All Quotes

Before I was ever a baker, I was a teacher. Or, at least, that is what I thought I was going to be. After O-levels, I went to art school in Wallasey on the Wirral, and my mate Cavan and I did a teacher training course.
‐‐ Paul Hollywood

Before I was ever a poet, my father was writing poems about me, so it was a turning of the tables when I became a poet and started answering, speaking back to his poems in ways that I had not before.
‐‐ Natasha Trethewey

Before I was ever in high school, I had dark circles under my eyes.
‐‐ Benicio Del Toro

Before I was famous, when I was just working in Gilbert's Lodge, everything was moving in slow motion.
‐‐ Eminem

Before I was going to be an actress, I was going to be a veterinarian! I thought I was one as a child. I was the kid who was like, 'Daddy! I want a kitty! It needs a mommy!' And my dad was such a sucker. Every time I would beg, with tears flying down my face, about how this animal needs love, needs a home. He would cave.
‐‐ AnnaLynne McCord

Before I was governor, tuition was skyrocketing, and we stopped that. We capped and then we froze college tuition.
‐‐ George Allen

Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall.
‐‐ Saint Patrick

Before I was known, I would go on stage and pretend I was other people. Once I pretended I was mentally handicapped. It was really wrong. One time I was a bad magician. And one time I pretended I was a Christian comic.
‐‐ Andy Dick

Before, I was like 'Oh my God, I have to do this media, this media and this media,' but now I've learned these are stages you need to go through. If you play really good golf, you're going to get more media attention and more interest in you, and you'll get more confident handling it.
‐‐ Lydia Ko

Before I was married, I didn't consider my failure to manage even basic hand tools a feminist inadequacy. I thought it had more to do with being Jewish. The Jews I knew growing up didn't do 'do-it-yourself.' When my father needed to hammer something he generally used his shoe, and the only real tool he owned was a pair of needle-nose pliers.
‐‐ Ayelet Waldman

Before, I was more concerned with getting on the radio, like many young artists.
‐‐ Kenny Chesney

Before I was on 'Idol,' I just sat at home and played video games all day long. Now I get to travel and work towards my dream. It's the best feeling ever.
‐‐ Jessica Sanchez

Before I was published, I thought men read car manuals or books about football. But once I started having really serious conversations with male lovers of literature, I let go of that prejudice.
‐‐ Michel Faber

Before I was reading science fiction, I read Hemingway. Farewell to Arms was my first adult novel that said not everything ends well. It was one of those times where reading has meant a great deal to me, in terms of my development - an insight came from that book.
‐‐ Robert Reed

Before, I was really passive, all I cared about was being in love with my boyfriend. I didn't have any creative power, nothing. I don't know that person any more.
‐‐ Gwen Stefani

Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there - I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television.
‐‐ Andy Warhol

Before, I was so stupid. But, you know, when you have friends who died on the street, you say, okay, let's calm down. It's not the kind of energy I want to have in life. I want to go slower, and longer.
‐‐ Olivier Martinez

Before I was State Treasurer, my Rhode Island business helped create over 1,000 jobs, including here at Nabsys, a biomedical company. As governor, I'll use this as a model for how we create manufacturing jobs.
‐‐ Gina Raimondo

Before, I was terrified on stage. I only play guitar during the acoustic songs. After a while, you can elicit certain responses from the crowd, like Elvis.
‐‐ Andy Gibb

Before I was through my teens, I had been introduced and exposed to artists who would, in later years, become legendary.
‐‐ Jacques d'Amboise

Before I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, but now, I have had so many different experiences that they have given me what I want to get across in my music.
‐‐ Hilary Duff

Before I went off to Rutgers, I worked in a comic book shop in my hometown. At night, I would work on some comic stories, and after a while, I developed an idea for a weird little superhero spoof comic called 'Cement Shooz.'
‐‐ Christopher McCulloch

Before I went to a meeting at the 'Harvard Lampoon,' I had no idea that there was even a comedy magazine at Harvard, let alone that you could write comedy potentially for a living.
‐‐ Colin Jost

Before I went to jail, I was active in politics as a member of South Africa's leading organization - and I was generally busy from 7 A.M. until midnight. I never had time to sit and think.
‐‐ Nelson Mandela

Before I went to New Orleans, I was a little scared of New Orleans. I don't know why. I had only been there a few times. Something about it made me feel nervous, knowing a bit about the history.
‐‐ Harold Perrineau

Before I won 'American Idol,' I'd never been in a professional studio at all. I'm getting more used to it. I'm really weird, though: I sing way better in a crowd of 3,000. It's easier than singing in front of 2.
‐‐ Candice Glover

Before I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists.
‐‐ Michael Jackson

Before, I would play a little hoops, a little tennis. Now it's more yoga, Pilates, stretching, some light weight work, push-ups, sit-ups, resistance things. When I used to live on the eleventh floor, I would take the steps. I don't do that so much now. I'm taking the elevator a bit more these days.
‐‐ Robin Roberts

Before I write a novel, images float around in my head that work like icons - they are meaningless in themselves, but serve as reminders.
‐‐ Jane Smiley

Before I write the first page of a novel, I spend a long time creating detailed backgrounds for my characters. I imagine the experiences that have formed them, what makes them happy, angry, fearful, and what they yearn for.
‐‐ Lisa Kleypas

Before 'Idol,' I was lost... Now, I've actually followed through with something. I am a better man for it!
‐‐ Elliott Yamin

Before, if I wasn't in baseball, I wanted to become a doctor.
‐‐ Pedro Martinez

Before impugning an opponent's motives, even when they legitimately may be impugned, answer his arguments.
‐‐ Sidney Hook

Before, Indian people had been so defeated, they were always looking for outsiders, for the government, to somehow come in and fix things. But now, they seem to realize that they're the only ones who can save themselves.
‐‐ James Welch

Before it became a ubiquitous part of urban life, Starbucks was, in most American cities, a radically new idea.
‐‐ Virginia Postrel

Before, it was always, 'Oh, no, here comes Clancy, that insurance agent.' Now it's, 'Oh, here comes Tom Clancy, bestselling author.' But I'm still the same basic middle-class slob.
‐‐ Tom Clancy

Before it was decided that I was going to be adopted, my mother was going to abort me. I was born with tangled legs; they never thought I'd be able to dance... without knowing it, as a child I overcame a lot thanks to really doting, loving parents and a great family and a hard work ethic on my part.
‐‐ Lindsay Pearce

Before, it was just about making the films - and now it's releasing them. Which is a steep learning curve.
‐‐ Jessica Chastain

Before it was revealed that my character on 'Lost' had a troubled history, a fan came up to me and said, 'Wow, you're a really nice guy.' To me, that was a compliment, having played a very villainous guy.
‐‐ Nestor Carbonell

Before Jason Bourne, before Jack Ryan, there was Bond, James Bond, the original two-dimensional, world-saving secret agent.
‐‐ Alex Berenson

Before 'Jersey Shore,' I was a DJ struggling to promote, deejaying six nights a week and hustling to pack clubs.
‐‐ Pauly D

Before journalism, I had worked doing medical aid work in conflict zones. Then, as a journalist, I had written about hospitals in war zones.
‐‐ Sheri Fink

Before Katrina, it was a longstanding tradition in our country for political officials to wait until the last minute to warn, to take action, to evacuate. No more. With Irene, you had mass evacuations - mandatory ones - issued days ahead of time. That was the right thing to do.
‐‐ Russel Honore

Before Katrina, you didn't see criticism of the Bush administration in the media. Here they are, stealing elections, enacting illegal wars, huge crimes against humanity and democracy, and you didn't even see criticism. It wasn't until Katrina that people started to come down on them.
‐‐ Ani DiFranco

Before 'Last Man Standing,' I did a lot of indies, which were raw and controversial and much darker. That is where I feel most secure as a storyteller. That is what I am drawn to the most.
‐‐ Amanda Fuller

Before 'Life of Pi,' I wanted to do economics. And now, I realize how bad a mistake that would have been. I just can't see it as my cup of tea anymore.
‐‐ Suraj Sharma

Before Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull had dream of soldiers falling from the sky.
‐‐ John Trudell

Before 'Local Hero,' I'd been knocking about Glasgow in rock bands, drinking too much and generally being 21. My opinion of actors was that they were straight and boring, so you see, I was completely unprepared for being one.
‐‐ Peter Capaldi

Before long, I'll have my own channel - I'll be like Barney.
‐‐ David Hasselhoff

Before 'Lord of the Rings,' some people would have just classed Peter Jackson as a horror director. But there is a mind there.
‐‐ Christopher Lee