"For correct writing, the cultivation of patience and mental accuracy is essential. Throughout the young author's period of apprenticeship, he must keep reliable dictionaries and textbooks at his elbow; eschewing as far as possible that hasty extemporaneous manner of writing which is the privilege of more advanced students."

"There are not many persons who know what wonders are opened to them in the stories and visions of their youth; for when as children we listen and dream, we think but half-formed thoughts, and when as men we try to remember, we are dulled and prosaic with the poison of life."

"Science, already oppressive with its shocking revelations, will perhaps be the ultimate exterminator of our human species - if separate species we be - for its reserve of unguessed horrors could never be borne by mortal brains if loosed upon the world."

"An excellent habit to cultivate is the analytical study of the King James Bible. For simple yet rich and forceful English, this masterly production is hard to equal; and even though its Saxon vocabulary and poetic rhythm be unsuited to general composition, it is an invaluable model for writers on quaint or imaginative themes."

"From my experience, I cannot doubt but that man, when lost to terrestrial consciousness, is indeed sojourning in another and uncorporeal life of far different nature from the life we know; and of which only the slightest and most indistinct memories linger after waking."

"Nothing is really typical of my efforts... I'm simply casting about for better ways to crystallise and capture certain strong impressions (involving the elements of time, the unknown, cause and effect, fear, scenic and architectural beauty, and other seemingly ill-assorted things) which persist in clamouring for expression."

"All attempts at gaining literary polish must begin with judicious reading, and the learner must never cease to hold this phase uppermost. In many cases, the usage of good authors will be found a more effective guide than any amount of precept."

"Never should an unfamiliar word be passed over without elucidation, for, with a little conscientious research, we may each day add to our conquests in the realm of philology and become more and more ready for graceful independent expression."

"Orthodox Christianity, by playing upon the emotions of man, is able to accomplish wonders toward "keeping "him in order and relieving his mind. It can frighten or cajole him away from evil more effectively than could reason."

"It is easy to remove the mind from harping on the lost illusion of immortality. The disciplined intellect fears nothing and craves no sugar-plum at the day's end, but is content to accept life and serve society as best it may."

"Indeed, there is much in pure humanitarian culture, as opposed to rigid scientific training, which encourages absorption in the affairs of mankind, and more or less indifference to the unfathomed abysses of star-strown space that yawn interminably about this terrestrial grain of dust."

"A person's self-esteem has nothing to do with how she looks."

"Throughout my career I have been talked out of things I wanted to do, and when I look back, I think I should have followed my instincts."

"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'm not the girl for super high fashion because I don't have the right body. When I want to get dressed up, I'm a Roberto Cavalli girl."

"Being a mother is probably the most important thing in my life right now."

"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."

"People win 'Oscars', and then it seems like they fall off the planet. And that's partly because a huge expectation walks in the room and sits right down on top of your head."

"I don't think I'm unlike a lot of people. I am just someone who is trying to find that mate, and I think it's a really hard thing to do."

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

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

"I'm not done with love, but I refuse to settle."

"I think we have become obsessed with beauty and personally I'm really saddened by the way women mutilate their faces today in search of that."

"I'm not the girl for superhigh fashion because I don't have the right body."

"I always had to diet. I'm diabetic, so it's a lifestyle for me anyway just to stay healthy and not end up in the hospital."

"I like Doritos. I'm usually watching 'The Biggest Loser' eating Doritos."

"Having a baby takes so much from you. It's the most glorious thing you'll ever do, but the aftermath is not so glorious!"

"My mother helped me identify myself the way the world would identify me. Bloodlines didn't matter as much as how I would be perceived."

"By the time I left school, I had a lot of tenacity."

"I always had to prove myself through my actions. Be a cheerleader. Be class president. Be the editor of the newspaper."

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

"I'm a much better mother at 46... than if I were like, 21 or 25."

"I carried my Oscar to bed with me. My first and only three-way happened that night."

"I think I've evolved into someone pretty confident - in myself and in my skin."

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

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

"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."

"I was black growing up in an all-white neighborhood, so I felt like I just didn't fit in. Like I wasn't as good as everybody else, or as smart, or whatever."

"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."

"The worst thing a man can ever do is kiss me on the first date."

"I wish all men were like dogs."

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

"And you also have to do movies that are about commerce because that's what is required of the industry today."

"Anytime you put a movie out it's subject to such scrutiny and such criticism."

"I don't know why, but I respond well to tortured characters."

"I know I'm only one human being and I'm only making one tiny contribution and it's nothing more than that."

"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'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'm learning to accept the lack of privacy as the real downer in my profession."

"I'm not afraid of portraying anything on-screen."