And if citizens of New Orleans who are really contemplating coming back heard that we're really intent upon making the place secure again - regardless of whether the levees held or not - then I think a rebuilding process would really take shape.

And if citizens of New Orleans who are really contemplating coming back heard that we're really intent upon making the place secure again - regardless of whether the levees held or not - then I think a rebuilding process would really take shape.

I think we lost a great deal of sympathy and support with the way in which the crisis was handled, most importantly I think when we appeared to be grasping for too much at one time instead of identifying our priorities in a much more responsible fashion.

Some 70 percent of Americans donated to Katrina victims.

New Orleans has to learn to live with water rather than in fear of water, and we need a master plan that shows us how to do this. It's so critical that we send a signal to everyone in the country that we're serious about rebuilding New Orleans.

The immediate, highest priority need, in my humble opinion, is that we build quickly the interim structures that can channel water away from population and businesses in the New Orleans area.

The question is what I wanted to do with the new life God has given me. This is the mission I want to take on.

You probably have to have redundant levee systems with canals in between them, like the Dutch have, to make sure that incoming water is channeled off to areas where you deal with it rather than have it drown you.

Venice, Italy, survives 365 days out of every year in water; New Orleans can survive a few days of water if it has to.

Invite the best and brightest to compete for a grand prize to come up with designs, including new zoning, building codes and so forth, for New Orleans that could make it safe from water, and let the state and city pick the plan that works best for Louisiana.

The timing was terrible, and having one disaster after another didn't help. I think the pictures on television of the way in which the disaster was handled also helped to turn off the public and Congress.

I think the industry finally gets it. They've lost the connection with the American public, and they've got to rebuild the trust with the American public.

I was treated with a miracle drug, just like Lance Armstrong.

This is not ice cream. These are powerful products.

I grew up in a time when it would never have occurred to anyone to tell me there was anything I couldn't do.

New York is an ugly city, a dirty city... But there is one thing about it. Once you have lived in New York and it has become your home, no place else is good enough.

I like to keep my money at the end of the day.

I came back to Carrington, and it was like I just came back home.

Touring is hard. It's really hard on the singer, especially, because your body is your instrument and you have to be so good, it's like boot camp out there; I can't do anything - just sleep, sing and be very healthy.

Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful partner, and you can keep the clubs and the fresh air.

I am up for anything, but my favorite show in the whole world is this English series, 'Skins.' It would be awesome to be able to go on that somehow.

I believe you should be a gentleman, and that's old-fashioned.

Until your mission is an obsession, nothing will change in your life.

I want to work with directors who can tell intimate stories in a way that feels universal and with a big enough scope and depth to travel outside of Iceland.

Wars tend to be very public things, they are visible. There are correspondents traveling with the troops and you get daily dispatches.

So much of selling a film in the industry is about creating a fulcrum where all the pressure comes to bear, and something seems suddenly valuable and approved by an audience. It's amazing how people could pick up tons of films on the cheap, but they don't because they wait until everything is laid out for them.

If I see an ending, I can work backward.

All of us need to grow continuously in our lives.

I was a teenager in '95, so I didn't dress like a woman then. I was really small. I remember wishing I wasn't wearing Gap Kids.

I was taught you don't tell your secrets to strangers - certainly not secrets that expose error, weakness, failure. My generation, like its predecessors, was taught that since our achievements received little notice or credit from white America, we were not to discuss our faults, lapses, or uncertainties in public.

The Latino population has become such a presence. We are part of the American tapestry in a very profound way, in every area you can think of, and are very significant in popular culture.

I have seen great intolerance shown in support of tolerance.

Our whole economy is based on planned obsolescence.

We have an open society. No one will come and take me away for saying what I am saying. But they don't have to, if they can control how many people hear it. And that's how they do it.

My hats off to anybody filming action, because you get beat up. If I'm going to get the crap kicked out of me, I would love 15,000 people on hand to tell me that I'm doing good or I'm doing bad. So, if I'm going to be in any physical duress, I'd really like it to be in a WWE ring, which is why I was so amped to be a part of 'Trainwreck.'

Films are always different from books.

The single most important top-level trend is the shift to mobile.

The U.S. only has 20 billion barrels of oil in reserve. It seems as though there is no more oil around. Venezuela has 300 billion barrels of oil in reserves. Iraq has, like, 150 billion barrels of oil. Iran, close to 300 billion barrels of reserve. Oil for 200 years, of course.