I remember, in my first show in New York, they asked, 'Where is the Indian-ness in your work?'... Now, the same people, after having watched the body of my work, say, 'There is too much Indian philosophy in your work.' They're looking for a superficial skin-level Indian-ness, which I'm not about.
A. Balasubramaniam
It seems astonishing to be paid for indulging in pure pleasure. For me to go to Coburg is rather as if a trainspotter was sent for a few weeks to Swindon or a chocoholic asked on holiday by Green and Black.
A. N. Wilson
I joined the Madras Christian College but dropped out after three months. Telugu music director Ramesh Naidu asked me to assist him, and I did so for over a year. I did think of rejoining college, but by then, I was discovering the musician in me. I worked with Illaya Raja and Raj Koti and soon shifted to commercials. This led to movie offers.
A. R. Rahman
After 'Lindbergh,' my publisher asked whom I wanted to write about next. I said, 'There's one idea I've been carrying in my hip pocket for 35 years. It's Woodrow Wilson.'
A. Scott Berg
Being an actor really, really strengthens me as a director. There's just a certain type of understanding that comes from having been there and knowing how much is really being asked of actors that helps me.
Aaron Ruell
Our responsibility is to captivate you for however long we've asked for your attention. That said, there is tremendous drama to be gotten from the great, what you would say, heavy issues.
Aaron Sorkin
If you lined up 10 writers and asked them to write a movie about Steve Jobs, you'd get 10 very different movies.
The question I asked Georges has now become a general one - You, who thought you were superfluous, who thought there was no place for you in society, not only are you not superfluous, you are needed and so those who were beggars become givers.
Abbe Pierre
I had developed a relationship with one of the anti-abortion sidewalk counselors who stood in front of my facility. We talked regularly through the fence and she had asked me to go have coffee with her one day. I was impressed with her persistence and, honestly, I thought I would really like her if I got to know her.
Abby Johnson
I get asked this question a lot. Am I really pro-life? Am I against abortion in all circumstances? Yes. Do I believe there are any exceptions for abortion? No. Do you want to make abortion illegal? Yes.
I make decisions all day, so it's nice for a woman like me to go to dinner and have the man take the menu and say, 'Let me order.' Other women would be offended by that, but I'm like, 'Good. Because I can't make one more decision today.' I want someone to rub my feet without being asked.
Abby Lee Miller
We have been given a role to play. We have been asked to provide, to give lectures on the role of Islamic development and the way we do it here, so the people who are Muslims there would understand what the role of Islam is.
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Even as a kid, classmates asked pointed personal questions about my family. I have conditioned myself to handle it with maturity.
Abhay Deol
Tamil for me is my cousin Esha. I even told her that I was preparing to play a Tamilian and asked her if she could teach me the language.
If the BJP government, like the Congress party, had asked what were the numbers on the fraction of people under a particular income, would I have not told them the truth? I would have told them exactly. I would have been as willing.
Abhijit Banerjee
My mother came to see me in a play when I was a student, and afterwards, I asked her what she thought. She said, 'Honest opinion? No.'
Abi Morgan
'Halo' I wrote with my grandpa in his nursing home. When I went to visit him, he'd often comment on my halo. But of course, I couldn't see. And he always - he had pictures of Jesus with these beautiful halos. And so I asked him if he'd write a song with me about Jesus' halo.
Abigail Washburn
I have the Pleasure to assure you Congress pay particular Attention to the Defence of New Jersey, and hitherto have denied us nothing which we have Asked for that Purpose.
Abraham Clark
I asked my daughter when she was 16, What's the buzz on the street with the kids? She's going, to be honest, Dad, most of my friends aren't into Kiss. But they've all been told that it's the greatest show on Earth.
Ace Frehley
I know Noah Baumbach from a long time ago. We were hanging out one night, and he asked if I wanted to be in his movie. If somebody whose stuff you really like says, 'Hey, you want to do it with me?,' you got to do it. I would like to say that I get these offers all the time, but I don't.
Ad-Rock
I always used to play with the boys and loved it. You never asked yourself the question if there should be a difference between a boy or a girl.
I just consider myself a piece of the puzzle and I'm lucky enough to be asked or invited to the party, if you will. I hope I can bring some laughs and grimaces to the fans.
My journey began with a single pencil. While traveling through India in 2006, I asked a boy begging on the streets, 'If you could have anything in the world, what would you want?' and he answered me with two words: 'A pencil.' Luckily, I had one in my pocket, and in the second it took me to give it to him, a defining dream was born.
Comics are regularly asked to perform for impossible rooms. They're called 'hell gigs.'
By virtue of our private property society, we have disconnected individuals from the land. We have put them in high rises and asked them to live their lives in urban settings, disconnected from the land.
Practice does make perfect and when you know what's asked of you by your manager and when he demands it you do it.
I've probably done more than a thousand interviews, and I can't remember what people asked me two months ago or two days ago.
When I'm directing, I'm pretty much not writing, but when I'm not directing I am writing a lot. It's strange: people have asked me what my schedule is and what is my process like, and I can't even answer it. I don't keep regular hours.
David Wain just texted me and asked me if I wanted to do 'Wet Hot.' And I just said, 'Yeah, sure.' And he said, 'You want me to call you and tell you about the character?' And I was like, 'Not really. Just tell me when, and I'll do it.'
I had no idea the Vikings were interested. I was actually expecting other teams because the Green Bay Packers and three or four other teams asked for film after the combine in Dallas, and the Vikings weren't one of them.
There was a time when 'Batman' really kept me from getting some pretty good roles, and I was asked to do what I figured were important features. However, Batman was there, and very few people would take a chance on me walking onto the screen. And they'd be taking people away from the story.
I get asked a lot about players like Lionel Messi and Neymar and people seem to have the idea that they don't do any work because they have a God-given talent. That is just not true, they work all the time, they are totally dedicated and that's why they are where they are.
I was asked to go in a banana suit once or eat as many doughnuts as possible. I would not do those things. I don't eat doughnuts so why would I eat 20.
Mum snuck me into speech and drama classes and into the National Youth Theatre and said I was going on a summer camp if Dad asked.
I'll tell you who I really like - the lawyer Imran Khan. I did my dissertation on stop-and-search powers, and I put in loads of quotes from him. Years later, when I was selling insurance over in Harley Street, he rang up and asked for insurance. He told me his name, and I asked him if he was the lawyer, and he said yes.
I remember in a film of mine, though both my co-star and I were newcomers, he got far better paid than me. I was shocked and appalled. I actually asked him what different are you doing that you are getting better paid!
Whenever I have asked something from God and worked hard for it, I have always got it, be it my Indian citizenship or my weight loss.
Young people are often asked, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' and given advice about how to lead meaningful adult lives, but where's the encouragement to lead meaningful lives right now?
We were living in Denver, Colorado, and I was teaching high school. I asked the kids to write a short story, so I thought I should write some myself.
Being asked to carry a major show with the restrictions that are thrown on you is very limiting. I'd rather hit it hard, do it right, and walk away.
Historical records show that Abenakis and other Natives encountered European explorers and traders in Canada looking for sources of ivory to compete with the Russian trade in Siberian fossil mammoth ivory - these traders routinely asked about ivory 'horns' and teeth.
When I first came to the House of Commons and walked out into the lobby, men sprang to their feet. I asked them to sit down since I'd come to walk around. I didn't want them doing me favours.
I may have aimed too high sometimes, asked too much of myself and demanded too little from those around me.
I came close to signing Elvis Presley. I offered $25,000 for his contract and they asked for $45,000 and I just didn't have the other $20,000.
I do what I can, but I'll always give it a shot. You're not going to see me playing a Welsh character any time soon, not because I wouldn't love to. I went up to Wales once and read for a film with Rhys Ifans, and haven't been asked back since. We did have a nice time on the train on the way back.
It was cinematographer George C. Williams who first told me about 'Sakhavu.' He said that the script was good and asked me to listen to it. Later, Sidhartha Siva called me and narrated the script over the phone.
When Raghavendra Rao garu approached me to do a film on Lord Venkateswara, my initial response was 'What more can we do than Annamayya?' But he asked me to go through the script, and I really liked it.
I once asked the most fabulous couple I know, Madonna and Guy Ritchie, how they kept things fresh despite having been married for almost seven months. 'It's a job, Al,' Guy told me. 'We work at it every day.'
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government asked me to serve as a fellow at its Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy. After my varied and celebrated career in television, movies, publishing, and the lucrative world of corporate speaking, being a fellow at Harvard seemed, frankly, like a step down.
My weaknesses... I wish I could come up with something. I'd probably have the same pause if you asked me what my strengths are. Maybe they're the same thing.
