people-from-auckland

"People must be able to see within us and within the Church, not the structures and authority we have, but the presence of Jesus Christ. We must avoid the danger of placing so much emphasis on the "Magisterium" of the Church that we lose the sense of the "Mysterium" of the Church."

"We are a society of apostolic life, so there’s going to be a common life … there must be fraternal life. If there’s no fraternal life, priests become extremely susceptible to the wiles and snares of the devil."

"I feel just as much compulsion to be an architect, for example, as I do a musician. And I feel inestimably guilty that I cannot fulfil the vocation for which I was trained - that of an economist specialising in problems of underdevelopment. My sadness stems from the fact that I do not have several lifetimes to lead."

"Here’s my attitude, and I’m sort of sorry to say this sometimes – but there are people who try and elevate film music - of all kinds – to being the great twentieth century classical music, and my opinion is it just isn’t. It’s very straightforward, major/minor or modal writing. The only time you get any kind of originality is usually in the timbres and the sounds and the mixture of elements. But to get through a scene it’s either happy, or sad – and it’s either going forward in action or it’s not – and it can be ironic, which means you’ve got to switch from major to minor frequently. But it’s not rocket science. It’s a lot of skills – a lot of political skills, frankly. It’s being in a room and playing off fifty opinions from studios, producers, directors, sometimes actors – and coming out the end with something that vaguely represents music. And frequently it doesn’t. The minute you try to get original or break the box – unless you’ve got either a very experimental or powerful director, it’s probably not going to happen."

"I will probably end my life fighting. … I just hope that if it does happen, it will be in an honest and fair competition. My body is fucked but my mind is still here. I’ve still got my senses about me and I know what’s right and wrong, which is the main thing. … I feel proud that I got here without cheating. Proud that I got here without taking any shortcuts and by doing it the proper way. My way. … I’d be champ already if it wasn’t for the cheaters. … We need the Ali Act put in place. Fighters want to know what they’re worth. … These guys don’t get paid jack shit."

"I'm going vegan, hate this."

"I'm a feminist and the theme of her song is, 'When you're ready come and get it from me.' I'm sick of women being portrayed this way."

"The only thing to contemplate there is this raw force. It's as much terror as beauty. You don't feel welcomed by the natural world – I completely felt like an interloper."

"I feel that if I am busting my arse, if I am stretching at night, if I am working hard in the gym, if I am doing all of my extras out on the field, if I am the first one there and the last to leave or whatever, and if I am giving my all every game, then I deserve to be the man I want to be rather than the man other people want me to be."

"He changed the game around with the offload and the way a No.12 plays. He's strong, and he's quick for his size as well, with pretty good skills for a big guy. He did really well when he played the game."

"[T]he most gifted footballer I’ve ever seen..."

"Every sport has helped me excel in another. Boxing has given me the mental strength to know that I can face anything on the field, without a doubt."

"When I finish my sporting career it's not about what I've done, or being remembered as a legend. For me it's just about being the best father, husband and man I can be."

"I feel like I am on the right path now. It has helped me with my confidence on the sporting field and with my self-belief, but outside of sport my life is a lot smoother too. Like everyone, I have my faults and I veer off the path sometimes, but my faith helps me get back on it and to stay being a good person. I am a lot happier now in my own skin."

"In terms of Sonny Bill, well Sonny Bill’s one of the most gifted players we’ve ever seen, big or small. His physical presence, his athleticism, his ability to play like a halfback, but with the strength and offloading ability of Arthur Beetson; it’s a pretty good package, Sonny Bill Williams."

"In 20 years time, I want to say 'didn't I have a go when I was in my prime', and I went back to play rugby league, tried to make the Rugby World Cup, tried to make the Olympics or tried to win the World Cup with the Kiwis."

"I am the first to jump up and say that I am a proud Samoan."

"In 2013, Sonny Bill Williams drove the Roosters to glory with the skill, footwork and defensive weaponry that makes him arguably the most complete back-rower the code has seen."

"What’s the Sonny Bill Effect? Without doubt, he’s been a giant of the club. There’s the athletic ability and the consummate professionalism. He works as hard on his preparation as any player I’ve ever seen. Of course he’s a natural, but there’s a lot of hard work that goes into making it so natural. He’s the modern-day sportsman. He’s helped turn us into a modern-day club. There’s no drinking, there’s no smoking, there’s none of the partying habits that can drag rugby league down. The influence of Sonny Bill? We’re talking about an icon of our sport and this club."

"[Her birth] was the best moment of my life, by far, and it didn't do it justice watching it on Skype...When I saw my child for the first time it just switched the switch, you know. That's when you realise you love something more than you love yourself."

"If you don't have massive dreams, you might as well stay in bed."

"I try not to read too much in the media because they're either gonna put you on a pedestal too high or underplay you."

"I’ve never coached a more professional footy player in attitude."

"[He's] the smartest on the uptake that I have encountered."

"After a very long year we've got a very short knight."

"This Prime Minister outgoing, beaten, has, in the course of one television interview, tried to do more damage to the New Zealand economy than any statement ever made. He has actually alerted the world to a crisis. And like King Canute he stands there and says everyone is wrong but me."

"Muldoon was an enigma, he worried, he disliked the rich and the powerful and the establishment. He had a very paternal attitude to the poor and powerless. It was a typical Labour Party attitude."

"Muldoon, in 1975, had got a huge electoral mandate and he'd squandered it."

"New Zealand was colonised initially by those Australians who had the initiative to escape."

""There was a lady walking down the pavement and as we passed she stopped and she said: 'I know you, don't I?' ... I said: 'My name's Muldoon.'. She said: 'You're not related to that bastard in Parliament, are you?'. And on that salutary note Mr Speaker, I say goodbye"."

"He wanted to be remembered as a person who left New Zealand no worse than he found it. My own view is that he did leave it with substantial problems and substantial dilemmas which have taken us a lot of time and no little anguish to sort out."

""They can't promise anything because I've spent it all"."

"He was an arrogant, pigheaded doctrinaire fool."

""They won’t put up a statue to me. No, no, no. Nobody’s got that sense of humour"."

""I came here [Parliament] to help people, not to hurt people, and I find that it has not been possible for me this year to stop very many people from being hurt"."

""Arnold Nordmeyer had probably the most brilliant mind of any politician in my time but his political reputation was destroyed by the 1958 "black" budget. He was a remarkable politician and parliamentarian, as straight as they come, and, I repeat, about the most intelligent that I have come across"."

"We are a free and independent nation but in time of trouble we stand with our mother country...New Zealand's decision to break off diplomatic relations with Argentina over the Falklands, immediately after Britain had done so, was not because of Britain's support on the sporting issue. The reason goes much deeper than that. It is in the context of the statement made by a Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand in 1939: "Where Britain goes, we go." We see the Falklands as British territory and the Falklands Islanders as subjects of our Queen. We live at the end of the line and we know the feeling of isolation...With the Falklands Islands, it is family. Historically, Britain has so often on great occasions thrown up the leader that the occasion demanded. I regard Margaret Thatcher as one of the finest and straightest politicians I have ever met...In 1939 we learned the folly of appeasement. A great catastrophe was the price that was paid. The military rulers of Argentina must not be appeased. New Zealand will back Britain all the way."

"Shortly after I entered Parliament, it became clear to me that I had too many friends. What I needed was some enemies. There was no way that I was ever going to get across the message that I wanted to give to the people of this country if I used the soft, simple word, offending no-one and in fact being heard by no-one."

"Lancashire have brought in a player with a great reputation in the format who will add firepower to our top order. He is an exciting player and excellent fielder, just what we need for Twenty20 cricket."

"You doubt where you're going, you doubt the way you shave in the morning and even the way you talk to people. Looking back on my past, I think that when you are out of form I attribute it to how I am in my life. I guess it was a reflection of the way I was playing my cricket, you know, I was inconsistent."

"They're also surprised I'm only 6 feet tall. They expect someone much bigger. They say I'm younger and prettier in person, which I like."

"At first, being a female role model really terrified me. But it hasn't turned out to be an awful burden. I get a lot of letters from women who tell me that, after watching Xena, they have bought the Harley-Davidson they always wanted or left an abusive relationship."

"Growing up, I looked up to real women. I didn't go in for hero worship and I still don't. Everybody has feet of clay."

"What's Buffy got? A wooden stake, some garlic. Xena has a full arsenal of weapons."

"I'm gonna walk off wearing the outfit and I'm going to drive home in it."

"When you decide to become an opera singer, it's a commitment that allows nothing else to interfere. Even your family - and I have a young daughter - has to take second place."

"Up until I came here this week, and I met so many women and young girls who feel, to use their word - and I'm a bit embarrassed, but it's a good word - empowered, by watching. I realized this isn't a burden, this is an honor."

"So yes, the roles are getting more and more like me. But that's because Xena was so entirely unlike me. Most people aren't really aware of that."

"My voice likes rock music. My problem is, I can do a lot of things, but I have to find my own voice."

"They either overcompensate for the way they feel and are incredibly sycophantic or incredibly brusque in order to prove they don't think you're superior."