In the 'Garnethill' trilogy people always forget that Maureen O'Donnell's dad was a journalist and she did art history at uni and her brother did law but no-one ever thinks they're middle-class - they're just working class because they speak with accents.

My dad was a Marine. He was one of the Montford Point Marines. Those are the equivalent of the Tuskegee Airmen for Marines. He's a tough tough guy. When I was 15 we had a fight and I didn't speak to him for 10 years.

None speak of the bravery the might or the intellect of Jesus but the devil is always imagined as a being of acute intellect political cunning and the fiercest courage. These universal and instinctive tendencies of the human mind reveal much.

I have written a memoir here and there and that takes its own form of selfishness and courage. However generally speaking I have no interest in writing about my own life or intruding in the privacy of those around me.

Let me start with Yahoo. As we meet today a Chinese citizen who had the courage to speak his mind on the Internet is in prison because Yahoo chose to share his name and address with the Chinese Government.

When God speaks oftentimes His voice will call for an act of courage on our part.

We need men with moral courage to speak and write their real thoughts and to stand by their convictions even to the very death.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

I want to speak up and tell you that mascara and clothes don't make you cool neither do name-brand handbags but being a leader can.

It's really cool to know that you've put something together that isn't for a particular audience. It's so often that a TV show can really only speak to one sect of the population and this really is something that appeals to a worldwide fan base. People who are into the pursuit of knowledge. Their reaction has meant the world to us.

President Clinton is going to embrace President Obama as he should. They are working together. They're different kinds of people. Obama is cool Clinton is a schmoozer. Both are great speakers. It's a great merging of the party.

Honestly I'm cool with everyone and people pick up on that. I'd say 'I'm not gay but it's all good.' It's kind of like going to Paris when you don't know the language some Americans get into trouble over there but I'm just like 'Sorry I don't speak French.'

In France everyone speaks French 'cause they think it's cool. Gives 'em gives 'em an excuse to smoke.

I don't think generally speaking people become writers because they were the really good really cool attractive kid in class. I'll be honest. This is our revenge for people who were much better looking and more popular than us. I was a bit like that I suppose.

And it's here and it's ready and we can really revolutionize the way we educate our children with tablet computers and I'm committed to doing whatever I can to speaking to whomever I can to send this signal - to pound this message home. Now is the time.

But I'm so slow on it because I find it terribly hard writing blind on computers. The computer speaks to me but it's just so slow I'm so terribly slow using it.

The Internet is not just one thing it's a collection of things - of numerous communications networks that all speak the same digital language.

If your computer speaks English it was probably made in Japan.

What I was proud of was that I used very few parts to build a computer that could actually speak words on a screen and type words on a keyboard and run a programming language that could play games. And I did all this myself.

I speak onstage to try to establish some method of communication. The songs are supposed to be a way of communicating. But speech and drinks and sometimes chocolates are also a way of communicating.

It's like there are all these languages available especially in terms of image. Why confine yourself to only English? There's all these languages and possibilities and concepts to speak or communicate with.

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.

First learn the meaning of what you say and then speak.

Of all of our inventions for mass communication pictures still speak the most universally understood language.