What it values most of all is the sum total of events and the advance of civilization, which carries individuals along with it; but, indifferent to details, it cares less to have them real than...

The focus on my appearance has really surprised me. I’ve always been a size 14 to 16, I don’t care about clothes, I’d rather spend my money on cigarettes and booze.

I’d rather try and fail than not try at all, as they say.

Never respect men merely for their riches, but rather for their philanthropy; we do not value the sun for its height, but for its use.

Economic growth may one day turn out to be a curse rather than a good, and under no conditions can it either lead into freedom or constitute a proof for its existence.

It is almost always the cover-up rather than the event that causes trouble.

The ethical manifold, conceived of as unified, furnishes, or rather is, the ideal of the whole.

My best friends are still the ones I first attached myself to when I went to school because, all of a sudden, I was leaving the rather pampered and occasionally very annoying world of having...

I will say that the prison regime is rather a good one for a writer because you have plenty of time to write.

I always start with characters rather than with a plot, which many critics would say is very obvious from the lack of plot in my films – although I think they do have plots –...

We have to make their livelihoods viable, get them the proper prices for their produce, try and make them stay rather than sell their property and leave again.

The real point of me isn’t that I’m good looking. It’s that I’m clever. I’ve got a brain! I would rather be called a highly intelligent historian than a gorgeous pouting one.

The narrative that Peter Jackson has put into ‘The Battle of the Five Armies,’ it stands alone as a film. Rather than just finishing off the story, it’s like a whole new adventure all of...

Most drama in our lives is really rather squalid.

Religious celebrations, and the good will, high spirits and generosity that mark them, are wonderful occasions for understanding the potential of ‘everyday multiculturalism’, and how people from diverse faiths can connect and show they care,...

When I was a freshman in high school, I got a letterman jacket, which you’d think would be great stock. The jacket had the big S on it, for Santa Monica. But rather than having...

Try to think of working out and healthy eating as a lifestyle. Rather than go on a diet or try a crazy exercise routine, try making them something you do every day.

I’m not suggesting that the play is without fault; all of my plays are imperfect, I’m rather happy to say-it leaves me something to do.

I am the world’s worst reporter. I am apt to try too hard to help rather than just document my subjects.

I was an observer. I liked to listen rather than openly express myself. This trait is something that I’ve retained over the years.

The main issue was deciding what to play: Should it be old Ramones material or new material? I had about three albums worth of new material, but I knew that people would rather hear the...

One of the aspects of form that I have been very interested in is stasis – the concept of form which is not so directional in time, not so much climactic form, but rather form...

I would rather portray the hero if it’s a really great film. All my favorite fictional film characters are heroes, such as in ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ and ‘Robin Hood.’

I was very much a tomboy. I’ve always been rather outspoken, headstrong, and I’m pretty much that way to this day.

We always have hoped that American diplomacy deploys itself in dialogue and persuasion rather than by ultimatums. That is the path we want in international relations.

If the director says you can do better, particularly in a love scene, then it is rather embarrassing.

Without a doubt, absolutely, a woman will be a president, and probably sooner rather than later. I am excited about that, and if what I did serves as a steppingstone for another woman down the...

The being without an opinion is so painful to human nature that most people will leap to a hasty opinion rather than undergo it.

I came from rather humble beginnings.

People don’t get through to the essence of you right away – it’s always the famous ‘girl’ or the famous ‘girlfriend’. I’d rather be known for myself.

New Orleans has to learn to live with water rather than in fear of water, and we need a master plan that shows us how to do this. It’s so critical that we send a...

Life should be great rather than long.

When I realised I had a facility for humour, I latched on to it, and it gave me confidence and I built my personality around it. So I subconsciously made myself become the funny one...

I like to employ a form of repetition, in which the same elements recur but in different and unexpected ways. rather than being discarded as soon as they are understood or passed over.

Having cancer gave me membership in an elite club I’d rather not belong to.

Hateful is the power, and pitiable is the life, of those who wish to be feared rather than loved.

I would rather die than be a serious artist, or a fake artist.

I’d rather go to Vietnam than get married.

I think that rather than condemning Islam, Islam needs to be studied by those who are sincere.

Digital books and other texts are increasingly coming under the control of distributors and other gatekeepers rather than readers and libraries.

I think how veterans are treated in our country is an abomination. We don’t have the draft any more, which is why so many soldiers come from working-class – rather than middle- or high-income families....

I think that with piracy and tighter funds being around, people are realising that the game to play is to try and win people’s respect with bold film making and then win a special place...

When I give over to somebody’s vision rather than have an idea of what I need to do, it takes me to places I wouldn’t have got to by myself. I’m always attracted to a...

I wanted to be a pianist but it just wasn’t my thing. I guess I wanted to stand up rather than sit down.

I’d rather have one good scene in a movie by a great director than a small role in a mediocre movie.

So rather than face the bitter truth, China has placed severe restrictions on the Internet and enlisted America’s high-tech companies as their Internet police.

The U.S. embargo imposed on Nicaragua, rather than weakening the Sandinistas, actually maintained them in power.

I actually cannot stand a room without a view – I would rather have a bedroom the size of a closet with a view over a suite without one.

I’m quite discreet. I think I’d rather focus on my work. So, I only speak when I have something to say. ‘Live hidden, and live happy.’ Is that the same in English as it is...

Here we have a situation where a defendant in a case agrees to an interview with Dan Rather. It happened to be not confidential. But it was an interview with Dan Rather.