When people ask me why I don't eat meat or any other animal products, I say, 'Because they are unhealthy and they are the product of a violent and inhumane industry.'

When I was a freshman in high school, my drama teacher, an incredible, inspirational genius, the guy who got me into acting, he encouraged me to get the lead in a musical. They didn't have any guys.

My family would be supportive if I said I wanted to be a Martian, wear only banana skins, make love to ashtrays, and eat tree bark.

I'm tired of playing the brat.

For people who have... had curve balls thrown at them, it is easier to digest change and digest change in other people. Change only scares the small-minded. The small-minded and me.

I have a very bad relationship with mice.

You sleep with people all the time that you hate.

I'm tired of answering questions about myself.

I live in New York full time. I can't live in L.A., because I fear people think I'm a vagrant there.

In a movie we try to deceive. In theaters, as they say, the deceived are the wisest.

Definitely, my approach is me-oriented. I feel like my job is to safeguard the believability of the emotions of the character.

The word of God renews my mind.

Those extra letters dangling at the ends of words are the genitalia of grammar.

The storm came. Lives were washed away. Ancient pains resurfaced. Now it is time for a sea of change.

The perfect world is created when the mind is free to see it.

Fear-filled words will defeat you, but faith-filled words will put you over!

Nothing is more pleasing to God than an open hand, and a closed mouth.

Insofar as we, critics of the black tradition, master our craft, we serve both to preserve our own traditions and to shape their direction. All great writers demand great critics.

If they let me choose between you and the dog, I'll choose the dog.

My only regret is that I signed away the world rights and in America they've been far and away my most successful books, but I never saw a cent from any of it.

I asked the waiter, 'Is this milk fresh?' He said, 'Lady, three hours ago it was grass.'