I haven't had an orthodox career.

I think that's very sad, that I haven't allowed my heart to be broken. I have broken a few.

I'm looking for a bunch of new tchotchkes that represent the new part of my life.

I'm so vigorous, and I so take it for granted, because I've always been a real physical person.

'Forrest Gump' is filled full of moments where your heart just cheers.

I'm highly emotional, so I'm highly aware of humiliation.

I certainly have a very colorful nature, filled with great highs and great lows... in my early adulthood I probably was grappling with some serious depression issues.

Fear is where the information is.

I didn't back into being an actor, I was born one.

I've never had my heart broken. It's a very sad state of affairs. I think everybody should have their heart broken. I don't think it says anything good about me at all.

I have a tendency to think of myself as the mutt of the litter. I'm not purebred.

But there isn't any second half of myself waiting to plug in and make me whole. It's there. I'm already whole.

I never felt safe. In high school, acting is what I did to stay sane. It wasn't about showing off; it was about revealing parts of myself that I couldn't reveal anyplace else.

But I was losing so much bone density that I would have been in grave danger. And I mean grave danger. If I had let it go just a few more years I could have broken my hip or spine just picking up my granddaughter

What does the Academy Award mean? I don’t think it means much of anything.

I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!

Acting has been my lover and best friend. My confidant and my tormentor. It has given me support and broken my heart and mended it.

Louis Armstrong said you have to live a life. And that's right. If you don't live a life, you don't got nothin' to come out your horn.

If I hadn't fought back, I might have been Gidget forever.

I've grown used to being lonely over the years, so I don't seek to change it. But aren't there many people who are lonely?

And I realized that sometimes the greatest triumphs in your life come in on little cat feet and sit on silent haunches and it's up to you to see it before it moves on.

The people who stand on the sidelines and criticize aren't actually in the arena, spilling their blood.

When it came down to doing the nude scene, I couldn't hide how humiliating it was for me; I burst into tears.

In reality, people are people. Age does a weird thing to your body on the outside. It makes your face fall and weird things happen all over. But inside, you're the same person you always were.

You may be a little older, or a little more neurotic, or a little more closed off. But inside, you're just the same.

Don't think for one minute, whoever you are, that you're not important. You're so vitally important to stand up and be heard and do what it is you do.

Quit thinking about your weight and start thinking about your worth and who you are and what you haven't done yet. What you want to accomplish.

I don't know what happiness is. I have periods of feeling joyous and peaceful and excited about what I'm doing, but I am also frequently very sad.

Motherhood is given the brush-off in our society. 'Oh, I'm just a mom,' you hear women say. 'Just' a mom? Please! Being a mom is everything. It's mentorship, it's inspirational, it's our hope for the future.

Had there not been a Mary Todd, there would not have been an Abraham Lincoln. She found him when he was a young lawyer and really a bumpkin. No one knew of him, but she recognized his brilliance.

The whole world is waiting. The whole world needs you.

To watch how lovingly your children parent their own children is to know profound achievement.

I MUST go to what desperately frightens me - the chance of failure.

People really don't understand what actors do.

In the 1970s and 1980s, I got to do some great work. The Oscars are really nice, but the best part is that I had the opportunity to do that kind of work.

The only thing that matters to me is getting to the work - getting to do the work. And I don't really care where it is: whether it's on stage or on television or in film.

I haven't had an orthodox career.

You can't help but feel all the human-rights issues.

I've done some good work and some not-good work.

I'm looking for a bunch of new tchotchkes that represent the new part of my life.

You know, people really don't understand what actors do.

The opportunities I've had to play really complex characters - which haven't been a lot, but some - you never get over them.

The Oscars are really nice, but the best part is that I had the opportunity to do that kind of work.

I always wanted to be a great actor.

I wanted to be Katharine Hepburn-ish - there was a bit of nobility about her.

I've had such an odd career.

I had to let my ego go a long time ago.

I mean, the only thing that matters to me is getting to the work - getting to do the work. And I don't really care where it is: whether it's on stage or on television or in film.

I did comedies for 10 years and I learned a great deal.

Never, ever, have I felt really accepted in Hollywood.