I've turned down good directors before because I knew the part didn't speak to me and I've worked with less talented directors before because the part I had such passion for.

I did one sci-fi movie. I did 'Gattaca.' I liked 'Gattaca' because that was always the kind of science fiction I really dug, the non-action oriented sci-fi.

Life's hard. It's supposed to be. If we didn't suffer, we'd never learn anything.

In New York, you've got Donald Trump, Woody Allen, a crack addict and a regular Joe, and they're all on the same subway car.

Read. It makes you more intelligent. It’s that simple. We all see the universe through the tiny keyhole of our own eyes, and every book is another keyhole from which you can gaze.

Success isn't measured by what you achieve, it's measured by the obstacles you overcome.

Don't you find it odd," she continued, "that when you're a kid, everyone, all the world, encourages you to follow your dreams. But when you're older, somehow they act offended if you even try.

I met a lot of famous people when I was about 24. And none of them seemed very appealing. And so I didn't know why I would struggle to be that kind of person.

There is no trick to writing a believable love story, a heartbreaking scene or real-sounding dialogue. All you need is to tell the truth. It’s always heartbreaking.

The older I get, the more I realize how rare it is to meet a kindred spirit.

I'm horrified to admit that I just love Salinger. I was devastated to find out that other people feel the same way.

Many years ago making movies was something. It was the major entertainment just to go to the cinema, once, twice a week. At the time, something like 400 million people went to the movies.

What good is any feeling we may have about ourselves, if it only lasts as long as others agree to it?

Singing with others is an unmediated, shared experience as each person feels the same music reverberating in their individual bodies. Singing is part of our humanity; it is embodied empathy.

Female schools might be comprised in the list of those worthy the public patronage, with great propriety.

My intimate knowledge of the [UN] system allowed me to get things done despite the many obstacles.

Social media is new to me and I didn't think I would like it, being very protective of my private space, but it's nice to connect to the love and positive vibes folks have to share.

I try and avoid thinking of strategy and I tend to stick to my gun of doing things that I like and try to avoid things that I "should" be doing, and stay true to that.

There's no smoking section in heaven.

But when it came right down to it, the skin of my wrist looked so white and defenseless that I couldn't do it.

A Russian child asked his mother : "does God know we don't believe in Him?"