Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.

The writer when he is also an artist is someone who admits what others don't dare reveal.

The London games mark the 24th anniversary of my winning two golds and setting the world record in the heptathlon. Someone is going to want it records are made to be broken - it's only a matter of time. I hope mine will outlive me.

But to sustain a marriage for 50 years you have to get real a little bit and find someone who is understanding and who you can grow with. My mom always says 'Marry the man who loves you a millimeter more.'

The reason why I love people and writing about them is because they don't always respond with hate and anger. If they did I wouldn't have a story to tell. Who wants to know about someone who was brutalised and became brutal? I'm interested in the exceptions.

I'm not someone who feels anger on particular issues.

In general I was a good kid. It usually took a lot to make me mad. But once I reached the boiling point I lost all rational control. Totally without thinking when my anger was aroused I grabbed the nearest brick rock or stick to bash someone. It was as if I had no conscious will in the matter.

When someone says that I'm angry it's actually a compliment. I have not always been direct with my anger in my relationships which is part of why I'd write about it in my songs because I had such fear around expressing anger as a woman.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else you are the one who gets burned.

It's amazing the relationships you forge in a kitchen. When you cooperate in an environment that's hot. Where there's a lot of knives. You're trusting your well-being with someone you've never before met or known.

It was really cool to work with Dakota Fanning. I've watched her grow up and I've always loved her films loved her. It was amazing working with someone who was American as well because obviously it's going to be a different energy straightaway. We got on really well she's so professional and hardworking.

Innovation is this amazing intersection between someone's imagination and the reality in which they live. The problem is many companies don't have great imagination but their view of reality tells them that it's impossible to do what they imagine.

The thing that's tricky is sometimes the best voices - just because someone hits the big notes and sounds amazing - it doesn't necessarily mean they make the greatest artists.

I've had four amazing men in my life very strong powerful wonderful men. I certainly will have a relationship with someone but I don't think I will get married again.

My method of helping someone is saying 'Wow you look amazing. Let me help you look even better.' I think tearing someone down is an awful thing to do. It has a lasting impression on people.

I remember the first time I felt that I was sharing the stage with someone spectacular was dancing with Beyonce. It was the dancers the band Beyonce and me in front of thousands of people. That was sick. It was pretty amazing that I got to travel the world with someone like her.