"You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it."

"I've been practicing modalities of Eastern philosophy since about 1972. What I've learned through my meditation is a sense of equanimity, a sense of all things being equal."

"Paparazzi will try to get the most controversial picture of you in a compromising position because that's how they're going to sell it."

"I am compelled to continuously see the bright side. It is in my DNA. My kids look at me and say: 'Mom, you're so happy!' And I do feel happy. I feel joyful inside. I can't explain it."

"We need to habituate better thinking to appreciate more of your day because that has a neurological correlate."

"I want to know where joy lives. I'd interview scientists, religious leaders and heads of state. I'd want to find out exactly what makes people happy. I'd want to look into the biology, the chemistry of the human brain."

"I was born Jewish, and I consider that my religion. But I've studied all religions, and as you learn more, you really learn that everyone's praying to the same God."

"I believe having religion in your life creates the potential for long-lasting relationships."

"Buddhism is really, one of its main practices is understanding and experiencing compassion, and how that ultimately is a road to happiness."

"I've been practicing Buddhism for a while. So, I call myself a Jew-Bu, because my tribe is still Jew. But my philosophy and my practice is really Buddhist."

"Attention for children is so much about input, and the brain can only filter so much - I don't know how many millions of messages that come through the brain, and we can only filter so much through it."

"Oftentimes, actors are looked at as court jesters. They are not looked at as deep-thinking, smart people who do many other things or have gifts in other areas."

"I love making people laugh and by the way I still do that with the charitable efforts on my part because I believe that people need to laugh."

"I believe that we all need to do charitable work. It should be taken seriously in the area of education, as someone from the industry."

"No relationship is easy, and nobody should ever think it is. The minute you start forgetting the needs of the other person is when you get in trouble."

"My parents always supported me, but I was put to task. My father thought when I sang, I was sharp; my mother was upset when I wasn't in the first line at recitals."

"When I started go-go dancing on tables for a living, I didn't want to tell my mom or my dad. I made 25 dollars a night, and I was able to make my rent, with the four girls I lived with."

"During the era when women were burning their bras - which, by the way, they never actually did - but when women were first becoming liberated, I was 23. And I met a woman who asked, 'Don't you feel bad because you're sort of acting like the stupid airhead blonde?' And I totally surprised myself. I said, 'Liberation can also come from the inside.'"

"I can't imagine, as a human being, not being able to grow."

"I don't like facial hair, and I don't like kissing facial hair, as you cant find the lips."

"I'm extremely proud of my daughter. She's done amazing work. She's worked on herself, which I think is important."

"When you get to a certain age, you have to make a decision for yourself: if you want to get old in the industry, and you want to play maybe a few parts that come along now and then - or what else in life interests you?"

"The big money goes to kids and young men - big tent-pole movies, which are expensive but have a great return."

"My mother was the kind of person who was very much part of her tribe and very much a satellite of her tribe. She was the girl who left her family at the age of 17 and went to Washington. My mother was orphaned at three and then was brought up by my aunt Goldie. So, yes she belonged, but there was a part of her that didn't."

"The interesting part of my spiritual life is studying as much as you can. Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism and Shamanism and Judaism, Christianity - you try to learn what the precepts are, what the religion is, and ultimately, it's based in the same thought, it's based in the same outcome, you know."

"The truth is that no matter how old we are, as long as our mothers are alive, we want our mother. And it's a very powerful relationship if it's healthy."

"A child's giggle tickles me deeply, and it breaks my heart when that begins to disappear. So I do what I can to create opportunities for children to continue to laugh and rediscover their joy."

"I always wanted to be a mother first."

"Sadly, so many arts programs have been eliminated from schools due to budget constraints. These creative outlets are so very important, not only for a child's well-being, but also for self-expression and fun."

"I always wanted to understand the causes of happiness. I'm a bit of a scientist, I guess you could say."

"What we want to help children with is, just because you feel sad or happy or depressed doesn't mean that is who you are. We want them to know, 'I am really sad right now, but I am not a sad person.'"

"It's important, at least for me, that while we're entertaining, there's also something substantive to talk about."

"Whether you're an actor, producer, writer, or director, it's all about the story you're going to tell."

"If you have a sense of yourself, your mission, your belief system, those things will lead you to success."

"When you're female working in a male-dominated industry, there are unfortunately extra things you need to do - for example, couch opinions in a way that sounds palatable and not threatening. That's a skill I developed."

"If you need to be bound to someone, then it's important to be married. If you are independent, then it's important to not be married."

"I would have been long divorced if I got married."

"A woman opening a movie with no other star is like a miracle."

"Directors didn't want to work with me because I was 'too controlling.' If it had been a man, it wouldn't have meant a damn thing."

"Why not just live in the moment, especially if it has a good beat?"

"Why not just live in the moment, especially if it has a good beat?"

"I try to stay positive and be very, very active."

"I walk every day, and I run and do all kinds of that."

"I feel there are injustices in the world that I'll stand up for, and I think that it's important to realize that the world is filled with these kinds of issues."

"I had a tremendous amount of gay friends, so my whole life was basically like that... I never noticed who was gay or who was straight."

"A marriage ends up being a business deal: no matter how long or short it is, somebody owes somebody money."

"It's ridiculous to have to base your relationship on money."

"Money can destroy people. It really can."

"It's nice for a woman to go out and have her own money and her own ability to do what she wants."

"You don't meditate once and suddenly your life turns around. What it does is it lets you train your brain to be able to become more stable in an action-oriented way."