I think I'm an overly emotional person. I feel a lot, but I don't believe that's unique to me or that's how I am able to do the things I do.

As a writer, as a storyteller, you have to have your emotions close, and the older I've gotten, the less I've worried about not displaying emotions.

I don't know when I made that active decision to be a writer or to try to write, but I know I always liked storytelling.

When it comes to fighting for freedom, those who are willing to fight should not be limited by our bigotry. Only rewarded with our gratitude.

Facts tend to take the punch out of a good hate rant and are therefore left best unsaid.

For every horrific event, something beautiful happens.

My kids will find me walking around the house talking to myself and think I'm going crazy. I like to read the scripts out loud and really get the rhythm for the dialogue.

There's something very special about knowing what you want to do and knowing the story you want to tell, but finding it together.

With fear of stating the obvious: Freedom belongs to 'We the People,' not 'They the Politicians.'

Whatever you do, whether you're doing a television drama or a romantic comedy, you want to be relevant, to some degree.

I've written films that are violent. I'm not big on sitting and watching violence.

Seconds feel like centuries when I am not in your presence.

Growing up is, at heart, the process of learning to take responsibility for whatever happens in your life. To choose growth is to embrace a love that heals.

You never know until you give something your best and keep working at it. Follow your dreams no matter what

But that's hindsight for you: never there when you need it.

As a mom, that's at the forefront of everything in my mind, so I'm always trying to balance, whether it's bringing Violet to work or, the second I am done working, getting home to her.

I think I am a radical. I have never deviated from that. By radical, I mean someone trying to go to the root of things.

My words are a whisper, your deafness a shout.

Good melody is never out of fashion

The Academy is paranoid about its image.

The wicked find it easier to coalesce for seditious purposes than for concord in peace.