"It is not every calamity that is a curse, and early adversity is often a blessing. Perhaps Madame de Maintenon would never have mounted a throne had not her cradle been rocked in a prison. Surmounted obstacles not only teach, but hearten us in our future struggles; for virtue must be learnt, though, unfortunately, some of the vices come as it were by inspiration."

“It is extraordinary to see how the discovery of one single free stroke of paint can fill you with such joy and amazement.”

Source : Michele Cassou, Stewart Cubley (1996). “Life, Paint and Passion: Reclaiming the Magic of Spontaneous”, p.28, Penguin

“I was a prosecutor and an FBI agent for many, many years.”

“If unemployment could be brought down to say 2 percent at the cost of an assured steady rate of inflation of 10 percent per year, or even 20 percent, this would be a good bargain.”

Source : William Spencer Vickrey (2004). “Full Employment and Price Stability: The Macroeconomic Vision of William S. Vickrey”, Edward Elgar Pub

“Cynicism is a form of cowardice, a failure of courage to hope.”

“I could be one if I wanted to, I'm just way too overqualified for a job that simple.”

“Julia Roberts is a favorite. Everybody loves her in the Hollywood community. The public adores her.”

“Embracing and rejecting tradition, bound and liberated by faith, torn between obscurantism and reason, self-assured and self-critical, they were a kaleidoscope of fragments, positions held and abandoned, images formed and shattered, God-fearing Jew, God-denying Jew, passionate and indifferent, hero and villain, yea-sayer, nay-sayer.”

Source : Israel Shenker (1985). “Coat of Many Colors: Pages from Jewish Life”, Doubleday Books

“Curiosity is the surest sign of intelligence”