I am involved with 'Write Girl ' which is such a great organization because they go into inner city schools and work with underprivileged girls to pair them up with other writers. And it gets them learning to express themselves and become familiar with their own voice. They have a 100% success ratio getting those girls into college.

Learning operatic roles is ongoing and I find that I can learn on the train or subway during a manicure getting my hair done and even while driving if I only look at the score at red lights.

Being steeped in the process of learning and exploring keeps me from becoming too nervous. Partly it's about not getting bored.

The only animals I'm not comfortable with are parrots but I'm learning as I go. I'm getting better and better at 'em. I really am.

The process of learning requires not only hearing and applying but also forgetting and then remembering again.

What matters to me is learning and growing and getting to do what I love to do. As long as I can do that I'm happy.

And one thing I definitely enjoyed personally from a selfish point of view was exploration and going to places that I had never been to before and learning you know meeting the people and getting to know new sights and sounds etc.

I can't do the same movies all my life. I'm conscious of that. But it's a trade-off. 'Dear John' allowed me to do movies I've wanted to do. You learn to balance it out. I'm still learning. Only now am I getting to do the kinds of movies that I have wanted to do. So it's a steady climb. You don't jump into a Soderbergh film.

I'm getting to a point where everything is becoming streamlined in my life. I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play in front of thousands of people as if I am completely in the moment every moment.

Artists working for other artists is all about knowing learning unlearning initiating long-term artistic dialogues making connections creating covens and getting temporary shelter from the storm.

Leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced should be done.

Al Qaeda is not the organization now that it was before. It is under stress organizationally. Its leadership spends more time trying to figure out how to keep from getting caught than they do trying to launch operations.

I am honored that my freshman class colleagues have put their trust in me to represent our historic class at the leadership table. The incoming freshman class of Representatives is large and diverse but we share many common goals including cutting wasteful spending getting our economy back on track and making government smarter and more efficient.

Turnaround or growth it's getting your people focused on the goal that is still the job of leadership.

Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it.

I am endlessly fascinated that playing football is considered a training ground for leadership but raising children isn't. Hey it made me a better leader: you have to take a lot of people's needs into account you have to look down the road. Trying to negotiate getting a couple of kids to watch the same TV show requires serious diplomacy.

What's missing is leadership in the White House. And the story that Barack Obama does tell forever shifting blame to the last administration is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago - isn't it about time he assumed responsibility?

Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do to achieve what they want to achieve.

Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you're ready to play as tough as you're able to you'd better go out there and do it. Players will see right through a phony. And they can tell when you're not giving it all you've got.

Getting in touch with your true self must be your first priority.

Leadership is diving for a loose ball getting the crowd involved getting other players involved. It's being able to take it as well as dish it out. That's the only way you're going to get respect from the players.

I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles but today it means getting along with people.

I do believe states' rights was a sound doctrine that got hijacked by some unsavory customers for a while - like 150 years or so. I'm professionally obliged to believe that knowledge is better than ignorance but some kinds of forgetting are OK with me.

Getting along with men isn't what's truly important. The vital knowledge is how to get along with a man one man.