on my craft‚ checking my spirit and building that hunger to succeed when I do get the role."

"If I have a baby, if God gives me the strength and the patience, I always like to raise my baby up to one year before I can start hustling - just to bond because this industry by the time you get back on the horse, it gets hectic and you may never be there as much as you would like to."

"Even though my family was there for me,I wished I had to someone to talk Someone who tried to understand.I feel like parents don't talk to their children enough. Parenting isn't just about providing a roof over your child head and clothing them."

"Sometimes when you’ve failed, it’s hard to see past that failure"

"The aim of this show is to inspire the teenagers to get excited about their careers, despite their circumstances, and give them the tools they need to help them finish school"

"Some of these children have gone through traumatic things"

"The show is not about focusing on those things, it’s about helping them move forward."

"I hope Dream School will have a positive impact on the children on the show and that it will help parents and teenagers who watch the show to communicate better"

"At the time, my family and I didn’t know I was suffering from depression. I was a very quiet child who was always just in the background at school. I was withdrawn and didn’t really have friends, but I was focused on getting school done"

"The wealth of wisdom and knowledge you exude and lovingly give to those who care to listen. Thank you for not being selfish and for giving time for little old me you are highly appreciated, now book, or kanjani Connie Ferguson"

"Don’t for one second assume I will entertain people badmouthing my bosses, so if you have something negative to say about them, don’t bring it in my mentions please. Let’s respect each other. Hands off the Fergusons,” she wrote at one point"

"Losing a child is an unimaginable ordeal, a pain that only those who have experienced it can truly comprehend"

"Sending prayers of love to everyone who suffers from depression."

"Some people just come into your life and make it all better."

" Just keep going,don’t give up on your goals and dreams"

"Be prepared to go on a roller coaster ride if you are looking to start up. It's one of the best journeys you will take in your life because you will learn things you never even knew you needed to know and you will meet the most amazing people while you are at it. You will find strength you never knew you had. So, DO IT"

"I had been playing what I thought was a traditional role of a wife and I was miserable. Talking about this was very important because we created a marriage that made sense to us."

"The two are so different and both require work and effort. I love being a mom. My daughter is a joy and time spent with her is memorable. I have learnt about myself over the years, good and bad, and being conscious about each of these roles is important to me"

"We wanted to try and do things slightly differently in that we wanted to own the content which we were producing, which isn't always the case in South Africa"

"Starting an online TV station was the best way we thought we could do what we love, while growing as well"

"We have a feature film, Love and Kwaito that we filmed in 2016 that was the official selection for the Joburg Film Festival and we are currently working on our second one to be filmed in September 2017"

"My depression has been both chemical and emotional, and on and off, I have also dealt with anxiety...but I know my triggers now, I can feel myself drawing in, and over the years I know how to mitigate against it lasting too long"

"Money has been a difficult issue in our marriage in the past. There have been times when we were both out of work, or when one of us didn't have money. It is the nature of our industry. We had to learn to be gentle with each other, and to keep reminding ourselves that we didn't get married because of money, but to make a life together"

"It is important to me as Tshepo's wife, to make him comfortable during periods when he isn't working, and to be mature enough to manage my expectations of him"

"I first heard these accusations back in 2006 and 2008… I have already been [gender] tested, which I find offensive"

"These accusations come because I am fast and strong, but I know that I am definitely a woman."

"I was really upset, my morale was low and I was crying,"

"It was totally humiliating, but over time I have got over it."

"During the Olympics, when athletes were walking into the stadium for the closing ceremony: regardless of nationalities we walked side by side as one. This scene echoed the movie “the gladiator” when all the wrestlers overcame their differences to battle together. In the end, they understood that teamwork would break the painful circle of hate, which I believe to also be the Olympian’s superpower."

"I quickly understood that I could fail at both what I love and don’t love. By extrapolating lessons learned in my 100m hurdles, I learned to pinpoint the hurdles outside of my sport. When challenged to seek alignment, I could express unlimited performance, enthusiasm, passion and joy. Thus, I see many of my failures as an expression of resilience, trained consciously or subconsciously."

"My greatest lesson learned as an Olympian is the understanding that I am human, and the world is mine. As a part of this ecosystem, I discovered that through practice, I can unlock my power. I came into this body to enjoy everything that I desire, not to struggle. Just like sports, my body is a vehicle to find answers, and feel exhilaration to be who I am. Olympians come from all over the world, some are rich, some poor. It is a stage that helps you understand how to focus to make big moves in your life. I have participated several times in the same event (Olympics), yet will still focus on the different aspects to improve each time."

"I believe the characters that I have played so far are not challenging enough. I still want to play a lead role and just unleash what I am feeling inside. I want to explore gangsters’ roles and play a character of someone who has this massive anger"

"Looking at where I am at I say it is God's grace. What I know is that when I was growing up I saw myself on TV but I never thought that one day I’d be where I am on Friday. God has made it happen for me. Winning the two awards just proves that women are capable of presenting African traditional music shows. The statuettes encourage me to even work harder though many male maskandi fans still believe in a male presenter. What people do not know is that radio is my life and I grew up singing maskandi. I am Zulu woman who is proud of her culture that is why I enjoy presenting the show"

"I tried my luck in the taxi industry because I believe that we all come to this world carrying different keys to open different life doors. Since I am also a motivational speaker I always say that we all need to tap into those other talents that we have and explore them. I am that person who is never satisfied with where I am"

"The taxi industry is intimidating and it is still male-dominated and you can see that when you attend meetings. Despite everything that is happening to it, I am here to make money just like others"

"I am committed to maintaining my reputation and professional standing, and I refuse to allow unfounded accusations from one individuals to undermine my hard work and achievement."

"I am very excited for this nomination. Actually, this is my third international nomination to this day. And to be recognized by two different organizations in the past two years is very encouraging and helps in reassuring me that I am on the right track."

"I think it is great that I am nominated but until I achieve an actual win on the international scene and bring it home, I do not really think it carries as much weight."

"That said, I do believe it is a great exposure for my brand/name/music to those people around the globe that do not know Zani Challe."

"It does get cold, and we do get snow in the mountains, so we store our wealth in blankets. People buy very stylized blankets. When a baby's born, that will be the gift to the mother, or if a new bride is coming into the family, you're gonna give one of those blankets to welcome her"

"We ride horses, which I think is really unique about us"

"I basically spend my entire childhood there and I'm so happy that I did. I think there's something in being the majority. I have that experience where my teachers were Black. My doctors were Black, my first boyfriend and my first heartbreak. That’s something where I feel really rooted."

"'About Fate' Star Fikile Mthwalo's Unique Cultural Perspective Comes From Growing Up in the Motherland,January 26, 2023,By Team EBONY"

"Life does get hard and it knocks you down. But people get up and they get on. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm standing on the shoulders of giants. My grandfather, who lived northwest of the capital city owned a butchery and he basically served his entire community"

"I think, even with the remnants of colonialism and everything that outsiders tried to take away from the people, they really just kept going. I carry that with me, my ancestors, everywhere I go"

"There are a lot of wine exports from Cape Town that don't come to America but go everywhere else. It's just lovely to drive through the wine farms. Come for the wine tastings, eat good food, go to the beach and see the penguins and seals"

"We really live in our own world. Sometimes people say mean things, and sometimes they say nice things"

"It's difficult because you never asked for people to follow you, they chose to follow. I get concerned about what they think. I guess you just have to remove yourself from all of that stuff"

"Both our families are absolutely supportive of our relationship and they want us to be happy. But I come from a very conservative family"

"I want to get more education and grow as an artist"

"There are certain things I thought I couldn't do as an actress, but I've realised I can reach certain levels"

"It will showcase the intricate dynamics of how it is sometimes necessary that some secrets be kept for the safety of others, while, on the other hand, some secrets must come to light"

"I’m glad I got called back to audition for the new part, because once I found out that Masasa resides in Kokstad. I then thought to myself, ‘This is good for me"

"I’ve decided not to be afraid of challenging myself in terms of languages – with respect, of course"

"I want to explore different languages and I want to explore different dialects, so I was totally in my Xhosa brain when I was asked to return for the second audition"

"Ever since I started my career, I’ve been aiming for characters that were 10 to 12 years my senior. I’ve always wanted the meatier, more challenging, and juicier roles. I find that it takes one out of a space where you’re more likely to show your own habits. Older characters challenge you to do more research and understand more substantial things about life, values, and personality traits"

"It is so funny. It feels like the universe is giving me everything I want. The problem is, I manifested everything at the same time and had to turn down some projects."

"Things have been really good, though. I’m presenting for the first time (on Mela). It has been scary because you don’t know how people will respond – as they are getting to see you. There is no script. However, working on this show has highlighted how amazing South Africans are as a community. Every single time I go on a location shoot, I meet someone who blows my mind with their incredible story"

"It was quite intimidating to go onto set with this established ‘family’ of actors. Everyone’s been so warm. The other day, while we were waiting to get paid, I, literally, shouted (in excitement): ‘I’m so happy to be here’, to two of the actors."

"Every week was a challenge to improve on ourselves. How can we give more? Do more? Work harder? But most importantly we never wanted to stop having fun"

"My fans have brought me to tears on several occasions with their fierce support. I have been completely surprised and overwhelmed by the love, support and generosity I have experienced. I am truly blessed to have this kind of unwavering support"

"This has been one of the most amazing journeys in my career. Besides learning how to dance I have learnt so much about myself: how to be a little more patient, how to be open and brave, how to let go of the things that limit me- both physically and mentally and how to focus my mind even under extreme pressure. For Ryan, my partner, I am extremely grateful! He is an incredible human being who has been the most generous partner, friend and mentor. He pushed me, supported me and believed in me every single step of the way. The biggest lesson I can take away from Strictly Come Dancing is that the harder you work, the luckier you get- it really is as simple as that"

"When I was younger I didn’t have the guts to pursue my passion, I thought I had to have a stable career since entertainment is mainly on a freelance basis."

"I am glad I have my educational background and there came a point where I had to choose between my articles in charted accounting or entertainment, and I chose the latter and, as they say, the rest is history."

"I had to develop a thick skin because being rejected after numerous auditions is difficult. I learned that you can’t get every role, not because there’s something wrong with you but because you are not what casting agents are looking for pertaining the role"

"I also assumed that everyone is nice and although there are genuine people, not everyone is what you think they are. Meaning, I had to learn to work with different people the best way I know how, without losing who I am"

"I don’t think success is a final destination. For me, success is about balance. It’s a challenge that I face because as a career-oriented woman whose married and has other caps to wear is quite hard"

"Focusing on achieving one aspect of your life without giving attention to other areas is not a healthy way to be successful, if one finds balance, they find success"

"I have learned, from my experience that being an entrepreneur is about failing. But it’s a necessary experience that gives invaluable lessons. It’s also important to have a good support system around you because failing can be demotivating. Every failure is a contributing factor to what you need to learn, no matter what you are aspiring to achieve."

"The nve of the collection is about accentuating the femininity of a woman, because if a woman looks good they feel good, and it radiates where she goes."

"You must be able to take constructive criticism and avoid having people who inflate your ego only"

"Surround yourself with people who want the best for you and who can help you see your goals at a different perspective. Have a good support system around you because we all need that."

"There’s no such thing as a free meal, meaning you have to work hard and smart for everything you want in life. Nothing comes easy, and if something doesn’t work out the first time doesn’t mean you have to abandon it."

"I remember praying to God crying out to Him that if He saved me, I was going to serve Him. I was not ready to die just yet"

"This thing was attacking, paralysing and taking control of my body. I could neither see nor hear it, however, could feel its evil presence, ready to get to me"

"I knew deep down in my heart that I had not gone to church for a while or done anything Godly in a long time. This were things I was now willing to change about myself"

"I called upon his name and began feeling better"

"It’s been two years now since I made the commitment. I read the Word often and go to church"

"She might be the nicest human being on this planet, literally speaking. And she's a great collaborator and a wonderful scene partner."

"The gentle flower couldn't survive. After the evil rain, she was alone I am with you, you will never be alone."

"Yesterday was unexpectedly my last day in the Office. I was summarily fired via memo from Main Justice that did not give a reason for my termination. Every person lucky enough to work in this office constantly hears four words to describe our ethos: Without Fear or Favor. Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons without fear of retribution and without favor to the powerful."

"For the majority of my nearly ten years in SDNY, fear was never really conceivable. We don't fear bad press; we have the luxury of exceptional security keeping us physically safe; and, so long as we did our work with integrity, we would get to keep serving the public in this office. Our focus was really on acting "without favor." That is, making sure people with access, money, and power were not treated differently than anyone else; and making sure this office remained separate from politics and focused only on the facts and the law."

"We have entered a new phase where "without fear" may be the challenge. If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place. A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims. Of dedication to truth above all else. It has been an honor to fight for those principles by your side."

"I’m an admitted Hillary fan-girl, but even the coldest hearted Republicans will have to admit that she has always wanted every American to have health care, a chance at a quality education and opportunity for a bright future."

"President Trump has abused the power of his office to benefit himself to the detriment of the public good, which is an impeachable offense. If mental gymnastics were an Olympic sport, Republicans desperate to defend Trump would all be gold medal contenders."

"The framers of the Constitution created impeachment so that the president of the United States could be held accountable for misconduct. Sure, Trump doesn’t like it. But he doesn’t have the power to ignore the Constitution and follow only the parts of it that he likes."

"The Constitution created a system of checks and balances designed to prevent the president from becoming a king or a dictator. Our founders had just fought the Revolutionary War to create a democracy – not to simply replace a British king with an American monarch."

"It has always been a central plank of Donald Trump’s approach to politics to make us doubt what the media tell us and, more often than not, what we hear and see ourselves. The president’s path to success runs straight through widespread disinformation about everything from election security to health care to immigration."

"It’s hard to tell people things they don’t want to hear. It is my job and figuring out a way to do it that will be listened to, palatable and maybe even persuasive."

"I can't stand Jessica Tarlov of THE FIVE. A real loser!!! DJT"

"Why does Fox News allow failed TV personality Jessica Tarlov to 'soil' The Five? Her voice, her manner, and above all else, what she says, are a disgrace to television broadcasting."

"You have just as much a right to pursue this as anybody else. Realise half of the barrier is yourself. Get past your own barriers. Then somebody else blocking your path is nothing compared to that."

"Being pretty much the only woman and a woman of colour in my tech career I just had to survive."

"have always been drawn to growth. I love the opportunities that growth creates, as well as the chance to have a positive impact on so many people, not just your customers, but your employees."

"Growth within business is exhilarating and rewarding, but it isn’t without its challenges."

"I’ve faced up to a lot. But I’ve never let anyone hold me back and I’ve met tough challenges head on. And I know working in government will be challenging."

"I’m proud to be joining a government which puts a modern approach at its core. Take the new Office for Investment – a scaled-up, more coherent, joint No 10-HMT-DBT investment agency."

"It really does feel like we’re in this new era of cybersecurity,"

"The arms race will absolutely continue, I really don’t think it’s very long until this [AI] innovation gets into the hands of attackers, and we will see these very highly targeted and specific attacks that humans won’t necessarily be able to spot and defend themselves from."

"It’s not going to be these futuristic Terminator-style robots out shooting each other, it’s going to be all these little pieces of code fighting in the background of our businesses. In my time here at Darktrace"

"It’s only something I’m aware of when I’m doing interviews or when I’m at an industry event and suddenly you see a sea of men staring back at you,"

"When you meet people anywhere in the world, they only know one thing about Rwanda – and that thing is the country’s greatest shame.We started forming the play when we talked about what makes us ashamed of our countries, what shame we carry with us and how people judge us because of certain actions by our countries."

"I don’t know many countries which have experienced genocide and managed to live together and work together and not slaughter each other in revenge."