Ma chevelure vous irrite? Je la laisserai pousser. Mes actions, mes attitudes, vous dérangent? Et bien je les amplifierai. Et quand enfin, sous la pluie de vos sarcasmes, je resterai indifférent, face à vous, et que je pourrai enfin être celui que je dois être, et bien malgré ce dégout, malgré cette honte, malgré tout cela, vous m’aimerez… Pour ce que je suis. Vincent Cassel, Notre Jour Viendra

Sitting there, alone in a foreign country, far from my job and everyone I know, a feeling came over me. It was like remembering something I’d never known before or had always been waiting for, but I didn’t know what. Maybe it was something I’d forgotten or something I’ve been missing all my life. All I can say is that I felt, at the same time, joy and sadness. But not too much sadness, because I felt alive. Yes, alive. That was the moment I fell in love with Paris. And I felt Paris fall in love with me. Carol

I wake up from dreams and go, “Wow, put this down on paper.” The whole thing is strange. You hear the words, everything is right there in front of your face. And you say to yourself, “I’m sorry, I just didn’t write this. It’s there already.” That’s why I hate to take credit for the songs I’ve written. I feel that somewhere, someplace, it’s been done and I’m just a courier bringing it into the world. I really believe that. I love what I do. I’m happy at what I do. It’s escapism. Michael Jackson

When the time comes to chase your dreams, and it will, they may seem elusive; but know you won’t catch them all at once. Just one challenge at a time. When success comes, and it will, don’t gobble it up—savor and share it, and it will last. When love comes, and it will, don’t bury it in expectation and projection—be prepared to fall in love all over again every day. When the unepected and inconceivable intrudes on life, and it will, deal with life’s actual events—don’t obsess about perceived eventualities. Michael J. Fox

In both writing and sleeping, we learn to be physically still at the same time we are encouraging our minds to unlock from the humdrum rational thinking of our daytime lives. And as your mind and body grow accustomed to a certain amount of sleep each night—six hours, seven, maybe the recommended eight—so can you train your waking mind to sleep creatively and work out the vividly imagined waking dreams which are successful works of fiction. Stephen King

A good deal of literary criticism serves only to reinforce a caste system which is as old as the intellectual snobbery which nurtured it. Stephen King

Of course, deploying the white label is at once self-effacing and self-affirming. While Margiela is pushing anonymity for his label, the tacking stitches that hold it in place—and which are often externally visible—signal that it’s a piece of clothing by him. Likewise, being ultra-low key is often the best way to gain visibility and recognition. Mark Holgate, Harvey Nichols Magazine

To my friends: My work is done. Why wait? George Eastman’s suicide note, founder of Kodak

Part of the satisfaction which a creative person obtains from his achievement may be the feeling that, at last, some part of his inner life is being accepted which has never been accorded recognition before. D. W. Winnicott

A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort he may achieve it, or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive! Walt Disney

I am afraid that I gave you too much assurance of your inevitable safety, and you must remember that I did it through faith in your springs of effort; not in the silly conviction that you will arrive without struggle. Some nuances of character you will have to take for granted in yourself, though you must be careful in confessing them to others. You are unsentimental, almost incapable of affection, astute without being cunning and vain without being proud. F. Scott Fitzgerald

Then Amory opened his eyes, half afraid that sight would spoil the rich illusion of harmony. F. Scott Fitzgerald

Free will is a gift that you’ll never know how to use until you fight for it. The Adjustment Bureau

Nobody can be forced to give preference to what is obviously inferior. Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom