"My son, why cover your face in such fear?"  "You see the elf-king, father?  He's near! The king of the elves with crown and train!"  "My son, the mist is on the plain."

Who's riding so late where winds blow wild  It is the father grasping his child;  He holds the boy embraced in his arm,  He clasps him snugly, he keeps him warm.

'Sweet lad, o come and join me, do!  Such pretty games I will play with you;  On the shore gay flowers their color unfold,  My mother has many garments of gold.'

"My father, my father, and can you not hear  The promise the elf-king breathes in my ear?"  "Be calm, stay calm, my child, lie low:  In withered leaves the night-winds blow."

'Will you, sweet lad, come along with me?  My daughters shall care for you tenderly;  In the night my daughters their revelry keep,  They'll rock you and dance you and sing you to sleep.'

"My father, my father, o can you not trace  The elf-king's daughters in that gloomy place?"  "My son, my son, I see it clear  How grey the ancient willows appear."

'I love you, your comeliness charms me, my boy!  And if you're not willing, my force I'll employ.'  "Now father, now father, he's seizing my arm.  Elf-king has done me a cruel harm."

The father shudders, his ride is wild,  In his arms he's holding the groaning child,  Reaches the court with toil and dread. -  The child he held in his arms was dead.

If you've seen 'Spirited Away', 'Spirited Away' is set in a very, very Japanese sensibility. And so, to Japanese audiences, when Sen would walk up, the main character, and look at this big building with a flag on it with Japanese writing on it, everyone in Japan would know what that is.

People were very nice to me. They knew I didn't have the money to do figure-drawing classes, so they let me annex the figure-drawing classes that the animators had.

Fasting and feasting are universal human responses and any meal shared with love can be an agape.

First ladies, you know, we look at Michelle Obama, and we look at most first ladies, and they seem like they have it all. You know, they live in the White House, they go to state dinners, they ride on Air Force One, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But first ladies do often feel that they are given short shrift or forgotten or left at the margins.

There's a new hit rock group or singer every five minutes, but with country music, you have one hit and those people love you forever.

I tell my workshop students, 'I want you to think of yourselves as artists. Then, when you're writing, you're painting, you're crafting, you're making a design, you're sculpting, you're creating choreography, sound, a sound script.'

I'm not bothered about clothes. Never have been.

My grandchildren will be making money from the stories I write and sell as eBooks because they will continue to be making money.

London has been used as the emblematic English city, but it's far from representative of what life in England is actually about.

Intolerance is natural and logical, for in every dissenting opinion lies an assumption of superior wisdom.

I want to carry on in my dad's footsteps and make sure his message lives on forever. I feel like that's why I've been put on this planet - to get my message across.

I remember, when I saw the first 'Austin Powers' movie, I was blown away by how fun and original it was.

Did you ever notice that nobody you see on television looks like anyone you know?

I get sent a lot of scripts which feature him as a kind of all-purpose Victorian literary character and really understand little, if anything, about him, his life or his books.

Christianity and Judaism have gone through the process of enlightenment, making them creative and constructive elements in society.

In the early '90s, it was grunge; everybody was fully clothed. Alanis Morissette was one of the biggest artists in the world, never wore makeup, wearing Doc Marten boots, and then the Spice Girls turn up, and suddenly it all looks a bit burlesque; suddenly they're the biggest band in the world.

A lot of people get elected to Congress, and sometimes a part of their pledge is a term-limit pledge. There's no accountability.

Songs seem to take me a long time. I don't know why; they're not especially excellent for taking so long.

London is the epitome of our times, and the Rome of to-day.

I'll take any risk there is.

If we can be the best people we are as individuals, then that's the way to change the world.

If you don't think your anxiety, depression, sadness and stress impact your physical health, think again. All of these emotions trigger chemical reactions in your body, which can lead to inflammation and a weakened immune system. Learn how to cope, sweet friend. There will always be dark days.

Zhang Yimou is one of the best directors on mainland China.

I'm 300 pounds. If I fall on anybody, it's going to hurt.