J.C. Spencer Quotes

As an actor, you don't become Meryl Streep by doing the same type of comedy. You get there by being challenged.

I'm not an optimist. I'm a realist. And my reality is that we live in a multifaceted, multicultural world. And maybe once we stop labeling ourselves, then maybe everyone else will.

For me, when you have to prepare to play God, and then walking away from that, you realize just how tough God's job is. I don't want that job.

There are moments where you stop living, if you stop changing, and if you stop seeking growth of some sort.

I hate to tell people what they should think 'cause I really have an aversion when people tell me what to think.

God in my mind gives you what you need. So, if you need God to be a black woman and you need that for whatever your reasons are, then perhaps your blessings will come in that form.

I have an affinity for the law. I like looking at the small type on contracts, and if I could have afforded law school, I probably would have gone.

If you go through life and you don't find the beauty in an unexpected place, then you really have a sad existence.

I do believe that everyone has something to contribute.

What's not fair is having the responsibility of a supervisor but not the title or the pay.

I really believe things happen as they're supposed to and in the time that they're supposed to.

My job as an artist is to present the material. My job as a woman is to receive from it what I need.

It is important to learn as much as you can about the person and then throw it all away so that you're not in any way doing some sort of mimicry.

There is one thing about knowing history, and another in recreating it.

Even in my music, I am always searching for big, universal things - ways that you can sort of reach outside the norm of what you are doing.

People who are overweight face discrimination. African-Americans face discrimination. Women face discrimination and sexism. So I don't have the luxury of not being tolerant of anyone.

I don't think that moms, with all that's going on in our society today, would want to put their kids in front of something that will be disheartening rather than uplifting.

I want to find things that challenge me.

Any upward movement is movement for us all.

I want to see more women behind the scenes.

I want to see more women as producers.

Every character I get to play has some element of who I am, but there's no fun in playing yourself. At least, for me, there isn't.

I'm starstruck everyday. The day I'm not starstruck, I'll have to retire.

I didn't realize that diets don't work, and I did not want to diet. I didn't want to do anything that required dieting.

I was starstruck and sweat a lot when I met Oprah Winfrey and tried to hug her. Because when you think you know people when you see them from your couch.

You never write a speech in advance because if you don't get to use it, you'll be heartbroken.

The one thing that I realize - well, not the one thing, but it was a big thing - having in my head that I need to get healthier. It's been a very gradual process for me.

I'm not a fan of 'Gone With the Wind.' I didn't like the movie. I didn't like the book.

Christian Louboutin, I love you, but honey, please! But when you have this much weight, you've got to give us a little platform. Sorry! The shoes are stunning though. An ounce of pain, it's worth it.

The first time I saw E.T., the actual image of an alien, and he was so sweet-looking. I wanted him. I wanted E.T.

I prefer doing interviews where people don't have to interpret what you say. I'm going to be real honest.

I think if I weren't so squeamish, I would have been some sort of forensic analyst. And I can't do anything with a microscope, because then I start thinking about the world of germs around us.

I'm glad that I get to take my final walk as the princess of 2012. ...there's nothing wrong with winning an Oscar!

I'll say that I don't think you can throw a stone and not come in contact with someone who knows someone or has problems with substance abuse.

I like a person who knows how to say something dark at a very dark moment. The darker the moment and the darker the comic, the better. Something that is so wrong on all levels.

I'm not trying to be a different weight. I want to be a different body type so that I'm not an apple. I just want to be a pear!

A warrior can be injured but not offended. For a warrior there is nothing offensive about the acts of her fellow human beings, as long as she herself is acting in the proper mood.

Man-made global warming was a potential serious threat, and NASA wanted Congress to fund new satellites to study the problem. It was a team effort to get that accomplished.

I try to know as much as I can about a book before the beginning, but I never know exactly where it's going to end.

A novelist is someone who sits around the house all day in his underwear, trying not to smoke.

All I wanted was what I'd already had. That exultation, that love. It was my one real home; I was a visitor everywhere else.

On a ship thats made of paper, I would sail the seven seas. (Just to be with you)

Sometimes we pay too much attention in Washington to public relations, as opposed to the substance.

Putting the budget ahead of the policy is the wrong way to do it. It's too often the way it's done in Washington.

The ideal ratio is one computer to every five students; we are nowhere close to that percentage in a lot of schools in America.

Abandon money for authenticity.

I kept going to different colleges, but dropped out.

I want to pay my mortgage and go on vacation, so I love working. I want to be able to do independent projects as well, and being on a successful TV show allows you to do some other things.

If you're not adventurous, you're not really living, I think... especially in college.

I always thought that sororities were just made up of cheerleaders from high school. And I kind of picked on those cheerleaders!