I didn't get the Russian Jew part because they didn't think I looked Russian or Jewish enough - and, mind you, I am both Russian and Jewish - so I was cast as the racist Mexican.

I think playing coy is silly. Speak your mind. If a man gets turned off, he's the wrong man.

I have an older brother who is 21 and attends UC Berkley.

Confidence, not cockiness. Knowing who you are is confidence. Cockiness is knowing who you are and pushing it down everyone's throat.

I think that you have to restrain yourself from googling your name and have other hobbies and desires and wants. You do a million things. You go to school, you write, you read, you blog.

Always have a backup plan.

My goal in life is to enjoy what I do, and never to look back and say I wish I would have done that.

I don't believe in perfection. I don't think it exists.

I was really good at saying no. I decided I was just going to say yes to any opportunity that came, no matter how crazy. And it changed my life.

Christian Louboutins are uncomfortable, but I screamed the first time I put on a Pointe Shoe.

I'm still a 'Star Trek' fan. You never stop being one.

And what’s the use of talking, if you already know that others don’t feel what you feel?

Writing about the 1950s has given me tremendous respect for my mother's generation.

Philosophy is about getting the facts right, but it is also about thinking rightly about them. Philosophy is more about the latter than the former.

Most women work one shift at the office or factory and a 'second shift' at home.

War. What was it about the prospect of some bloody enterprises that reduced men to the level of animals?

I trust my instincts. I don't distrust them. They haven't led me astray. It's when I've made up my mind to be efficient that is when I have gone wrong.

I think the world offers so many wonderful varieties of obstacles, but that shouldn't be one for kids - is the worry that 'my parents wont be there.'

It was tough when people would say, "Aren't you so excited?" about the new show and I couldn't really say, "Yes, well, I'm going through a divorce right now, too."

I had turned down other head chef jobs. I didn't want to take over someone else's cuisine. I wanted to start from scratch.

There is no breakthrough without a breakdown.