From beginning to end I worried that Ang Lee wouldn't be satisfied with my work. So I worked as hard as I could to earn his trust, because you only get a chance like this once.

I wanted to become a kindergarten teacher like my mother.

In China, we don't consider someone truly beautiful until we have known them for a long time, and we know what's underneath the skin.

For myself I don't like the geisha look. It's like a mask.

There's nothing in Chinese culture that is an equivalent of the geisha. It's so different, so special to Japan.

I want, through my roles, to express the parts in the hearts of Chinese women that they feel unable to let out.

I don't care if you love me or not. I'll love you anyway.

The atmosphere at my school was very competitive. Young girls were competing with each other every day for status, for leadership, for the affection of the teachers. I hated it.

I'm not really interested in politics, because I think it's just too removed from my own life. If there's a war, though, or a disaster, I want to know what's happening.

Actually I ran away from school when I was 13. No one could find me, and the police were called. I was just hiding in a little thicket of grass at my school, and went to sleep.

I wanted to escape so badly. But of course I knew I couldn't just give up and leave school. It was only when I heard my mom's voice that I came out of my hiding place.

Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.

The enemy of man is man, my brother.

When was the last time you had a good belly-shaking-tear-jerking-snot-producing laugh?That long?

The pure and simple truth is, the truth is never pure and simple.

Charlie Chaplin and I would have a friendly contest: Who could do the feature film with the least subtitles?

I find it difficult to be in rooms now for long periods of time. I can usually take it for about an hour. Then I stride out.

If you're an unknown artist you're lucky to get an hour in a studio - it's a hierarchy and if you don't have hits, you don't get recorded again.

I get paranoid about people staring at me. Even now I don't deal with people looking at me. I can't do it sometimes. I can't go out. I don't know how to react when people stare.

The widespread availability of information is the only basis for effective day-to-day problem solving, which abets continuous improvement programs.

Our cares are the mothers, not only of our charities And virtues, but of our best joys and most cheering and enduring pleasures.