I think any spiritual experience that's worthwhile is not about ego and it will humble you in some way. And also, a Zen monk once said to me, 'If you're not laughing, then you're not getting it.'

The closer you stay to emotional authenticity and people, character authenticity, the less you can go wrong. That's how I feel now, no matter what you're doing.

Anything you could ever want or be you already have and are.

The holy trifecta of directing and filmmaking is character emotion, camera movement and music. When you hit those three, that's magical. That's what I'm trying to do.

I got put on jury duty, which is where I learned how to write.

There's nothing better than an actor who is really, really hungry to show everything they've got.

You know, veterans come home and they may not be bipolar, but after they've been through a war with PTSD or a head injury, their families have a handful when they come home.

That's just how I see things. I think things that are the most dramatic or tragic can also look the most ridiculous and funny. That's part of being human.

The idea that anyone would think their religious ideas make them morally superior is just preposterous.

The gift of life is the gift to suffer sometimes and to embrace it, heartbreak and all.

What do we have in life, really? If we're lucky we get to a certain age, and we have each other. We have the food we like. We have our crazy little rituals. And we have each other.

I think everybody really responds to the secret society aspect. This idea that you have to remain anonymous, and yet at the same time, you're kind of saving the world.

Exercise, to qualify at all, must be lonely, painfu, humorless, and boring.

The only thing that would keep me from winning the election is to be caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy

A community is only a community when the majority of its members are making the transition from 'the community for myself' to 'myself for the community'.

I try to have my voice be heard, but not on a regular basis on TV.

The flame of inspiration needs to be encouraged. Put a glass around that small candle and protect it from discouragement or ridicule.

Many gloat over their own troubles.

I was always wanting to learn and be one of those actresses who can actually hold a conversation as opposed to standing there looking pretty.

When our whole life is one faith, hope, love, prayer and silence, a consecrated life always bound up in the Eucharist, then the 'urge' towards God springs.

Remember, frustration is out of expectation, and ego is always expecting. The ego is a beggar.