I guess I feel that I was following my instincts and at the same time being guided by the best. I became totally intrigued with Louisiana - the people the food. It is a part of my life. Everything that has happened for me since moving here has just been icing on the cake.

The kitchen's a laboratory and everything that happens there has to do with science. It's biology chemistry physics. Yes there's history. Yes there's artistry. Yes to all of that. But what happened there what actually happens to the food is all science.

The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit. And I think that's what's happened in our culture. Fast food has become the everyday meal.

I say grace. I'm a big believer in grace. I happen to believe in a God that made all the food and so I'm pretty grateful for that and I thank him for that. But I'm also thankful for the people that put the food on the table.

People may say I developed an iron will but what really happened is that I made myself much fitter. I think an iron will is always supported by fitness.

But having said that what's happening with campaign finance reform and our political culture is devastating.

'Survivor' wouldn't have happened had I not gone out there and helped CBS to sell sponsors to finance the first one. Part of my thinking on 'Survivor' was that it should have rewards that are corporate brands. A Big Mac one thimble-full of Coca-Cola.

Canadians know that the promise of a recession didn't happen because of anything we did here. If you look at all the causes of the recession problems in mortgage markets the problems in the banking sector the problems in government finance in countries like Greece none of those problems were in present Canada.

The problem of how we finance the welfare state should not obscure a separate issue: if each person thinks he has an inalienable right to welfare no matter what happens to the world that's not equity it's just creating a society where you can't ask anything of people.

There is no city or country in the world where women and girls live free of the fear of violence. No leader can claim: 'this is not happening in my backyard.'

I was kind of surprised to learn how controlling I am. I never thought of myself in that way. I think the root of the control issues is usually fear because you want to know what's going to be happening at any given moment.

If the markets had behaved badly that would obviously add to people's sense of alarm... but there has been a lot of reassurance coming particularly in the way the Brits handled all this. There seems to be no great fear that something like that is going to happen here.

The way you deal with a scare is the way you deal with a laugh. The timing has to be perfect. When you're dealing with fear or laughter - emotions that happen spontaneously - you hope it's working. But in the moment you really have no idea.

My biggest fear ever is to be involved in a plane crash so when that happened... well I'm just thankful to be alive. I'm just grateful to be here at all.

I'd gone from being this art student messing about with music to this girl with a record deal magazine front covers and all this hype. In many ways it was everything I ever wanted but when it happened all I felt was total paralysing fear.

The greatest fear that haunts this city is a suitcase bomb nuclear or germ. Many people carry small gas masks. The masses here seem to be resigned to the inevitable believing an attack of major proportions will happen.

My greatest fear is feeling like a professional novelist. Somebody who creates characters who sits down and has pieces of paper taped to the wall - what's going to happen in this scene or this act. What I like is for it to be a much more scary sloppy reflection of who I am.

Grief has limits whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what we know has happened but we fear all that possibly may happen.

We all have that burning question about what happens if we lose somebody we love especially if we lose them tragically. We wonder what fear was going on we wonder if we could have reached out and touched them held their hand looked in their eyes been there.

I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that's my one fear: that everything has happened nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again... the future is just going to be a vast conforming suburb of the soul.

Between the fear that something would happen and the hope that still it wouldn't there is much more space than one thinks. On that narrow hard bare and dark space a lot of us spend their lives.

I think 'Dilbert' will remain popular as long as employees are frustrated and they fear the consequences of complaining too loudly. 'Dilbert' is the designated voice of discontent for the workplace. I never planned it that way. It just happened.

When you are 16 there is no fear whatsoever. As you get older you play in more important games and that is when you start thinking about what will happen if you win or lose.

It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.