I just never felt like I belonged anywhere. I always had a stick with a little knapsack attached.

I was in Jersey when the whole World Trade Center thing happened and I felt powerless. So, I went to Hawaii and did a surf movie. It's kind of fluffy.

I was born in Texas and I lived there 'till I was 8. Then I moved to the Dominican Republic with my mom, lived there for two years and forgot every word of English I knew.

Whenever a female takes a strong stand for herself, the majority of the time they have to really, really narrow it down to being feminine and wearing dresses and just being lipstick chic.

You can keep knocking me down forever, I'll keep getting up and trying.

The more confidence you have in yourself and the more you believe that you are destined to do what you are gonna do, it will happen.

When I was about, I'd say, 18 or 19 years old, I wanted to be a part of the CIA just because they know those intimate secrets... So I was just always into knowing. I like to know things.

My favorite part of my body is my brain. I think no matter what my body looks like I wont be satisfied unless I know how to use it.

I do what I want, when I want, how I want, and because of that, it has taken me so long to grow into an adult human being.

I'm stubborn. I'm hardheaded. I don't do what I don't want to do.

I knew nothing about the independent film industry. I didn't know much about the industry itself. All I knew was how to watch movies, how to enjoy them, how to hate them, how not to like them.

You have this lifetime to make the best of your dreams. Don't wait a moment longer and start right now.

My Dad once told me: “you will retire only in your grave!”

With any work worth its salt, you have to trust the author enough to take its measure. And if you apply too many preconceptions, you are not taking its measure.

By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind sees the path

Who I am at the core and what I think represents me is really reflected in my family.

The contemporary Japanese directors who are well-known in the West - say, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takeshi Kitano, Naomi Kawase - are mostly unknown to Japanese, particularly of the younger generation.

Life is what happens when we are busy doing other things. Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you make, something you do, something you are and something you give away.

It's not always what you say that matters, sometimes it's what you don't say.

Opinions are like belly buttons; everybody has one. I never knock a man for his opinion.

As the valley gives height to the mountain, so can sorrow give meaning to pleasure; as the well is the source of the fountain, deep adversity can be a treasure.