You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.

I love you the more in that I believe you had liked me for my own sake and for nothing else.

But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.

There is nothing permanent except change.

Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.

The more social media we have, the more we think we're connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other.

Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.

We need realism to deal with reality.

After I did nine years of a television series, I didn't want to do anything really that involved going to a set and being in front of a camera for quite a while. And when I did start to want to do things, I wanted to focus more on film.

Music is such a balm. Always has been. It's such a heartbeat, like blood thrumming through the womb. That's why music appeals to people.

There's an unhealthy obsession in America with royalty and the class system.

Certainly, I've never wanted to live on past achievements.

We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods.

The drawing is already partly there - it's in the paper. And the paper is talking before you do.

When men have a smile on their faces, that does a lot for me.

When I research a role it does get a little crazy and maybe even a little stupid.

My mother used to tell me about vibrations. I didn't really understand too much of what that meant when I was just a boy. To think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death.

I listen to both oldies and contemporary stations. I enjoy listening to current stuff because there's an energy to it that's inspiring.

My version of a stress dream is, really, showing up on a concert stage with a drum set and not knowing the chart.

Why should the court impose a judgment in a case in which the SEC alleges a serious securities fraud, but the defendant neither admits nor denies wrongdoing?

Text messaging is just the most recent focus of people's anxiety; what people are really worried about is a new generation gaining control of what they see as their language.

We used to exchange leotards with gymnasts from other countries. I don't remember who I got my most prized leotard from, but it was one with a lot of stars on it.

To win Best Director at Sundance was beyond anything I could have imagined for myself. It's still an incredible feeling to know I won. But as happy as I am about winning, I also know many other women of color have directed amazing films over the years that were equally deserving and didn't win.

Back in those days we thought we could change the world.

Fear has been my biggest friend. Fear of the unknown. Whenever I've been afraid, I've been very self-protective.

I don't mind having a big butt - they're back in style. But I do a lot of squats to make sure my booty's not dragging on the ground.

People put dates on any kind of comment that you make.

I only went a year to high school. I should have been in high school, but I was in a band, and when you're successful doing that - well, you aren't too likely to go back.

Many Europeans are confused by the terms Roma and Romania. They wonder if it is an ethnicity or a nation of 22 million citizens.

Pushing the boundaries of polite society does not just fall under the purview of crime fiction authors.

The Cherokees tried to do everything within the law and wished only to live in peace on their own lands. Yet they were cheated out of their birthright and treated as if they were less than human.