"My mother never really thought I could become anything."

"Why is it men are permitted to be obsessed about their work, but women are only permitted to be obsessed about men?"

"Marlon Brando. The finest actor who ever lived. He was my idol when I was 13. He's done enough work to last two lifetimes. Everything I do, I think: Can Brando play this with me?"

"I'm not that ambitious any more. I just like my privacy. I wish I really wasn't talked about at all."

"Directing is so interesting. You know, it just sort of encompasses everything that you see, that you know, that you've felt, that you have observed."

"On a very basic level, many people think celebrities have too much already, so we shouldn't be entitled to our political opinions."

"I don't like talking about myself and I don't like talking about the work."

"Sometimes you resent the people you love and need the most. Love is so fascinating in all its forms, and I think everyone who has ever been a mother will relate to this."

"If I hear a record once, I usually never listen to it again. I rarely listen to music - unless it's Billie Holiday."

"I always wear the same thing at home. I can't be bothered with jewelry. My pants have elastic waists. I like to be comfortable. There are so many more important things to worry about."

"I don't enjoy public performances and being up on a stage. I don't enjoy the glamour. Like tonight, I am up on stage and my feet hurt."

"Success to me is having ten honeydew melons and eating only the top half of each slice."

"Around people I don't know, I'm totally at a loss."

"They're called 'angels' because they're in heaven until the reviews come out."

"I remember when I was 5 living on Pulaski Street in Brooklyn, the hallway of our building had a brass banister and a great sound, a great echo system. I used to sing in the hallway."

"I think of myself as a girl from Brooklyn."

"I think when I was younger, I wanted to be a star, until I became a star, and then it's a lot of work. It's work to be a star. I don't enjoy the stardom part. I only enjoy the creative process."

"When I was maybe 5 or 6 years old, the neighborhood girls would sit on the stoop and sing. I was known as the kid who had a good voice and no father."

"What does it mean when people applaud? Should I give 'em money? Say thank you? Lift my dress? The lack of applause - that I can respond to."

"I hated singing. I wanted to be an actress. But I don't think I'd have made it any other way."

"It is every woman's dream to be some man's dream woman."

"The audience is the best judge of anything. They cannot be lied to. Truth brings them closer. A moment that lags - they're gonna cough."

"I must have got my detailed, obsessive streak from my father, who was an English teacher, because my mother wasn't like me at all."

"I only began to sing because I couldn't get a job as an actress."