It has taught me levels of sympathy and empathy of which I never thought myself capable.

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It has taught me not only to hold an arabesque but to maintain an inner grace -- drawing on a psychological or spiritual core, a place of honesty and strength.

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What it has taught me is a good deal on how to manage a constant flow of information, how to select and apply filters and how to react to changing scenarios.

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Not only has it been extremely self-actualizing, but it has also taught me resilience and self-sufficiency.

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It is something that has helped define me as an artist in that it taught me how to stand on the margins and scrutinize the center.

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More than a decade of working on arms trade issues has taught me that while it may be straight-forward to physically transfer weapons to anywhere in the world, it is far harder to monitor how they will be used -- and whose hands they will ultimately end up in.

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He taught me how important it is to share what one has.

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"I don't want to get misty eyed about the past, but it is clear to me that something important has been lost - for both teachers and taught, " she said.

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