Rosa Parks was a woman of strength conviction and morality. Her action on December 1 1955 to defy the law made her a leading figure in our nation's civil rights history.

I don't read a lot of the sports because I think people sometimes either build it up or you have this guy that hates sports that is going to write bad about it so I figure I'm not going to read it. Because I'm not going to let him put an idea into my head.

I think having a vision can make someone an influential man. I'm not talking about acting or anything like that I'm talking about people I admire whether it's a writer or a musician or a sports figure or a politician whatever.

RFK was a compelling figure because he was willing to challenge his audiences and in turn connect with them in a unique way. Kennedy showed that our values define us and can inspire others to believe in the possibility of change and a better society.

Every teenager deals in his or her own sexuality and has to face it and figure out how it can coincide with the rest of their lives in a healthy manner. And try to navigate it in our modern society which is wrought with stigma and taboo and repression and sort of as a result these inner monsters that some teenagers really struggle with.

I figured out I guess that the job just makes me happy if it's not number one. So if it all works great. If it doesn't I still go home look at my kids and I have a big smile on my face.

As a theoretical physicist I feel at once proud and humble at the thought of the illustrious figures that have preceded me here to receive the greatest of all honors in science the Nobel prize.

We sat around on a hotel balcony with a bottle of wine and tried to figure out how you would go about blowing up a planet. That's the kind of conversations science fiction writers have when they get together. We don't talk about football or anything like that.

What I loved about the acting class was that you got to think all day long about a person that wasn't you and figure out why they were sad and what they wanted what they dreamed.

I've never met a woman who thinks they've got a good enough figure - however perfect they look - which is sad because no one else can see these perceived flaws they're entirely internal.

I'm not about to talk about what's romantic in my life - I figure if you talk about it once then that's an open invitation for everyone to dig into your personal life even further. So I just keep my private life to myself.

I'm not about to talk about what's romantic in my life - I figure if you talk about it once - then that's an open invitation for everyone to dig into your personal life even further.

I bought a selection of short romantic fiction novels studied them decided that I had found a formula and then wrote a book that I figured was the perfect story. Thank goodness it was rejected.

I had these kind of unrealistic expectations that were fueled by romantic comedies and it has both helped me and hurt me in many ways. It helped me because in general they've made me hopeful. I just figure things will eventually work out for me. But nobody is like any Tom Hanks character. Nobody is Hugh Grant. No one is Meg Ryan!

With respect to Barack Obama let's face it Barack Obama is an iconic figure in the African-American community. We respect that. We understand that. African-Americans are going to vote for the first black president especially when he happens to share the liberal politics on economic issues that many in that community hold.

My goal is to get another 30 years out of this business. So I need to figure out the fuel to do that. And so far I think it's respect and quality and company not celebrity or box office or stardom. It's not a sprinter's approach. It's more like a long-distance thing. You can stick around a lot longer if you kind of slow-play it.

I also don't have organized religion on Pern. I figured - since there were four holy wars going on at the time of writing - that religion was one problem Pern didn't need.

Every relationship probably has at its inception a hundred things that you could pick on and divert you from it but the feeling is there. You figure out a way to make it work.

I still like the relationship part of any story. You don't want your character to figure everything out and then at the end of the day go home and eat soup from a can by herself.

A lot has been written about Tony Perkins and myself and I figured Let's get it straight. I had a relationship with Tony for two to three years but those are only threads in the tapestry of my whole life.

With public figures involved in a relationship it seems that there is a machine behind their love so oftentimes.

I am an optimist about the UK. We have been involved in trade with our European partners which we will always be doing whatever this relationship is. We are a member of the EU. That gives us benefits. But we have to figure out where that is going. In the world we are a global trader already.

I am of mixed minds about the issue of privacy. On one hand I understand that information is power and power is well power so keeping your private information to yourself is essential - especially if you are a controversial figure a celebrity or a dissident.

Our enemies are our evil deeds and their memories our pride our selfishness our malice our passions which by conscience or by habit pursue us with a relentlessness past the power of figure to express.