If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his lens, and if he is compassionate, it's already a lot. The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.

If you are careful with people, they will offer you part of themselves. That is the big secret.

If a photographer cares about the people before the lens and is compassionate, much is given. It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.

I think if I ever get satisfied, I’ll have to stop. It’s the frustration that drives you.

The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.

I didn't want to be a woman photographer. That would limit me. I wanted to be a photographer who was a woman, with all the world open to my camera.

What do you hang on the walls of your mind?

I don't see anybody as either ordinary or extraordinary. I see them simply as people in front of my lens.

Lesson number one: Pay attention to the intrusion of the camera.

I found a way of working which pleased me because I didn’t have to frighten people with heavy equipment. It was that little black box and me.

It's the hardest thing in the world to take the mundane and try to show how special it is.

It has been said that most revolutions are not caused by revolutionaries in the first place, but by the stupidity and brutality of governments

If fortune favors you do not be elated if she frowns do not despond.

Play hard, learn as much as I can and do what I do best. The rest will take care of itself I think.

I would love to say there was some contemporary artist who's work really got me thinking, but lately I have just been trying to sort out 20 years of garbage TV culture that is filling my brain.

One of the networks sent me a TV set to watch. I didn't care for the medium. It depressed me.

If you put a pink cover on something, critics make a certain set of assumptions and may not even read the book. But my readers are happy with it.

Laughter can shake you from the delirium of grief

Our children's children will hear a good story.

I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.

Television's grown up a lot. It's a little more adult, which I think is a good thing. It allows actors to tell more complex stories. I'm happy to see where it ends up.