You know, my grandmother was a traiteuse... No, she was. Laid her hands on people and cured them. Took away sickness, cancer, you name it... I remember she used to pray a lot. Talked to God about the pain she pulled out. Asked him to carry it away... that's what she did.
Mads Mikkelsen - GQ Magazine.
Mads Mikkelsen has a different take on Hannibal Lecter than the rest of us. Whereas we see a sociopath who, you know, eats people, he just sees a sophisticated dude living his best life. “He’s actually one of the more positive characters I’ve ever played,” says Mikkelsen, the latest actor to portray the iconic killer, this time for NBC’s lush, surprisingly well-done drama series Hannibal. “He’s not haunted by anything. He loves everything that’s beautiful about life—food, wine, fine art.” It’s not that Mikkelsen likes Lecter—he just thinks it’s his actorly duty “to find the good in a bad guy.” (x)
"Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed."
History Meme. 4/4 Leaders → Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great was a king of Macedonia, a state in northern ancient Greece. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas.He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history’s most successful commanders.
Alexander’s legacy includes the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander’s settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilisation aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics. [more +]
History Meme. 1/4 Leaders → Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, 1874 –1965 was a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British Prime Minister in history to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was also the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States.
At the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war, he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign caused his departure from government. He then briefly resumed active army service on the Western Front as commander of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air. After the War, Churchill served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative (Baldwin) government of 1924–29, controversially returning the pound sterling in 1925 to the gold standard at its pre-war parity, a move widely seen as creating deflationary pressure on the UK economy. Also controversial was his opposition to increased home rule for India and his resistance to the 1936 abdication of Edward VIII.
After the Conservative Party lost the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition to the Labour government. After winning the 1951 election, he again became Prime Minister, before retiring in 1955. Upon his death, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen in history. Named the Greatest Briton of all time in a 2002 poll, Churchill is widely regarded as being among the most influential people in British history. [more +]
