I've got nothing left to lose at this point. The work I've done is out there.

I never felt like I belonged in Minnesota when I was growing up there. That's why I was out the door as soon as I turned 18.

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.

When you learn not to want things so badly, life comes to you.

I regret those times when I've chosen the dark side. I've wasted enough time not being happy.

Moments of pure happiness...come upon you unexpectedly. Don't be too preoccupied to experience them.

Everything is transient. Everything is constantly changing. The only thing we have is now.

One of the things I love about acting is that it reveals a certain something about yourself, but it doesn't reveal your own personal story.

Don't be absent from your own life.

I've never been a sunny personality. I've never been outgoing. I'm a solitary person.

Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.

Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.The wound is the place where the Light enters you.

You need one person who knows you... Just one person you can't fool, even when you fool yourself.

Maybe someday, if I succeed at something, I'll stop saying, "It isn't fair" about everything else.

I have a rendezvous with death... I will not fail that rendezvous

Politics is still the No. 1 sport in town and the scoreboard shows the U.S. attorney's office leading.

Christians are hard to tolerate; I don’t know how Jesus does it

Who doesn't love Game of Thrones? Sons of Anarchy is funny and thug-ish. I love Shameless. I just sit with my hat tipped, waiting for something to happen, more than going out after the shows.

The draft that finally goes to my editor doesn't get into her hands until I have read it out loud innumerable times - sometimes into a tape recorder - to make sure that it sounds right.

We must question why the smartest students don't choose to become teachers.

Bankruptcies of governments have, on the whole, done less harm to mankind than their ability to raise loans.