I wrote my first short story for a competition and won second prize. Another competition came up and I won first prize. The first story was published in a newspaper. The second went out on radio. – Ian Rankin
Sometimes, I’m an ogre. I can be short. I’ll walk into the office some days and I’ve gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, and everybody knows it. I’m a perfectionist. I like to be organized, and I like to get everything done today. – Jack Nicklaus
There’s a short chain between field and fork, and the shorter that chain is – the fresher, the more transparent that system is – the less chance there is of anything from bio-terrorism to pathogenicity to spoilage. – Joel Salatin
When I complete a novel I set it aside, and begin work on short stories, and eventually another long work. When I complete that novel I return to the earlier novel and rewrite much of it. In the meantime the second novel lies in a desk drawer. – Joyce Carol Oates
I call myself a harp because I like the sound of the word – it is short, sharp, and abusive. – John Gregory Dunne
I was totally surprised by the spread of the legalization of same-sex marriage. In just my lifetime we have gone from a taboo to even talk about homosexuality, to the sanction by governments of homosexual marriage. Few such large social considerations have ever before been turned over in such a short time. – John Naisbitt
I directed a short series for Hulu called ‘Paloma,’ and being in an editing room, I learned a lot about acting. It gave me a new bolt of energy in terms of my interest in filmmaking because it made me realize how collaborative filmmaking can be and also that you’re not just limited to one job. – Julia Stiles
I was shocked. They were going to give me money to make this really odd show? Well, I still had little thought of it going to series, but I thought it was great that my next short film was going to be paid for. – Joe Murray
I was just a big guy running down with a big, deep pocket and little short stick putting it against my chest. – Jim Brown
I think the Invictus Games is something the world needs to know more about. What it does for the competitors and what it does for the families and what it does for the wounded warriors and their support system is nothing short of phenomenal. More people need to know about it. – John Cena
If you’re blindly loyal to me, then you’re just acting like a crony of mine. If you say you admire me because of the principles for which I stand, I understand that, but then you also have the right to call me to the carpet when you think I’m falling short. – Jamie Dimon
The iambic line, with its characteristic forward movement from short to long, or light to heavy, or unstressed to stressed, is the quintessential measure of English verse. – James Fenton
Every once in a while, I hear somebody call me Tracy to try to let me know that they know me, you know, personally. But most of my real friends will call me Trey, or ‘Ice’ was basically short for Iceberg. So they would call me – some of my boys call me Berg. – Ice T
I have watched people who have nothing to do with the film business, but who have become part of the circle for a short period of time. They can be truly devastated when the film wraps and people leave. – Jacqueline Bisset
The rain forest has Sting. Now Siberia has Jack Dee. Someone had to draw the short straw. In this case it was the rain forest. – Jack Dee
I wrote my first full book when I was fourteen, and that was ‘Obernewtyn.’ It was also the first book I had published. It was accepted by the first publisher I sent it to, and it was short listed for Children’s Book of the Year in the older readers category in Australia. – Isobelle Carmody
I sum up the prospects for 1967 in three short sentences. We are back on course. The ship is picking up speed. The economy is moving. Every seaman knows the command at such a moment: ‘steady as she goes’. – James Callaghan
Attention spans are short. Like, eight seconds short. That’s why it’s necessary to grab people’s attention immediately. – John Rampton
My first instinct was to cast as close to the short story as possible, but then I realized that I needed actors who could go for it and that they had to function well as a couple in a love story. – Ang Lee
I learned to ride a ten-speed when I was 4 or 5. My uncle gave me the bike, hand-me-down, and everyone used to stare at me riding up and down this block. I was too short to reach the pedals, so I put my legs through the V of the frame. I was famous. The little kid who could ride the ten-speed. – Jay-Z
My favorite books to give or get are short story collections. And always paperbacks because they are easy to carry as you travel. – Chuck Palahniuk
The arrangement of the words matters, and the arrangement you want can be found in the picture in your mind. The picture dictates the arrangement. The picture dictates whether this will be a sentence with or without clauses, a sentence that ends hard or a dying-fall sentence, long or short, active or passive. – Joan Didion
Productivity growth, however it occurs, has a disruptive side to it. In the short term, most things that contribute to productivity growth are very painful. – Janet Yellen
I don’t think people really do listen. We plug into music, and we have short attention spans. We tend to download individual tracks from iTunes rather than a whole album. We buy music DVDs and watch them once, and then they disappear into a drawer, or we loan them to a friend, and we never watch it again. – Ian Anderson