Being on a highway, all that speed and aggression, is very terrifying to me.

I've put up with too much, too long, and now I'm just too intelligent, too powerful, too beautiful, too sure of who I am finally to deserve anything less.

I am obsessed with becoming a woman comfortable in her skin.

My weapon has always been language, and I've always used it, but it has changed. Instead of shaping the words like knives now, I think they're flowers, or bridges.

You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are.

The beauty of literature is you allow readers to see things through other peoples eyes. All good books do this.

'Hispanic' is English for a person of Latino origin who wants to be accepted by the white status quo. 'Latino' is the word we have always used for ourselves.

If you know two cultures and two languages, that intermediate place, where the two don't perfectly meet, is really interesting.

People know when you're speaking from el corazón. You have that pain. Take that pain and do something with it. That's very powerful.

The world we live in is a house on fire and the people we love are burning.

You don't want somebody who doesn't know his own heart, do you? You'll find someone who's brave enough to love you. Someday. One day. Not today.

On famous relatives - First I was my mother's daughter..and now..I am my daughter's mother !

Under normal periods any man's success hinges about 5 percent on what others do for him and 95 percent on what he does.

Childbirth is more admirable than conquest, more amazing than self-defense, and as courageous as either one.

When I wrote 'Dear Fatty,' I realised that sitting and writing alone is an absolute joy.

I had an uncle who had a car with a rumble seat, and I used to love to ride in that thing. I mentioned this to some kids, and they were like, "What are you even talking about?"

I tried to think of a witty play on Every picture tells a thousand words, but then the whole word/picture thing collapsed on me.

A formal manipulator in mathematics often experiences the discomforting feeling that his pencil surpasses him in intelligence.

I think making features has got to be in the addiction category.

The world is not against you, but the world is a place where bad things happen. It's just true. Airlines crash, people do evil things. A lot of bad things happen and it causes pain.

I actually think I have an audience member's sensibility about going to the movies.