Sweeney Quotes

In airy breaths I fly anew
Uncontained by earth or mortal coil
I remain free, as if in distant land
Circling on and on without false step
Breathless, I glide, a maiden swept
In the wonder of ice-capsuled chandeliers
Laughing without reserve or fear
Touched by the vibrant glow
Of a treasure chest
Sought and found. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

TODD:
The history of the world, my love
LOVETT:
Save a lot of graves,
Do a lot of relatives favors!
TODD:
Is those below serving those up above!
LOVETT:
Ev'rybody shaves,
So there should be plenty of flavors!
TODD:
How gratifying for once to know
BOTH:
That those above will serve those down below! ~ Stephen Sondheim

Thank God my life is normal. I work hard to make it normal. My husband and I don't want Hollywood drama. I go to the market and do the dishes. I'm not treated differently because I work on TV. ~ Alison Sweeney

Can a rose survive in winter? ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

Well, HALLELUJAH! FOUR letters - ranging from April 28th to May 27th - came home today and the world looks much different. One was sealed with a kiss, one was sealed with a Big kiss, one was sealed with a peck (?), and one was just sealed, which means I got spit on. ~ Emma Sweeney

When you get down to it, what matters is practice, will and a certain amount of skill. Capacity is a small matter, but if everything else is equal, capacity will win out. That's why we want magazines with lots of bullets in them. ~ Patrick Sweeney

Let Pirelli's / Miracle Elixir / Activate your roots, sir ...
Keep it off your boots, sir- / Eats right through.
Yes, get Pirelli's! / Use a bottle of it! / Ladies seem to love it ...
Flies do, too! ~ Stephen Sondheim

Being somebody's looking glass is not your job. ~ Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

I see water and buildings ... Oh my God! Oh my God. ~ Madeline Amy Sweeney

His stomach lurches. He has a sense, for the first time in his soldiering career, of what a war crime might look like from the inside. And it's not him who's the criminal, or even Caldwell. It's Justineau. And Mailer. And that drunken bastard Whitaker, and all the rest of them. Caldwell, she's just a butcher. She's Sweeney Todd, with a barber's chair and a straight razor. She didn't spend years twisting kids' brains into pretzels. ~ M.R. Carey

The more personalized television gets, the less passive the experience will become. ~ Anne Sweeney

In its current form, globalization cannot be sustained. Democratic societies will not support it. Authoritarian leaders will fear to impose it. ~ John Sweeney

We talk a lot on 'Biggest Loser' about how fitness is a natural antidepressant, how it burns off stress. What I like about running is that it gives me time alone. I'm always busy, with people at work, with my kids. I love getting out for a run by myself and just listening to my music. ~ Alison Sweeney

For once in her life, she let the butterflies in her stomach flutter eternally, hoping that they'd never land on the branches encasing her heart. ~ Melissa Sweeney

If you skate with an Olympic level skater, they make you so much better because you're skating behind them, and you're trying to imitate their stride and their stance. It's like having the world's greatest training wheels. ~ D. B. Sweeney

I stared back at her, my eyes leveled with hers in inscrutable certainty. For a moment, our eyes remained engaged, unflinching and impenetrable, as the shrill, steady call of a siren ran across the street outside, mixing with the effervescent glow of traffic lights and a steady pitter-patter of pedestrian feet sauntering across the street in wakeful gait. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

I used to think no one should go into show biz, but now I feel differently. I now feel like it's a great career. If you can do it and make money at it and still not be so famous that you can have a normal life - then I think it's a great career. ~ Julia Sweeney

Ignorance of the ages leaves me all but lifeless.
Not alone has it burnt sacred religious works,
but works of literature, art, philosophy, poetry,
astronomy, n' medicine, but to name a few. ~ Richard Mc Sweeney

People actually get sponsors based on the merits of the Cup, not on the merits of the sailors. ~ John Sweeney

Oh my, I've just discovered what science shows us about our humble but spectacular place in the universe, and I have to say: it is thrilling and mind-boggling beyond all imaginings! It makes the Bible so puny and uninspired, and certainly less poetic, by comparison. I'm terribly sorry. I sincerely misunderstood so much. I almost wish there were a God so I could be punished for all the suffering I have obliviously caused in the world. But since there will be no cosmic punishment for me, I will spend what time I have left working in a family planning clinic in Latin America. Good day. ~ Julia Sweeney

But I was caught in an hourglass of colliding dreams. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

With reality TV, sometimes it's amazing chemistry and you get these gems that turn out to be everything you hoped, and the camera loves them and they just blossom on the show. And then sometimes it's not all you envision. ~ Alison Sweeney

Piracy is a huge, huge issue for all of these major content companies, and everybody has a different way of addressing it. ~ Anne Sweeney

I've met so many fans of daytime television who've watched the shows with their moms and grandmas and feel like they've known the characters their whole lives. It's sad for them to have to say goodbye to their favorite soaps and characters. We don't want that to happen to the 'Days' fans. ~ Alison Sweeney

A core part of the global market is what might be called the 'Nike Economy' - footloose companies that play countries against one another while seeking subcontractors with the lowest wages and cheapest conditions. ~ John J. Sweeney

Hey 'Bachelor,' take notes! Trusting one another and sharing a journey to health leads to lasting relationships! ~ Alison Sweeney

Rebecca, we live in a world where darkness seems, in the minds of many, something banished to the world of fairy tales and superhero movies. How surprising it then becomes - even for those of us who believe otherwise - that it may appear in our own lives, in our own battles. To face an opponent that is more than the average 'jerk,' who has made a deadly choice, is, let us admit it, nothing that we expect to experience. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

Battle scars were not a commodity that I was accustomed to selling, least of all to myself. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

I went with agnosticism for a long, long time because I just hated to say I was an atheist - being an atheist seemed so rigid. But the more I became comfortable with the word, and the more I read, it started to stick. ~ Julia Sweeney

The value of the television network is partly tradition, serving as a navigation device and as a brand. Research shows that people do know and understand ABC as a brand, like Disney. ~ Anne Sweeney

My eyes refuse to let him leave, but he stands still holding my hand, lingering for as long as possible. ~ Thomas Sweeney

It is the littlest of flowers that fly the farthest ... That have the courage to fly the farthest. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

What we found in our conversations with these superachievers was that success di not come to them in the thunderclap of their Eureka! moments. Talent was just the beginning. Their sustained success depended on many factors -some in their control, and some not- but the first steps of these superachievers were to know themselves and to assess what they had to work with. Then, their progress toward their goals was furthered by their fierce dedication to the day-to-day struggle for achievement. ~ Camille Sweeney

It's not the balanced life we remember, it's the beautiful life. ~ Anne Sweeney

In the aftermath of their visions, Petit and Rice could not have imagined all that would be required of them. Neither Petit's dream of crossing the towers nor Rice's of fighting for justice came with an instruction manual. To accomplish their feats they'd have to overcome fear, test their plans against reality and maintain an unwavering focus on what their visions had revealed to them about their future selves. ~ Camille Sweeney

In North Korea, journalism, the job of telling the stories power and money do not want told, of giving a voice to the voiceless, does not exist. ~ John Sweeney

The more opportunities people have to experience television on different platforms, the more television they consume overall. So there actually has been a benefit, but the ratings have gone down. But we've seen kind of the horizontal benefit of this. And it remains a great, great promotion engine. ~ Anne Sweeney

[Solitary confinement] is terrible. That is terrible. You're in a grave. You can't do anything. Everything's brought to you and you're in a room all day, except to come out of the showers. So when I would come out, I would entertain myself by singing, doing little mock concerts. And then when I was in the room, I would develop a routine. Like I have a lot of hair under here, so I would take my hair down and take all day to braid it on purpose. Stretch the hours out. Then I might write. And I would clean the floor. And I would look out the window. And then I'd devote a whole day to just reading. I was Christian then, trying to be. So I would read the whole Bible. I would break it down into sections. You're in a grave and you're trying to live. That's how to best describe it: trying to live in a grave. You're trying to live 'cause you're not dead yet, but nobody hears you when you call out, 'Hey, I'm alive! ~ Megan Sweeney

What a precious treasure God has committed into our hands in that he has given us the Bible. How little do most persons consider how much they enjoy in that they have the possession of that holy book. ... What an excellent book is this, and how far exceeding all human writings.... He that has a Bible, and don't observe what is contained [in] it, is like a man that has a box full of silver and gold, and don't know it. ~ Douglas A. Sweeney

Hire the best people, and trust what you hired them to do. ~ D. B. Sweeney

The mental game of 'holding out,' not eating for as long as possible, at least for me, was a really unhealthy mental place. I would inevitably lose that battle and eat too much in one sitting and end up really mad at myself. ~ Alison Sweeney

If I'm not going to bet on myself, why would anyone else bet on me. ~ D. B. Sweeney

I wasn't eating the right kinds of calories. I didn't know about healthy carbs such as brown rice and lentils. Now I eat small meals throughout the day: oatmeal with cinnamon to start, fruit and yogurt as a snack, and vegetables or with chicken or tuna, and a healthy carb, like a yam, for lunch. ~ Alison Sweeney

Our pets rely on us entirely for their nutrition. So if you're making your own judgments, that could lead to a mistake. At the same time, we have more control over our pet's diet than we do with our children or with ourselves, so your vet can tell you what is appropriate for your dog and you can assign them that. ~ Alison Sweeney

Sally Field looks amazing in general, never mind her age! She's a phenomenally talented actress and has had a career spanning so many decades. ~ Alison Sweeney

Let the violin become a fiddle, boy. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

The number one mistake is giving pets table scraps. I made the mistake thinking I was showing my dog love by giving her food and treats. You see a tiny 4 oz. piece of cheese, but for a Boston Terrier like mine, that's like one and a half hamburgers. That's unhealthy. ~ Alison Sweeney

I do believe that you have to bring some degree of truth from yourself to the role [Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ]in and I'll admit it here, I have shaved a grown man before. I have done it. And it wasn't Tim [Burton]. ~ Johnny Depp

A first kiss in the book stacks. Now that was romantic. ~ D'Aprix Sweeney, Cynthia

Those who find something in I Thirst, who can relate to a project so close to my heart, instantly become a sort of "friend." Whenever people come to me and tell me that they appreciated I Thirst or thank me for writing it, I feel that I have done something right
not because I am one of the greats, but because the story spoke to them in some way, in a way that perhaps was universal but uniquely their own all the same. I put out my story, but the readers made it their own. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

I always cringe when people tell me they don't eat breakfast, as though that's a good thing. Eek! You have to start the day off with something in your stomach to get your metabolism active. Also, the mental game of 'holding out,' not eating for as long as possible, at least for me, was a really unhealthy mental place. ~ Alison Sweeney

When you are producing for ABC, you are producing for a big tent network. So when you are thinking about your story lines and characters, you are thinking about broad appeal. When you are producing for a niche interest, you are producing for a different audience. ~ Anne Sweeney

The church acknowledges some Scientologists choose to sever communications with family members who leave. The church says it is a fundamental human right to cease communication with someone. It adds disconnection is used against expelled members and those who attack the church. ~ John Sweeney

DON'T ASK THE QUESTIONS IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE ANSWERS. ~ Anne R. Sweeney

Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you're proud to live. ~ Anne Sweeney

A few days earlier, Adriana and I had been browsing books at the local library. I happened to turn around and look at her ... and that was it. The man who "loved to laugh" in Mary Poppins had nothing on us. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

This was the part she hated, the part of a relationship that always nudged her to bail, the part where someone else's misery or expectations or neediness crept into her carefully prescribed world. It was such a burden, other people's lives. ~ Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

I think you have to do certain things in the pilot to get your network's attention - to break through ... So maybe you push a little further in the first show. ~ D. B. Sweeney

I was invincible, at least that's what I wanted you to think, and I wanted me to think it, too. ~ John Sweeney

There is nothing more nerve-racking than waiting as someone reads your writing. The reader becomes the videographer, zooming far, far into your heart and soul, unveiling every inch and corner. The writer remains a wary observer at the mercy of the reader, clueless as to how he might react. The writer is exposed, laid bare; her innermost thoughts and feelings are revealed in a potentially scathing moment of vulnerability. I trusted Peter so fully ... in a way that I could not explain. For that very reason, it mattered so immensely. To actually tell him what I knew he had already often seen in my eyes was to allow him to enter a new dimension in that world. And it mattered. It really, truly mattered. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

When you do a play, or even a movie, you have weeks to finesse your character. You really understand why they do what they do. In TV, you get new material weekly about your character. ~ D. B. Sweeney

And yet the great blue sky was above me and my eyes thirsted for its words. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

I'm a fan of daytime drama; I totally get it. When we are doing scenes that are romantic or will get the audience riled up, I feel like I'm a fan in the room going, 'People are going to be so mad right now!' ~ Alison Sweeney

On the contrary," he said softly, "everyone is here. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

Our future is only limited by our commitment to keep the momentum going. Now that television has been set free from all constraints - including time, place, and all previous definitions - what comes next? ~ Anne Sweeney

Caution: Danger ahead. Do not refer to Adriana as little in regards to either her age or stature. If you happen to disregard this most basic of laws, approach with caution. Much, much caution. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

I really moved through my career based on curiosity about something. I never looked at a title and said, 'I want that.' ~ Anne Sweeney

For a moment, perhaps an hour, they would wait, wait for something, and when that waiting was over, it was simply dismissed, goodbyes stated, reading materials closed, a momentary pause in the day that did not hold up to whatever came next.
Waiting was often a resented gift, imparted to those who accepted it grudgingly in the hopes that something better would come along when the gift was tossed aside, boxed away for the next recipient. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

Somewhere in the middle of the second glass that Mad Sweeney himself began to throw both details and irrelevancies into Ibis's narrative (" ... such a girl she was, with breasts cream-colored and spackled with freckles, with the tips of them the rich reddish pink of the sunrise on a day when it'll be bucketing down before noon but glorious again by supper ... ") and then Sweeney was trying, with both hands, to explain the history of the gods in Ireland, wave after wave of them as they came in from Gaul and from Spain and from every damn place, each wave of them transforming the last gods into trolls and fairies and every damn creature until Holy Mother Church herself arrived and every god in Ireland was transformed into a fairy or a saint or a dead king without so much as a by-your-leave ... Mr. ~ Neil Gaiman

One of the things that is very important to me is how I feel about my team. And not just what their jobs are but what they mean to one another. ~ Anne Sweeney

It mingles in seas of carousels
It becomes the past and knows it not. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

The BBC can be infuriating at times but I love it with a passion. ~ John Sweeney

I sat down, turning the pages of my notebook in search of a blank page, in the dim light of my room. The arrival of nightfall had invited leafy shadows to play hide and seek in the glass reflection of the window. I smiled as one of these mischievous shadows crept across the page in a midnight dance. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

You always love to fantasize you'll get your dream role. ~ D. B. Sweeney

They whirled around in the light dance of a duchess entering a ball - majestic yet understated - a spiraling splash of purity of color that took shape under nature's watch. A newly-sculpted garden burst forth, glistening in an afternoon sun. It welcomed the dusty pink rose, who stood beside its fellows, basked themselves in their own serenity of white, triumphant red, or cheery yellow. It swayed in the breath of a wind, caressing each and becoming more. It was a mixture of quiet and thunderous, light and dark, shyness and boldness. It was a mixture of the quiet strength and overwhelming courage that the human soul might wish to one day possess. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

Why not try thinking of your life as hilarious rather than nightmarish? ~ Julia Sweeney

You were...are...what I heard. Every note. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

Parents are temporary custodians, keeping watch and offering love and trying to leave the child better than they found him. ~ Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Wisdom's Way to Wonder?
Yes, Your Majesty?
Wiseoneder,
What say you of days and nights?
Days and nights, Your Majesty,
appear to the bright
to be filled with light;
Light being dark way out of sight. ~ Richard Mc Sweeney

There is a growing consensus that Globalization must now be reshaped to reflect values broader than simply the freedom of capital. ~ John Sweeney

To anybody who says to me, 'I'm in character,' I say, 'You should be in an asylum.' If you don't know that you're pretending, then you should really seek medical help. I don't have patience for that stuff. ~ D. B. Sweeney

There is a host of angels surrounding you, Rebecca. Not figuratively. Literally. With wings spread far to encompass you, protect you with their Light. Remember that they are with you - see them with your heart and soul - whenever you are forced to engage in battle with forces that seek and have become, through their own will, evil. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

Something significant, magical, and
inspiring happens with each word you read in the pages of a book. You explore new lands, meet new people, feel new emotions, and are no longer the same person you were one word prior to reading it. ~ Martha Sweeney

People think, 'Oh, I'm loving myself by sitting on this sofa for four hours.' Love yourself enough to get up! ~ Alison Sweeney

Television has always been something you watch; now, increasingly, it is also something you do. ~ Anne Sweeney

Even the sublime portal, half of a circlet the color of the first snow, knew their names. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

It's bad form to mention money-laundering. Instead, you talk about asset-management structures and tax beneficial schemes. ~ John Sweeney

He's convinced that you're a psycho," I explained, as I reached the bench. "He has the list narrowed down to either a double agent or a serial killer. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

It's not your job to be anyone's mirror. ~ Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Our family was too strange and weird for even Santa Claus to come visit ... Santa, who was jolly - but, let's face it, he was also very judgmental. ~ Julia Sweeney

Most of my life is in the past.
There goes some more of it.

I taught my sheep how to fight lions
so I would have more time ~ Chad Sweeney

After World War II, American leaders were, in Dean Acheson's words, 'present at the creation' of a global order. Now at the end of the cold war, we desperately need that same vision, that leadership, that creativity to be applied to the governance of the global marketplace. ~ John J. Sweeney

Thanks to Steven, I rode on a bus with the Gay Men's chorus, which he and the doctor had joined. All the way they sang. When I looked at Steven and made a face, he looked offended, but I didn't care. It was way too early in the morning for anything from Sweeney Todd. ~ George Hodgman

Oh, I suppose we are all a bit crazier as kids. But I hope you never lose your sense of randomness. I hope you never lose the way you dance in the moonlight, your eyes filled with wonder. I hope you always care as much as you do today. 'Blasé' never looked good on anyone. And, if the world decides to be one big snob, ignore it. ~ Gina Marinello-Sweeney

Why isn't there a book about someone losing their faith and it being a beautiful experience? ~ Julia Sweeney

I think we all realize the consumer has taken control, and they're not giving it back. So as every new technology comes forward, we have to figure out how to integrate it. ~ Anne Sweeney

Safety is a basic human need. People with a sense of security and belonging are stabilized for learning, creating, innovating. A group of wonderfully cared for, confident individuals will generate great ideas. ~ John Sweeney

I love Vanna White as much as the next guy. ~ D. B. Sweeney

They'd fallen into their old ways, accusatory and evasive, which was reassuring in a perverted way. Leo understood the nasty pull of the regrettable familiar, how the old grooves could be so much more satisfying than the looming unknown. It's addicts stayed addicts. ~ Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

You can only understand how someone else needs to handle death in the given, specific moment. There are few hard and fast rules. I understand both my father and my friend. Or rather, I understand neither and so allow both the dispensation the ignorant should grant the wise. ~ Kate Sweeney