“There's a line in the picture where he snarls, "Nobody tells me what to do." That's exactly how I've felt all my life.”

“I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

“I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life. At 6-foot-6, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too … literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn't looking down on me. He was watching over me.”

Michelle Obama (1964) lawyer, writer, wife of Barack Obama and former First Lady of the United States

“Performing, for me, is like oxygen. Performing, for me, is like the only thing that is a constant in my life, because you're in all different places doing all different things, but when I get up on stage, that's where I know exactly what to do, that's where I own it.”

Skye Sweetnam (1988) Canadian singer-songwriter

“It doesn't mean much;
It doesn't mean anything at all.
The life I've left behind me
Is a cold room.
I've crossed the last line
From where I can't return.
Where every step I took in faith
Betrayed me
And led me from my home.And sweet sweet surrender
Is all that I have to give.”

Sarah McLachlan (1968) Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter

“He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to everyone. What he now felt was the fear of his own oblivion. It was as though he did not exist.”

Patrick Süskind (1949) German writer and screenwriter

“Yes I can,” Curran snarled. “Listen: this is me telling you what you will not do.”
I raised the cookbook and tapped him on the nose. Bad cat.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

“I don't remember when exactly I read my first comic book, but I do remember exactly how liberated and subversive I felt as a result.”

Edward Said (1935–2003) Professor of English and literature

“Nobody knows about my man.
They think he's lost on some horizon.
And suddenly I find myself
Listening to a man I've never known before,
Telling me about the sea,
All his love, 'til Eternity.”

Kate Bush (1958) British recording artist; singer, songwriter, musician and record producer

“Such an environment of love and affection (at school) had not as yet allowed my life to be exposed to hardships. Depending on others was my habit. You will be surprised to know that prior to my journey to the college I had never bought a train-ticket myself…the very first day I realized that moving out of the controlled school life and stepping into the free college life is no less than inviting all sorts of hassles to yourself. Nobody tells you how to read. Nobody tells you what to do, where to go, when to sleep, and when to wake up. The one who is used to restrictions gets perturbed by this freedom.”

Zakir Hussain (politician) (1897–1969) 3rd President of India