Bahrainis are better off than many other Arabs. We have a welfare state everybody gets a salary whether they have a job or not. Electricity and food are subsidized school and healthcare are free. And we don't differentiate between Bahrainis and foreigners. We are very proud of that.

As a freelance writer I'd be asked to become an expert for various magazines on any subject whether food or wine or history or the life span of veterinarians. I was completely unschooled in any of these things.

We simply can no longer afford to deny the full potential of one half of the population. The world needs to tap into the talent and wisdom of women. Whether the issue is food security economic recovery health or peace and security the participation of women is needed now more than ever.

I would say stay the hell away from the party scene. Anything you put in front of your goal and especially something like that whether it's too much gambling too much food too much cold beers on the weekend - anything that you put in front of the prize is going to end up getting in the way and hurting you in the end.

But I don't begrudge anybody because I know how hard it is to have that dream and to make it happen whether or not it's just to put a roof over your head and food on the table.

There's so much importance in honoring your everyday hero. It doesn't take money. It doesn't take connections. What matters is that people get involved. Whether your passion is gun control or food or whatever it may be everybody needs to stop being so self-absorbed.

It has never made any sense to argue that unique among the people of the world Arabs are more concerned on a day-to-day basis about the treatment of people they don't know than they are about how they're going to put food on their own tables or whether their sons will ever find a job.

If I don't feel confident about my body I'm not going to sit at home and feel sorry for myself and not do something about it. It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up motivating yourself and just doing it.

The confidence is really driven by the woman - whether she can have the confidence that there will be enough earning or income to finance all the domestic spending - but also by the middle-income class which for many Asian countries has become the growth power for the economy.

Will dissent be permitted? The answer to that question will determine whether the society is a free society or a fear society.

Loneliness is I think people's biggest fear whether they are conscious of it or not.

Of the primary emotions fear is the one that bears most directly on survival. Children show fear. Adults try not to maybe because it's shameful or in some circumstances dangerous. The fear response is automatic though and your body runs through its reflexes whether you want it to or not.

A writer of fiction lives in fear. Each new day demands new ideas and he can never be sure whether he is going to come up with them or not.

Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once to get over the fear of doing it. Twice to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.

I think it is important to ask ourselves as citizens not as Democrats attacking the administration but as citizens whether a world power can really provide global leadership on the basis of fear and anxiety?

I've noticed a lot of younger artists have less fear of doing different sorts of things whether it's various types of music or gallery artists moving between video and sculpture and drawing.

Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain whether of our worth or worthlessness we are almost impervious to fear.

It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.

The thinner the ice the more anxious is everyone to see whether it will bear.

When I came to New York I began to meet the people who became the most famous artists of our time. I was insecure about my own level of ability I didn't know whether I could compete with these people and at the same time. I was wondering what is this anyway?

I have a profound empathy for people who are in the public eye whether they manifest it themselves or whether it happened by accident - it doesn't matter to me. I think there's a great misunderstanding of what it is to be famous.

By measuring the proportion of children living with the same parents from birth and whether their parents report a good quality relationship we are driving home the message that social programmes should promote family stability and avert breakdown.

The countries who do the best in international comparisons whether it's Finland or Japan Denmark or Singapore do well because they have professional teachers who are respected and they also have family and community which support learning.

If you want to look at the state of humans you should look at the state of animals first. People are choosing whether or not they can feed an animal and their family. And every shelter coast-to-coast is stuffed.