My mom would give me a piece to play but I wouldn't do any theory because when it came time to do it I would sneak back upstairs and watch TV. So I had these kind of nonchalant lessons for years then it just started soaking in.

I shoplifted. I was about five years old and I took a candy from a store. We paid for three of them but I took four and I went home and cried. My mom took me back and I paid for the missing piece.

My mom used to have a lot of European cinema playing in the house so I'd catch bits and pieces of films.

Ever since I was a little kid I've felt comfortable in a suit. It all started when my mom bought me a three-piece Pierre Cardin suit. I wore that thing everywhere. Eventually I realized I was going to be the kid who got beat up in school but I kept wearing it.

But men are so full of greed today they'll sell anything for a little piece of money.

And it was back in the mid-1980s and as I point out in a piece that was when we are spending about eight percent of our gross domestic product on health care. And even then we had the impression that so much of the excessive aggressive medical treatment that took place at the end of life was not only unnecessary but it was cruel.

Either marriage is a destiny I believe or there is no sense in it at all it's a piece of humbug.

Never ever discount the idea of marriage. Sure someone might tell you that marriage is just a piece of paper. Well so is money and what's more life-affirming than cold hard cash?

Marriage is like a game of chess except the board is flowing water the pieces are made of smoke and no move you make will have any effect on the outcome.

Love is when he gives you a piece of your soul that you never knew was missing.

I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach who walk their talk.

Human-rights advocates for example claim that the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners is of a piece with President Bush's 2002 decision to deny al Qaeda and Taliban fighters the legal status of prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.

I spent a little time in Germany as a schoolboy learning German and it's a country I knew very well spent a lot of time in. I knew the history very well. I've always wanted to do a piece of work about the post-war period of one sort or another.

The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue.

The role of leadership is to transform the complex situation into small pieces and prioritize them.

What I look for when I see a piece of art for the first time is some kind of emotional intellectual experience that's a combination of both of those things and is informed by my knowledge and something new that I see the artist doing.

I do think we know that a teacher who knows what he or she is doing knows their subject matter and knows how to impart knowledge to kids is a critical piece of closing the achievement gap.

Everyone wants a hand in the outcome a piece of the knowledge.

Look at a football field. It looks like a big movie screen. This is theatre. Football combines the strategy of chess. It's part ballet. It's part battleground part playground. We clarify amplify and glorify the game with our footage the narration and that music and in the end create an inspirational piece of footage.

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces I would still plant my apple tree.

The first piece of music that captured my imagination was probably Ray Charles Live At Newport.

While it is true that Frank had a great sense of humor he was also very serious about composing music. In reality there are only a handful of skilled players who can play his most complex pieces. It takes a lot of patience to learn and requires a fantastic memory.

I love Sell Out I think it's great. I love the jingles. The whole thing as an album is a wonderful piece of work. The cover. Everything about it. It's got humor great songs irony.

Our democracy is the centerpiece of who we are as a nation. And it is the fondest hope of all Americans that we can help bring democracy to every corner of the world.