When you decide to become an opera singer, it's a commitment that allows nothing else to interfere. Even your family - and I have a young daughter - has to take second place.

We live at the edge of the world, so we live on the edge. Kiwis will always sacrifice money and security for adventure and challenge.

For the first time in my life, I put my body and reputation on the line to stand up for my beliefs and do the right thing. I hope I've encouraged other people to do the same.

Treat everyone the same until you find out they're an idiot.

Happiness is a choice. You grieve, you stomp your feet, you pick yourself up and choose to be happy.

Now it wasn’t just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was ‘Nope, they’re married, man.'

I am not intimidating. I am a woman's woman. I love hanging out with women. And people are really inspired by this show.

One of my missions is to get people to go, "Oh, she's really nice and I really like her, but what were the words she just said?!" I want your instincts to be at odds with your mind.

So yes, the roles are getting more and more like me. But that's because Xena was so entirely unlike me. Most people aren't really aware of that.

My voice likes rock music. My problem is, I can do a lot of things, but I have to find my own voice.

I've often wanted to play the victim, or somebody who makes terrible choices. I would love to play the alcoholic mother who horribly lets down her children. That's a great morally imperiled role.

When men reject reason, they have no means left for dealing with one another — except brute, physical force.

When we are happy, we are always good, but when we are good, we are not always happy.

There are men whom you will never dislodge from an opinion, except by taking possession of it yourself.

We need not throw away 200 years of American jurisprudence while we fight terrorism. We need not choose between our most deeply held values, and keeping this nation safe.

I don't know whether I'm misanthropic. It seems to me I'm constantly disappointed. I'm very easily disappointed.

There is a written and an unwritten law. The one by which we regulate our constitutions in our cities is the written law; that which arises from customs is the unwritten law.

Each man delights in the work that suits him best.

A man doesn't learn to understand anything unless he loves it.

Catholic and Jew - it's very closely related, a lot of holidays, a lot of guilt, a lot of the same things going on.

Usually, if I'm coming to Europe, I'm on a boat for seven days, so I spend the seven days doing a bunch of things. I'll do cardio for an hour or an hour-and-a-half and weights, just light weights.