It is so easy to waste our lives: Our days, our hours, our minutes ... it is so easy to exist instead of live.

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.

I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.

A finished person is a boring person.

There is a little boy inside the man who is my brother... Oh, how I hated that little boy. And how I love him too.

After all those years as a woman hearing 'not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough,' almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, 'I'm enough.'

Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.

There is a lot of talk now about metal detectors and gun control. Both are good things. But they are no more a solution than forks and spoons are a solution to world hunger.

Look back, to slavery, to suffrage, to integration and one thing is clear. Fashions in bigotry come and go. The right thing lasts.

You are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life ... Your entire life ... Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul.

America is a country that seems forever to be toddler or teenager, at those two stages of human development characterized by conflict between autonomy and security.

Be open about your thoughts, ideas, and desires and you will be right with your decisions.

I had to confront my fears and master my every demonic thought about inferiority, insecurity, or the fear of being black, young, and gifted in this Western culture.

If it's wrong to wreck the planet, it's wrong to profit from the wreckage.

These stories are ghosts, bringing people back from the dead. Just for a moment. For a visit. Every story is a ghost.

To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life.

Thought that accepts reality as given is no thought at all.

I'm not telling anyone, 'Quit your job and be homeless to go for your dream.'

If you're sad and you like beer, I'm your lady, ... The Saddest Music in the World.

I think when you get to the point where you don't need to be in love, then you could be in love. You have to just be OK with yourself-and that's a long process.

I'm sporting some really blonde hair because I live in Hollywood and I'm an actress.