I love speaking at schools. That's always my favorite because I wish I'd had someone who was like me come speak at my school.

I think to be Miss U.S.A., first of all, you need to represent everybody, all of us here.

I made a lot of mistakes growing up, trying so hard to fit in. I got so lost trying to please everybody.

I think it's important to be diverse, and I hope we continue to see that as a trend in the fashion industry.

Shopping for hijabs has always been fun for me. I was so excited to begin wearing a headscarf. I had always looked up to my mother as she wore hers, and I was eager to emulate her beauty and the wonderful things she represented.

I feel best when I am modestly dressed. It's a choice I make and am proud of; for me, I don't think I have to show skin to be beautiful.

There is a misconception that young Muslim women are oppressed. That simply isn't the case. I choose to dress modestly and choose to cover my hair with a hijab; not all Muslim women make that choice, and that's okay. We are all different!

I never grew up seeing women that looked like me in magazines or on TV and didn't feel like I had a place in the world of fashion. I am honoured to be part of that change.

I think often the West does not understand the history and the privilege of wearing a hijab. They always think of oppression.

When you're a kid, to be honest, you could be in the worst situation ever, but you're still going to have ways to enjoy it.

It's important to remember all the millions of people that are starving.

I learned that when you stand up for what you believe in, you'll get a lot of support. But there are always going to be negative things said about you.

When I was younger, I got bullied for wearing my hijab.

I'm covered up, but I'm still getting these comments that say I shouldn't be. But the girls who wear the bikinis, they're being told they're too revealing! Enough. It's their body, their choice.

Wearing modest clothing is a belief, and I'm not going to say that every Muslim woman is in my shoes, but the majority of us do have a choice.

I don't just want to support only Muslim women. I want to inspire women across the board, and I'm hoping they won't allow things to get in the way.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Know when to laugh at yourself, and find a way to laugh at obstacles that inevitably present themselves.

Let me tell you something - being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life. No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory.

The times may have changed, but the people are still the same. We're still looking for love, and that will always be our struggle as human beings.

I spent a lot of time with a crown on my head.

Blackness is a state of mind, and I identify with the black community. Mainly, because I realized, early on, when I walk into a room, people see a black woman, they don't see a white woman. So out of that reason alone, I identify more with the black community.

I know that I will never find my father in any other man who comes into my life, because it is a void in my life that can only be filled by him.

When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner.

I'm done with men... I'm going to be alone. I have no luck with relationships. I don't think I'm made for marriage.

If you set out to do something and you give it your all and it doesn't work out, be willing to modify your goal slightly. Have the ability to look in another direction. A small shift could guide you to the real purposes of your life.

The man for me is the cherry on the pie. But I'm the pie and my pie is good all by itself. Even if I don't have a cherry.

If you're of multiple races, you have a different challenge, a unique challenge of embracing all of who you are but still finding a way to identify yourself and I think that's often hard for us to do.

I'll never get married again, and I always hate to say never to anything, but I will never marry again.

After all, everybody has secrets and there are some things that nobody knows about you but only you, right?

I won't have a traditional marriage; I don't find the value in that anymore. But I am such a hopeless romantic and I really want love and I want a committed relationship, so I am going to reinvent marriage for myself.

I am a hopeless romantic. And I won't stop till I get it right.

Self-esteem comes from who you have in your life. How you were raised. What you struggled with as a child.

I'd like to be able to use Storm's powers for good, like have it rain more in Southern California. We could do with it.

I think I am at my best when my hair is short. It's easier to take care of and more of who I am. Women are conditioned to think we need long hair.

I'm just going to live my life and be who I am.

The first step is clearly defining what it is you're after, because without knowing that, you'll never get it.

Being biracial is sort of like being in a secret society. Most people I know of that mix have a real ability to be in a room with anyone, black or white.

I guess you could say I have bad taste in men. But I no longer feel the need to be someone's wife.

While being called beautiful is extremely flattering, I would much rather be noticed for my work as an actress.

When I think, where did I laugh the most, where did I eat the most, where did I just feel good all the time, I would say making the Bond movie 'Die Another Day.' To be part of such an iconic franchise and to travel to exotic places - that was the most fun I ever had.

I wish all men were like dogs.

Beauty is not just physical.

In a perfect world, I would be a painter. I love working with my hands. I don't get to do it as much as I like, but I am finding a way to make more time as life goes on because it's a really great outlet for me to express myself.

There have been so many people who have said to me, 'You can't do that,' but I've had an innate belief that they were wrong. Be unwavering and relentless in your approach.

I'm not a fanatic about exercising. For me, it's about moderation and balance.

I never wanted to be a model. My modelling career was nothing but a stepping stone to my acting career and that's all I ever saw it as. A pointless rock in the river that has to be stepped on in order to get to the meaningful oasis of acting.

You have to get the audience invested even if you're doing something that they think is dumb, it's kind of what these movies are all about.

What's hardest for me to swallow is when there is a love story, say, with a really high-profile male star and there's no reason I can't play the part. They say, 'Oh, we love Halle, we just don't want to go black with this part.'

I think a smart person today realizes that you have to be part of the art films that are done just for the sake of the art.

I see women in their 30s getting plastic surgery, pulling this up and tucking that back. It's like a slippery slope - once you start you pull one thing one way and then you think, 'Oh my God, I've got to do the other side.'