When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you.Collection: Power
I think I'm an actor because I have very strong imagination and empathy. I never studied acting, but those two qualities are exactly the qualities that make for an activist.Collection: Imagination
We stand a chance of getting a president who has probably killed more people before he gets into office than any president in the history of the United States.Collection: Chance
I look forward to being older, when what you look like becomes less and less an issue and what you are is the point.
I try to live my life every day in the present, and try not to turn a blind eye to injustice and need.
So I would hope they would develop some kind of habit that involves understanding that their life is so full they can afford to give in all kinds of ways to other people. I consider that to be baseline spirituality.
I think sometimes what happens is that all of this feeling out of control manifests itself in trying to control your body; whether it's an eating disorder or talking about getting your nose fixed, as if that's going to be the solution to all the pressure.
Everyone has a responsibility towards this larger family of man, but especially if you're privileged, that increases your responsibility.
Before our kids start coming home from Iraq in body bags and women and children start dying in Baghdad, I need to know, what did Iraq do to us?
It is a different world than when I was growing up, and you started to just kind of maintain at thirty-five and just hope you can hope it together. People are a lot more vital than I am and doing all kinds of things and leading really important movements.
Just because I haven't yet had any project surgery, I'm not going to knock it, because I think women have the right to do whatever they want to their bodies that make them feel good about themselves.
The only thing I can talk about is just forgiving yourself, because I do not have everything together. And so I tell people: No, you should see my house, it's a mess.
The only time I've really been away from my kids to do work was doing Shall We Dance because they both were in camp and it was the first time in twenty years that I haven't been with my kids.
Now, Tim has been really, really busy, and it's been my job now to kind of deal with everything. And trying to figure out how we balance that, logistically it's a nightmare. But these little jobs make it much easier.
I feel my family's needs are a priority. I'm not comfortable with the idea of serving the many and ignoring my family.
If you walk down the street and see someone in a box, you have a choice. That person is either the other and you're fearful of them, or that person is an extension of your family. And that makes you at home in that world and not fearful. So really it's very self-serving.
To know that once you decide to look at life outside of the narrow limits of just your world and start to understand that you can make a difference in very simple ways - in volunteering and all the way up to bigger world problems.
When I tell people I'm a comedian they say, 'Oh, are you funny?' I say, 'No, it's not that kind of comedy.'
Happiness is the true beauty weapon.Collection: Happiness
We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'.Collection: Mean
Any time you step forward, someone gets upset.Collection: Upset
If you're upset with how you look at 25, life's going to be tough.Collection: Upset
It's important to just keep wanting whatever it is you want and fight for it, desperately.Collection: Perseverance
Never root for a team whose uniforms have elastic stretch waistbands.Collection: Baseball
I believe in using words, not fists.Collection: Believe
If you always have to be watching yourself and judging, I don't think you're as free.Collection: Thinking
It's a miracle when something actually turns out well because there are so many ways for it to go wrong.Collection: Miracle
At the end of your life, you are going to want to know that you made some kind of difference.Collection: Inspirational
I wouldn't want to be 20 now. I know so much more, and I'm much more comfortable in my skin, saggy as it is When I hear young girls complaining about superficial things You're at the peak of your physical beauty right now! Just enjoy it and stop worrying about your thighs being too big If you're upset with how you look at 25, life's going to be toughCollection: Girl
I just want my kids to love who they are, have happy lives and find something they want to do and make peace with that. Your job as a parent is to give your kids not only the instincts and talents to survive, but help them enjoy their lives.Collection: Jobs
There is no shortcut to grieving.Collection: Grief
Somebody can be the captain of the ship, which allows you to make big mistakes.Collection: Mistake
I'll always rather be in a ship that's got a captain that has some vision.Collection: Vision
I think you have to ask yourself, what is the point of the script? What is the script selling? Because all scripts are political, every story is political. It either challenges or reinforces some schism or stereotype. So what is the project going to say at the end of the day? What does it tell you about the world, or what does it challenge in terms of your world?Collection: Thinking
I think looking at your own life, on- and offscreen, you can motivate anything, or you can delude yourself into anything.Collection: Thinking
I was a voracious reader and the library fed my curiosity, imagination and my soul. I read by the shelf - biographies, fantasy - all and everything fed my dreams. Then as an adult whenever I would go on location the first thing we would do as a family is sign up at the closest library. Not only would we find books, but what was happening in that town, because the library is the head of the community.Collection: Dream
This is an amazing country, for all of its faults. My feeling is, dig in and let's try to change the world. Dissent is not only your right, it's your duty.Collection: Country
It didn't seem to have relevance, except in Central America or South America, countries where the church was connected to the fight of the people for economic justice. That's why it was so interesting to find myself back with Sister Helen [in Dead Man Walking], this new breed of nuns who were making a difference in the community.Collection: Country
I don't think there's a petty system of heaven and hell. The love of God is much more forgiving. I'm not a believer in a wrathful God at all.Collection: Thinking
So I think (Obama) definitely has convinced people that he stands for change and for hope, and I can't wait to see what he stands for.Collection: Thinking
I'm kind of a nerd, so whenever I get a chance to talk to an artist I really admire, I tend to gravitate to process.Collection: Artist