I was writing 'Outlander' for practise and didn't want anyone to know I was doing it. So I couldn't very well announce to my husband that I was quitting my job and abandoning him with three small children to visit Scotland to do research for a novel that I hadn't told him I was writing.

Diana Gabaldon

That's what I love about Australia: we can do things the way we want to do them, because that's the way our country is - no matter what culture you come from, you can come to Australia and practise your religion, you can practise your beliefs, and you shouldn't be judged for it.

Adam Goodes

Chinese citizens have never had the right to really express their opinions; in the constitution it says you can, but in the real world it is more dangerous. In the west people think it's a right they're born with. Here it's a right given by the government, and one that's not really practised.

Ai Weiwei

In life, there are always intense battles, and yet we must practise the lessons from the Gita.

Ajay Piramal

In 2008, Pistorius was the only guy who could run under 22 seconds at 200 m. So I said I would run as fast as that in London. I practised; I trained.

Alan Oliveira

I always practise penalties, but what people don't understand is that you can never recreate that pressure situation that you're under.

Alan Shearer

My success has a lot to do with Mischa. He was the one who always used to practise with me when I was little, when I was a junior.

Alexander Zverev

When I was a kid, I'd practise Chopin on piano - and I love Chopin! He's my dawg! Then I'd go out on the stoop and blast the radio. I'm from New York, the concrete jungle. Hip-hop influenced me from day one.

Alicia Keys

When I practise scales I will play four notes on one string. If I'm playing a C major scale, starting on F, I'll play the F, G, A, and B on one string and the C will be on the A string, etc, etc. Because I found not only was it good for my hands but it was really good for interconnecting things.

Allan Holdsworth

The major poets of New Jersey have all suffered, whether it's Whitman, who lost his job for 'Leaves of Grass,' or William Carlos Williams, who was called a communist, or Ginsberg, whose 'Howl' was prosecuted, or myself. If you practise poetry the way I think it needs to be done, you're going to put yourself in jeopardy.

Amiri Baraka

To my mind, a journalist needs to espouse objectivity and distance, while a writer practises an art that is more free.

Amitava Kumar

When I first began learning yoga, I found it really hard because I couldn't clear my mind for the meditative part of it, but then after a few weeks it became easier and I could see how it began to change my body. I became more flexible and more relaxed and at peace with my environment. I love yoga and I encourage all my friends to practise it.

Amyra Dastur

People are often quite surprised by the sport and leisure activities practised by the blind. For example, tandem cycling is very popular.

Andrea Bocelli

I remember, when Paul Collingwood first came into the dressing room, we did everything together. We practised together, trained together, had dinner together; we batted together and did well in games together - we were thick as thieves. When he got established, he just binned me.

Andrew Flintoff

Some players like to practise right up to the start of play. But for me, whatever warming up I did was only going to be followed by cooling down again.

Andrew Flintoff

Prayer is a method practised from ancient days, so it's very important for us to maintain a spiritual connection, something that people, gladiators would do years ago, so we're just maintaining that routine.

Anthony Joshua

Practice makes an actor excel. It is like cycling and motor driving. It is an art, which can be learnt and practised.

Anupam Kher

You want to ensure people can do it right 99 percent of time. When we have to fire one of our surgical trainees, it is never because they don't have the physical skills but because they don't have the moral skills - to practise and admit failure.

Atul Gawande

I believe that the dysfunctional Muslim family constitutes a real threat to the very fabric of western life. It is in the family that children are groomed to practise, promote and pass on the norms of their parents' culture.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The party is a true art form in Sydney and people practise it a great deal. You can really get quite lost in it.

Baz Luhrmann

Sometimes women get devastated by failing. Athletes don't; they just know that means they've got to practise harder, and they've got to do something else differently.

Beth Brooke