Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.

I think Islam has been hijacked by the idea that all Muslims are terrorists that Islam is about hate about war about jihad - I think that hijacks the spirituality and beauty that exists within Islam. I believe in allowing Islam to be seen in context and in its entirety and being judged on what it really is not what you think it is.

Knowing who the actors were as you were designing them helped with Catherine's beauty and Renee's frailty they directed me visually just by who they were.

It used to happen in villages and towns in China that they would have - I guess you'd call them beauty contests - where all of the women of a particular village or town would be seated behind these screens or curtains with only their feet showing.

Beauty is the result of having been through an experience all the way through to the end - therefore it has a poignancy. Beauty that is singular always comes from following an experience to the point where you can go no further.

These women whose antics we smirk at good-naturedly in the pap-traps put themselves out there at least partly on their beauty they are in showbiz and showing what they've got is part of their business as much as it is for male show-ponies from the Chippendales to George Clooney.

Beauty is about perception not about make-up. I think the beginning of all beauty is knowing and liking oneself. You can't put on make-up or dress yourself or do you hair with any sort of fun or joy if you're doing it from a position of correction.

Football is my profession now. I'm getting married in August... It's a new experience for me as someone just getting out of college. I still have the same attitude about football I always had. I play hard. I enjoy practice. I'd rather be throwing in passing drills than sitting around and watching TV.

As I wrote I found that Aibileen had some things to say that really weren't in her character. She was older soft-spoken and she started showing some attitude.

The phenomenon of home schooling is a wonderful example of the American can-do attitude. Growing numbers of parents have become disenchanted with government-run public schools. Many parents have simply taken matters into their own hands literally.