Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.

The writer when he is also an artist is someone who admits what others don't dare reveal.

The London games mark the 24th anniversary of my winning two golds and setting the world record in the heptathlon. Someone is going to want it records are made to be broken - it's only a matter of time. I hope mine will outlive me.

But to sustain a marriage for 50 years you have to get real a little bit and find someone who is understanding and who you can grow with. My mom always says 'Marry the man who loves you a millimeter more.'

The reason why I love people and writing about them is because they don't always respond with hate and anger. If they did I wouldn't have a story to tell. Who wants to know about someone who was brutalised and became brutal? I'm interested in the exceptions.

I'm not someone who feels anger on particular issues.

In general I was a good kid. It usually took a lot to make me mad. But once I reached the boiling point I lost all rational control. Totally without thinking when my anger was aroused I grabbed the nearest brick rock or stick to bash someone. It was as if I had no conscious will in the matter.

When someone says that I'm angry it's actually a compliment. I have not always been direct with my anger in my relationships which is part of why I'd write about it in my songs because I had such fear around expressing anger as a woman.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else you are the one who gets burned.

It's amazing the relationships you forge in a kitchen. When you cooperate in an environment that's hot. Where there's a lot of knives. You're trusting your well-being with someone you've never before met or known.

It was really cool to work with Dakota Fanning. I've watched her grow up and I've always loved her films loved her. It was amazing working with someone who was American as well because obviously it's going to be a different energy straightaway. We got on really well she's so professional and hardworking.

Innovation is this amazing intersection between someone's imagination and the reality in which they live. The problem is many companies don't have great imagination but their view of reality tells them that it's impossible to do what they imagine.

The thing that's tricky is sometimes the best voices - just because someone hits the big notes and sounds amazing - it doesn't necessarily mean they make the greatest artists.

I've had four amazing men in my life very strong powerful wonderful men. I certainly will have a relationship with someone but I don't think I will get married again.

My method of helping someone is saying 'Wow you look amazing. Let me help you look even better.' I think tearing someone down is an awful thing to do. It has a lasting impression on people.

I remember the first time I felt that I was sharing the stage with someone spectacular was dancing with Beyonce. It was the dancers the band Beyonce and me in front of thousands of people. That was sick. It was pretty amazing that I got to travel the world with someone like her.

I think that marriage is an amazing institution and should be preserved and you can have great marriages and you must because sharing your life with someone is like the greatest thing. And I loved being able to set a good example for that on television.

There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does it's just one of those polite things where you don't question their belief in ghosts. You just go 'Oh yeah okay.' It's amazing to be able to have conversations like that.

Adele's amazing I think the world of her and her music and I think Tinie Tempah is cool. To work with someone like Kanye West would be awesome.

I'm from Naples. I was born in a poor neighborhood and I always in my heart felt like it would be amazing to be able to adopt a child from Naples. I could give someone the opportunity I had. I would love to give back in that way and pay it forward.

Every now and then I have blissful moments of thanking God for all the amazing things that are happening. When I leave the White House after just meeting Obama or when I see my face on the cover of 'Rolling Stone' or when I meet someone who tells me that their daughter is inspired by me those are moments that are incredibly joyful.

I really would love to do a piece like Julia Roberts or Charlize Theron in 'Erin Brockovich' or 'North Country.' They were both so amazing and so inspiring. I would love to touch someone in the way their performances touched me.

My daughter is in love with Adele. She listens to her every day. To see someone with that much passion and soul move a 9-year-old is amazing and it's magical.