Important Quotes

"Nonetheless, the research budgets of the Department of Defense are under enormous stress-and they are extremely important because they support more than 40 percent of all federal funding for engineering schools across the country. So the threat was and is real"

Charles Vest, Educator

"And it seems to me important for a country, for a nation to certainly know about its glorious achievements but also to know where its ideals failed, in order to keep that from happening again"

George Takei, Actor

"For me, what's a more important question is how we get at least the option of more diverse experiences in this media"

Will Wright, Scientist

"I very much want to be in the business of creating content, of doing stories all over the world rather than figuring out what the business model is for 'Newsweek' on the iPad, although that's very important work as well"

Fareed Zakaria, Journalist

"It doesn't matter that Bush scares the hell out of me. What matters is that he scares the hell out of a lot of very important people in Washington who can't speak out, in the military, in the intelligence community"

Seymour Hersh, Journalist

"The night before I compete, I like to have steak. Meat is especially important for female athletes because it provides them with the nutrients they need to perform at their best"

Sasha Cohen, Athlete

"There's a lot of exaggerated talk about CAFTA, but it's actually a fairly routine trade agreement. Although it involves fairly small nations, they're still more important trade partners than places like Australia or many other larger nations"

Ernest Istook, Politician

"We're competing against other great cities: Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo. That's why it's important that we all join together on the final path to Copenhagen. Having the support of President Obama is key"

Richard M. Daley, Politician

"You have the biggest impact on controlling, on affecting local lives as mayor. It's so much more important than being a state legislator"

Dick Murphy, Politician

"It's always been really important for me to try to maintain a balanced life, professional and personal, and this was absolutely something that my husband and I had hoped for"

Debra Messing, Actress

"I think fitness is important. I think a healthy lifestyle is important. I think putting positive energy out there is important and just staying connected with the people"

LL Cool J, Musician

"I had been coming to America very frequently for many, many years, so I had plenty of exposure - and maybe the best kind of exposure, because I think first impressions are very important. Maybe I notice stuff that is just subliminal to people who live here all the time"

Lee Child, Writer

"I took group lessons at a rink near my home. We first had to learn how to stand up on the ice wearing skates. Eventually we learned to move forward, but soon found out that it was not that easy to stop! So that was our next important lesson"

Nancy Kerrigan, Athlete

"Perhaps at a later point important developments will be traced back to September 11. But for now we do not know which of the many scenarios will actually hold in the future"

Jurgen Habermas, Philosopher

"In my eighties, my best friends are in their fifties, and I have many friends at university. It keeps one young, and up with the vocabulary. That's terribly important, especially for a writer"

Mary Wesley, Novelist

"Sometimes movies gloss over things, and it was important to me that this was realistic"

Jami Gertz, Actress

"I'm really fed up with all the credibility talk. A lot of times it seems to be more important than the music. Well, I guess for a lot of people it actually is. We don't care for credibility"

Mark McGrath, Musician

"I believe we all agree that, for the health of Kansas, nothing is more important than education"

Kathleen Sebelius, Politician

"I'd like to find great roles close to home and work on great projects while staying near my family. My family's the most important thing to me right now"

Harry Hamlin, Actor

"When you really think about it, I'm not delusional enough to think that what I do is important to life as we know it on this planet. No. But neither is what you do"

Gene Simmons, Musician

"In a post-9/11 world, diversity has become even more important"

Jane Harman, Politician

"Experience has taught me how important it is to just keep going, focusing on running fast and relaxed. Eventually it passes and the flow returns. It's part of racing"

Frank Shorter, Athlete

"The State Department desperately needs to be vigorously harnessed. It has too big a role to play in the formulation of foreign policy, and foreign policy is too important to be left up to foreign service officers"

Evan G. Galbraith, Diplomat

"Our Hispanic community needs to understand how important the Social Security system is for not only its retired citizens, but also its disabled workers"

Grace Napolitano, Politician

"The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer"

Gordon Parks, Photographer

"Passion has always been important to me. That won't change. What changes in a woman's perspective. I mean, I have two kids now. I'm a single parent balancing motherhood and my career. That changes the equation"

Jody Watley, Musician

"Well, you know, I think in conversations with members of the Senate and others, they all recognize that the issue of immigration is important. It's important to our nation, it's important to our public safety, it's important to our security, it's important to our economic well-being moving forward. And it's not something that's going to go away"

Janet Napolitano, Politician

"I think there is a difference between Slate and Salon. I think we both serve important functions on the Internet. As more and more Websites disappear, I'm thankful Slate is still around because it makes things less lonely"

David Talbot, Journalist

"I know that doesn't sound very radical and webby of me to say that but I think the New York Times is important. I also think there's an occasional piece that will pop out"

David Talbot, Journalist

"Even more important maybe, or equally more important at least, is they don't have to scrap for a living"

David Talbot, Journalist

"Photography is a very important part of my life"

Conrad Hall, Artist

"Storytelling is the important thing"

Vincent Kartheiser, Actor

"One thing is having skated five of the best races I've probably could have skated. It was nice to peak at the right time and to do it in an important time in somebody's career"

Eric Heiden, Athlete

"The other writer who had a very important early influence on me when I was about 17 was C.S. Lewis"

Tanith Lee, Writer

"We never really felt a real level of respect. The fame was fantastic, but that wasn't that important to me, because for every million people that loved me I focused on the one that hated me"

Donnie Wahlberg, Actor

"I believe it is important for comedians to know who came before them"

Shelley Berman, Comedian

"The most important thing is to remain active and to love what you are doing"

Leslie Caron, Actress

"Well, there's a question as to what sort of information is important in the world, what sort of information can achieve reform. And there's a lot of information. So information that organizations are spending economic effort into concealing, that's a really good signal that when the information gets out, there's a hope of it doing some good"

Julian Assange, Activist

"These megaleaks... They're an important phenomenon, and they're only going to increase"

Julian Assange, Activist

"I have just enough attention to feel glamorous and important"

Diane Lane, Actress

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