The great esteem in which the Nobel prizes are universally held is due to the fact that for several generations they have been given purely on scientific merit and not through lobbying and politicking. I do hope that it will stay this way, and the prizes will never be given according to the number of votes in live TV contests!
I worked on 'Happy-Go-Lucky' for seven-and-a-half months, and I'm in it for two minutes - largely because Sally Hawkins turned left instead of right.
The best songs/films/collections expose truths about life and make them universally accessible; they progress humanity.
It's easy to see how non-profits become engrossed in catering to donors, which may or may not be the best thing at all times, while if a company is ultra-engaged with its customers, it's universally positive and helpful.
The American lionization of the entrepreneur is to ignore its foibles - the narcissism, the workaholism, the neglect of family, the imbalance, the obsession. These are not universally good things, though they are frequently universal to building great companies.
In the past I've made movies that were pretty universally liked. You can't really hate them. You can discard them, but you can't really hate them.
It is a truth universally unacknowledged at Westminster that there is life after politics.
There's a difference between being an actress who can sing and being a Sally Song-and-Dance.
It's hard to think of another body of work that is more universally beloved - I don't think I've ever met someone who has encountered 'Calvin and Hobbes' without falling for them.
I don't think people will ever forget I was an 'Angel', anymore than they'll forget Sally Field was 'The Flying Nun.'
