I didn't grow up watching film but as a Ukrainian-American, music and stories and dance are crucial.

I have tender, romantic associations with upstate New York.

Music is what our feelings sound like.

There are women who make things better, there are women who change things, there are women who make things happen, who make a difference. I want to be one of those women.

In the quiet moments, the discoveries are made.

Your soul either feels lifted by something that you read, or it feels squashed by it.

No role is more challenging, rewarding and inspiring than my real-life role as a mom and a wife.

There's no wrong way to experience a film.

Am I ambitious? I used to be afraid of that word but now I think ambition is a good thing.

I think I always try to be accommodating and open and available and proving for my director. I love to give as many takes as they want. I love to give them as many choices as they want.

Doubt is the middle position between knowledge and ignorance. It encompasses cynicism but also genuine questioning.

What other people think of me is not my business.

I really can't think about kissing when I've got a rebellion to incite.

Wasn’t hitting bottom the thing you had to do to knock some sense into yourself? Wasn’t hitting bottom the thing that showed you which way was up?

Never surround yourself with people who are envious of your ambitions. Decide to be at the right place at the right time and save yourself for greater opportunities.

I found nothing really wrong with this autobiography except poor choice of subject.

Whether to the nation or to the state, no service can be or ever will be rendered by a more able or a more faithful public servant.

You can’t solve a spiritual problem with a military or political solution.

In solitude, you accumulate energy to spend in crowds; and in crowds, you accumulate energy to spend in solitude!

The jazz boom was goin' on then so there was a lot happenin' in New York at that time.

At first there is nothing, then there is a profound nothingness, after that a blue profundity.