I lived an idyllic 'Huckleberry Finn' life in a tiny town. Climbing trees. Tagging after brothers. Happy. Barefoot on my pony. It was 'To Kill a Mockingbird'-esque.

You shouldn't change what you are in the search for success.

The name Sissy came because my brothers called me that.

I was always proud about being from Texas and, you know, maybe that was part of fearlessness. I love the fact that Texas is so big, but you don't feel small because of that.

You know, I don’t know what the future will bring, but I’m ready for whatever comes!

I had a dozen years to act before starting a family then found that motherhood dwarfed everything else. Once or twice a year, I take a project that appeals to me for its redeeming social value.

When I'm pushing myself, testing myself, that's when I'm happiest. That's when the rewards are greatest.

I may be ignorant but I ain't stupid!

You know, your career is just your career; your life is your life!

Texas is just so rich with characters. Women who live alone in a little house on a thousand acres with nothing but cattle and a pickup truck. And an airplane.

My parents were devoted. Civic minded. We had family counsels. Three of us children against two of them. We lived a 'Leave It to Beaver' time.

My faith is stong enough to endure, kind enough to feel, big enough to accommodate.

I'd die of a broken heart before breaking yours.

Poor Mexico so far from God and so near to the United States.

We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so, we dilute the freedom this cherished emblem represents.

We're teaching our children how to live. We need to start teaching them how to die.

I think all artists secretly hope their kids might do something safer and straitlaced: maybe my daughter 'll be a banker.

Writing has always been the primary way I make sense of the world.

It's not about perfection. What's a perfect painting? What's interesting about a perfect painting?

I love "30 Rock" because Tina Fey allows me to fly over the cuckoo nest once a week.