I think empathy is a beautiful thing. I think that's the power of film though. We have one of the most powerful, one of the greatest communicative tools known to man.

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.

It is better for the heart to break, than not to break.

I think in the case of horror, it's a chance to confront a lot of your worse fears and those fears usually have to do, ironically, with powerlessness and isolation.

Big money is ruining the political system.

For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.

The message "Your body isn't good enough" translates in a little girls mind to "YOU aren't good enough." This becomes a core belief that gets passed on to the next generation.

Life, on confidence, is an extraordinary and powerful thing

I'm not gonna lie, I love the holidays. But Christmas was a lot more fun when you weren't paying for it.

Beyond politics, the West is suffering from what can be called a crisis of brokenness - broken institutions, broken families and broken souls.

Charleston was where America split apart in 1861. Maybe it's where America comes together in 2015.

If there is but little water in the stream, it is the fault, not of the channel, but of the source.