To me, it wasn't 'Star Wars' that shaped me; it was more 'Mary Tyler Moore' and, nowadays, 'Louie' and 'Girls.'

I just feel like content is content; people want to see it resonate.

Getting into Sundance is a certain sort of passport to a level of anxiety I've never experienced, even having had a baby in the NICU for a week. For about ten minutes, you're a world-class director. Then you become an entry-level, harried, low level concierge with absolutely no juice.

I am beyond excited to share 'Transparent' with the world through Amazon. They've been so supportive through this incredible process.

The more horrible the truth that you admit, the better you connect. You have to tell the truth.

I noticed that people were craving a way of reinterpreting tradition and of being Jewish without joining a synagogue.

I was running the show on 'United States of Tara' and 'How To Make It In America' where I could say, 'Okay, I'm in charge of everything now.' But it still wasn't my show.

I like to create a community where people want to come and have a good time and do their best work.

As much as possible, I put my family first.

You just have to say over and over again: 'I am a director.' Nobody gives it to you. Nobody anoints you.

A lot of the people I know connect through working. We're all so ambitious. Sometimes my friends will say, 'I want to hang out with you.' And I just go, 'Well, let's do a project together.' That's the only way I can.

I love the Army-Navy surplus store Surplus Value Center. They have really good long underwear and multicolored bandanas, cool camo jackets, and really, really scary-looking knives. If you're into that sort of thing.

If you can laugh with your friends over something, you own it.

Years of my life were lived knowing that I'd get a book out of them one day.

I don't think it's a contradiction to find painfulness funny.

Think of it this way: If you got a flat tire, what would you do? Change the tire? Or get out of the car and slash the other three tires? No! Get back on the road. Don't dwell on it; don't beat yourself up. That gets you nowhere.

People believe practice makes perfect, but it doesn't. If you're making a tremendous amount of mistakes, all you're doing is deeply ingraining the same mistakes.

You can look for external sources of motivation and that can catalyze a change, but it won't sustain one. It has to be from an internal desire.

You've got to listen to the universe, to life, to God, whatever you want to call it. Because its going to speak to you.

You can dramatically affect the expression of your metabolism and your biochemistry by the way you eat and the way you live.

Everyone is trying to make ends meet, and even if you aren't, no one wants to get ripped off.

I've always believed fitness is an entry point to help you build that happier, healthier life. When your health is strong, you're capable of taking risks. You'll feel more confident to ask for the promotion. You'll have more energy to be a better mom. You'll feel more deserving of love.

If there's something I hate the most, it's feeling helpless, powerless.

It seems at times fate knocks on people's door, and they are too afraid to pursue it.

If I was ashamed of who I am, I would be in the closet.

I find television to be a bit like a meat grinder. It's like, you have a cow, you put it through a meat grinder, and out comes a hot dog. It's almost unrecognizable.

You just are born the way that you're born.

When it comes to kids, it's just not hard to get them healthy. I don't find it hard and don't understand why people find it hard.

Let's just say I believe in healthy love.

People that know me know I'm very good about doing my own thing and minding my own business.

Life has a way of working out the way it's meant to.

When you think of 'Biggest Loser,' you think of it as a TV show. But people are coming to lose weight. I take that very seriously.

My mom gave me enough self-worth to carry me through difficult experiences. She was very loving and accepting. She was like, 'Whelp, you're gay? OK, cool.'

Politics aside, you look at Barack Obama, he is ripped.

I'm not sympathetic. I have zero sympathy. I understand about emotional eating, I understand how painful the process can be, but I also understand that change is possible.

My agenda is trying to help people live a better life.

I wish I had some strapping football player husband. It would be such a dream to be 'normal' like that, but I'm just not.

Lazy doesn't exist. Lazy is a symptom of something else. The person who can't get up off their butt is just a person who's depressed. It's usually a pervasive lack of self-worth, or a feeling of helplessness.

It's important in life to celebrate any victory in life.

I don't believe in eating throughout the day. I eat every four hours.

I was homophobic because I obviously didn't know that I was gay.

I train in different modalities so that each muscle is targeted twice a week, with two days of rest in between.

When it comes to the chocolate, I allow it every single day, but I only get 200 calories worth. So I work it into my daily calories. It's a candy bar. But I usually only need it after dinner.

Parenting is not for sissies. You have to sacrifice and grow up.

I only eat healthy food, and I only want healthy love!

We all have to work for happiness. And you cannot listen to other people. That is the worst mistake you can make.

Everybody has haters.

I've wanted to be in daytime television for a long time, because that's where you can convey a message.

For years, I always thought it was hilarious that I was this fitness guru, because fitness was just a tool I utilized to help people improve their confidence. For me, it's never been about fitness. It's always been about helping to empower people.

The more you change and stress the body the quicker it's going to adapt and change.