I like to work in costumes, makeup, and hair that allow me tremendous freedom.

I never felt like I belonged in Minnesota when I was growing up there. That's why I was out the door as soon as I turned 18.

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.

When you learn not to want things so badly, life comes to you.

I regret those times when I've chosen the dark side. I've wasted enough time not being happy.

Moments of pure happiness...come upon you unexpectedly. Don't be too preoccupied to experience them.

Everything is transient. Everything is constantly changing. The only thing we have is now.

One of the things I love about acting is that it reveals a certain something about yourself, but it doesn't reveal your own personal story.

Don't be absent from your own life.

I've never been a sunny personality. I've never been outgoing. I'm a solitary person.

Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.

Some people ate less food less often when they each had a home than they now do as hobos.

Once you've charmed a girl and prove how mature and independent you are, just ask her out.

African-Americans are as fair as any other group, but they bring their life experiences to bear as just as whites bring their experiences to bear.

A scholar is just a library's way of making another library.

Survival is nothing more than recovery.

When you say “yes” to the “isness” of life, when you accept this moment as it is, you can feel a sense of spaciousness within you that is deeply peaceful.

We are full of bread and gas, getting fat on the outside while inside we grow thin

Tax reform is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

I guess the toughest things in translations are word play, which can never be reproduced exactly.

Man is so inconsistent a creature that it is impossible to reason from his beliefs to his conduct, or from one part of his belief to another.