A lot of people in line at the grocery store think that they know me, but they don't.

My dad has always been really helpful. He taught me that talent is a bonus, but persistence is what wins out.

People idealize or reminisce about their 20s, but nobody tells you beforehand that it's hard and unglamorous and often very unpleasant.

I have a ships bed, which totally plays to my obsession of, if I were not an actress, I would be a pirate.

I grew up backstage and on movie sets, and I thought they were the most magical places on Earth.

I'm a little bit of a weirdo - I'm kind of a loner, I didn't go to college, I spend a lot of my time reading. I've been working since I was 17, so that's sort of been my life.

With 'Girls,' it doesn't really feel like I'm doing TV specifically. It just feels like we're making a really long film.

Comedy arises out of necessity, because some things are so dark that you have to laugh about it.

No matter what we as individual women want, no matter what our goals, we have to support one another.

I am an avid reader! As for writing, I might - someday. But we'll have to wait and see.

I don't know if I would call myself a religious human.

Everyone is in awe of the lion tamer in a cage with half a dozen lions - everyone but a school bus driver.

Make sure you meet the right people, people who know that industry and are willing to help you. Do your homework - read books about the industry, talk to people. If you don't know something, ask.

You know, that's kind of the thing, I can't freestyle and I used to always wonder why I couldn't, and when I would try once out of every six months, but I was always a great writer!

Too often we forget that social and political movements don't happen overnight. They don't bring change immediately - you have to build a critical mass of understanding of the issues.

Any debate among politicians about monetary policy is counterproductive.

To each our own Hamlet.

Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can't talk. The man can't fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs boxing lessons. And since he's gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons.

Movies are thankfully about real people nowadays, and I don't necessarily always look like a real person.

You invent things like algorithms to take care of some of the changes you want to make. The changes aren't detectable. There's all kinds of things happening as I play.

I don't practice anything. I spend time looking over ideas and then just get out and do it.