When you're really close to someone, they can make fun of you a lot and get away with it. But they sort of poke you in all of the right places.
I wouldn't poke fun at someone if they were weak. I wouldn't bully somebody.
My message is, if someone beats you, act like you don't have hands. If someone slurs you, act like you don't have a tongue. Society is already polarized enough, don't make it worse.
I have run across characters in my political career that have that singular focus of being someone, being in a position of power.
People expect not just songwriters but all personalities to pontificate about their egos - they just wanna see someone talking about themselves constantly. I'm not interested in that.
In New Zealand, we have a thing called 'tall poppy syndrome,' which, you might not have heard of it, but it's essentially where - it happens in small populations usually, but can actually happen in the U.K. - where, if someone sticks out, they get their head cut off because they are being outside the ordinary or they are showing off.
We went from an era when rock 'n' roll meant wearing a bustier as a woman and these spandex things and guys trying to portray someone that wasn't realistic. We are trying to make it seem real... relate to our lives.
I went to play in Brazil when I had just turned 18 and was the world's top junior player. I got to the airport, and no one knew who I was. I couldn't speak any Portuguese, and no one spoke English. Then someone said something that resembled 'tennis,' and I went with that.
I'm an activist. I'm a proud activist. So I want to be someone who is pro-black and pro-Africa and still be somebody that has positive influence.
I want to be a positive influence. I want to be someone who they want to call in and want here consistently, regardless of my role.
If I have affected someone in a positive way, that means a lot to me.
Changing someone else's life positively changes yours for the better as well.
When you achieve something or someone, you don't want to lose the person. I love Malaika but I'm possessive about her.
As I was writing 'Insidious 3' I started to fall in love with the characters and the story. I became very possessive of it and I didn't want someone else to do it.
The worst possible thing in the world is to have someone who doesn't believe in you.
I remember when an editor at the National Geographic promised to run about a dozen of my landscape pictures from a story on the John Muir trail as an essay, but when the group of editors got together, someone said that my pictures looked like postcards.
I don't want to preach to anyone, because if someone preaches to me, I just turn off - I've been preached to my whole life.
As someone who is a dedicated fan of the NHS, I'm extremely worried, I think its a very precious thing that needs to be nurtured, looked after.
For somebody famous, it's weird anyway to meet someone, because they have a preconceived notion of who you are.
Giving someone a one-time stimulus check, or a one-time tax cut that expires doesn't allow the predictability that business needs.
