I think if I was ever really going to be more serious about writing I'd have to try and find some way to do it with other people. I do find the silence kind of eerie.

I can't spend the rest of my life being pretty in a bonnet.

My alter egos have changed a lot over the years. When I was a child, I was a black horse called Storm. Whinnying and jumping over bamboo poles in the garden took up pretty much my entire childhood.

Female ambition is such a complicated thing to play because it is an aggressive quality, and people respond very badly to women exhibiting any kind of aggression.

I can only do something that my sister or my daughter, if I have one, could watch and feel positive about.

I don't really want to do things that I feel like are going to send out a message that I don't really want to sign up for.

I realise there's an innate paradox in promoting oneself on the one hand and saying, 'Oh, I don't want to be famous,' on the other.

We live in a society where children are expected to become adults overnight.

Motherhood so often comes in conflict with women's capacity to express and live their own lives.

I have always been interested in gender politics, so I'm not that keen on doing things that don't represent a truth about women.

I just don't believe you're capable of being an actor unless you have a desire to experience your emotions in a public way.

Worldly life is not an impediment

My life is one long obstacle course with me as the chief obstacle.

...Except when I was alone. I'd hate myself. It's how we feel about ourselves when we're alone that must guide our decisions.

These were the tales that echoed in the head long after the books that contained them were cast aside.

There is no greater mistake in life than seeing things or hearing them at the wrong time.

As you get older, your voice changes, as well. Your voice should be able to last as long as you last.

As a loyal American and I think a patriotic American, no, I don't want Sarah Palin to be president.

I'm partial to a nice cup of vodka. I normally just drink it really simple with a little bit of lemon.

They call it golf because all the other four-letter words were taken.

You must try to forget all you have learned,” said the old man. “You must begin to dream. From this time on you must shut your ears to the roaring of the voices.