I feel crushingly embarrassed when I do bad work, so being rejected after doing bad work is actually harder than being rejected after doing good work.

Most of my comedy is accidental, I would say. If I don't know what the joke is, I'm going to play it better than if I do.

I've seen some of my favorite actors give bad performances, and I have to tell myself that failure is a part of success.

You know what, maybe I just want a different kind of life. Maybe I want to open an antique store and coffee shop, and have a different kind of life.

What you learn in any acting class is how to make a fool of yourself and enjoy things and get out of your head.

In school I really loved Shakespeare, and I participated in a country-wide Shakespeare competition.

You have to be kinder to yourself, because it's a part of being good.

I don't need to be crazy rich and crazy famous. I would just like to keep going.

The thing I'd miss most is the feeling when acting is going well, when you start a play and you end the night and you look back and go, "What just happened?"

If I had a child and she was a girl, I'd hope she'd do something different from me.

Acting was something I wanted to work at and put the time into.

Beauty exists, even in unlikely places. The key isn't to open your eyes but to open your heart.

Creativity is that marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition.

The heart also knows things, and so does the imagination. Thank God. If not for heart and imagination, the world of fiction would be a pretty seedy place. It might not even exist at all.

Don’t let realism keep you from doing what you feel you need to do, even if you think it’s hopeless.

When I wake up, I immediately pray. When I go to sleep, I pray. Honestly, a prayer every second, in every breath. I suggest the whole world to do it. Prayer is amazing.

And is it not the chief good of money, the being free from the need of thinking of it?

Cause if there's one thing Islamic terrorists don't have is....(seriously thinking about it)....%#@&!

Men are attracted to me because of my personality!

If children are different from us, they are more spontaneous. Grown-up lives have become overlaid with dross.

You can be interested in a Jane Smiley novel whether or not anyone says a word. She enters into her characters thoughts with great understanding and depth.