I wake up so full of life and feeling so alive and so full of joy when I get to go to a set and tell a story. I just - I couldn't imagine not having that, and what a gift it's been in my life.

The truth is, after Boys Don't Cry, I realized how few and far between the great roles are. I am beyond thankful for finding Million Dollar Baby.

This is my one and only life and it's a great and terrible and short and endless thing and none of us come out of it alive.

I grew up in a trailer park in Bellingham, Washington.

My biggest growth has been sitting with things that are uncomfortable and dealing with them.

I had teachers who I could tell didn't want to be there. And I just couldn't get inspired by someone who didn't want to be there.

I don't think people should have boundaries put on them, by themselves or society or another gender, because it's our birthright to experience life in whatever way we feel best suits us.

You can change your fate. You can sit back, or you can go after your life and all that you want it to be.

You only have one life and if you're not doing what you love, what's the point?

Few people know this about me, but I love baking pies.

There's no negatives. You just have to trust that what's happening in your life is unfolding in exactly the right way.

But you have to remember in life that there's a positive to every negative and a negative to every positive.

Lies from the closest to you are often the most numerous and paralyzing.

Champions don't become champions in the field---they are merely recognized there.

And one day our grandkids will ask us, 'What was it like to be a minority?'

I would rather not make a film than make one where I don't have final cut.

It sometimes takes days, even weeks, before a dog's nerves tire. In the case of terriers it can run into months.

Leaders are problem solvers by talent and temperament, and by choice.

In a male-dominated environment, things are very macho, and you can't show weakness.

We can bring a heart of understanding and compassion to a world that needs it so much.

Anyone in the United States today who isn't paranoid must be crazy.