“Any move away from fluff is one that I encourage. . . . How something will be received is not something I even think about. But I do worry that no one can be really serious about anything too long in this country. People don’t even care about politics–look who the president is.”
–former Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa auf der Maur, on the New Seriousness that has taken hold in the country since Sept. 11, in Paper magazine
“The strangest question was, Am I worried about affecting my credibility? The doctor didn’t remove my education and experience.”
–Fox TV personality Greta Van Susteren, on her recent cosmetic surgery
“Rosa Parks’ leadership proves you don’t need an army or a corporation to change the world. Spirit and courage that can alter the course of history can look like a young woman sitting down in a bus and saying no to injustice.”
–author Naomi Wolf, in O, The Oprah Magazine
“People often say that there is a glass ceiling. And my reflection on that is, it’s just a thick layer of men.”
–Laura Liswood, secretary-general of the Council of Women World Leaders, on why more women weren’t invited to the recent World Economic Forum
“At one time, I thought I would be a very successful real estate broker and I would have a briefcase and that I would wear matching shoes and purse . . . and always with gloves and maybe a little pillbox hat.”
–Maya Angelou (right), on what she would have done if she had not become a writer, on “Pure Oxygen”
“Guess why a guy wants to see `Monster’s Ball’? I could have spent an hour telling him about the great performances. But he wants to see Halle Berry naked.”
–Terry Press, DreamWorks’ marketing chief, in USA Today
