I happen to have the benefit of having a son-in-law who was the former Mr. France and a trainer. I like being his benefactor and I like the way he works.
Like many in academia and in the development industry, I am among globalization's greatest beneficiaries - those who are able to sell our services in markets that are larger and richer than our parents could have dreamed of.
The biggest and most deadly 'tax' rate on the poor comes from a loss of various welfare state benefits - food stamps, housing subsidies and the like - if their income goes up.
When I have time, I would like to do films in my language but I would also like to star in Bengali and Marathi films too.
I like to read Bengali novels and short stories. I am not that fond of reading English books, as I don't have a connect with it.
What I like about Calcutta is the food. I like simple Bengali food like dal, shukto, fish, and mutton.
Science would like to tell us that people laugh because of the benign violation theory, but comedy doesn't have hard rules.
Benjamin Franklin said there were only two things certain in life: death and taxes. But I'd like to add a third certainty: trash. And while some in this room might want to discuss reducing taxes, I want to talk about reducing trash.
Historically, when Americans don't know what to do next, they go to Paris. Benjamin Franklin is like: 'What am I going to do now? I'll go to Paris!'
Benjamin Franklin maintained that every star is a sun, and every sun nourishes a 'chorus of worlds' just like ours.
I was trying to find an original style that didn't sound like Tony Bennett or anyone else. So I prayed about it, woke up with this high voice, and by 1954, I was going to amateur nights and winning.
People love Jane Austen, even though those books are absurd to us, because we like the clarity of it: we can see very clearly what Elizabeth Bennett has to overcome, what she has to deal with.
I consider you as old as you look and feel. And in that case I feel - I feel I'm about 39, like Jack Benny.
I'd make Jack Benny look like a philanthropist.
Maybe we like our politicians to appear like bumbling oafs. It certainly never did Ronald Reagan or George Bush any harm. The Italians still seem enamoured of Silvio Berlusconi - a man whose entry into a room is less likely to be greeted with the Italian national anthem than by the Benny Hill theme tune.
I just want to sound different than everyone else. I don't care if it sounds bad. I just want people to be like, 'Yo, that dude Benny was different.' Even if it sounds awful, at least they can't say, 'Oh well, I've heard that before.'
We're all, whether we like it or not, gonna have to deal with bereavement at some point in our lives, and it's something I think, as a society, maybe we shy away from.
I went through a period of watching probably too many Bergman films in a row. I felt like I'd discovered the answer to what cinema should be.
I'm from Berkeley, so I don't really aspire to a lot of glitzy stuff. But things like having a home that I'm comfortable in or leasing a car that I'm comfortable in, basic everyday kind of stuff, I will splurge for that.
I like living in Berkeley, but I know Berkeley's not the world.
