I don't really enjoy filming.

My two elder sisters married Englishmen and went abroad.

I went to the Glasgow Youth Theatre and they just let me in. But I was so shy that I was there for about six weeks without actually introducing myself.

The movie business is very much like that: people in authority making purely emotional decisions instead of interesting rational ones.

I didn't think Comfort and Joy was going to be a box-office smash.

The studio system reminds me of the stock market.

Perhaps naively I thought people understand what humor was, that it was invented by the human race to cope with the dark areas of life, problems and terrors.

I was quite surprised how easily people wanted to pigeonhole things I've done.

It's easier for me to get three times the amount of money I really want.

There are things that Scotsmen get and other people don't get in the dialogue. Scottish characters can be pinpointed by a phrase, targeted very quickly.

I'm not fond of any of my films in an intimate way, but Gregory's Girl would be number 4 on my list.

I'd made these experimental films but I thought the major chore of a filmmaker was to relate to actors.

At the moment, my mother is the only one left in Glasgow, although it's certainly my home.

I don't really enjoy filming.

It means that if they misunderstood Comfort and Joy, they misunderstood my other films.

Performing in front of a live audience can be pretty intimidating, so having a full head of hair was important to me.

If you're trying to justify something, you're trying to escape from something that you don't want to admit to.

A woman is a woman; Sometimes she's moody, emotional, clingy but she is still to be loved. Deal with it.

I've been funny my whole life. This is a gift God gave me.

Stubbornly persist, and you will find that the limits of your stubbornness go well beyond the stubbornness of your limits.

I think my best friend is dry shampoo and dry texturizer spray.

My holidays are very important. Mind you, I take a very long one every year.

I believe in empty spaces; they're the most wonderful thing.

People don't want to give me credit, which is fine.

I'm a daydreamer.

Solar, for example - which has typically been thought of as so expensive - is cheap when compared with, for example, the cost of cleaning up the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the Gulf.

My background is standard American blue collar of the itchy-footed variety. We're new-world mongrels. The women in the family read horoscopes, tea leaves, coffee bubbles, Tarot cards and palms.

For conservative leaders, making candidates pay them court, publicly and ostentatiously, is a colossal source of their symbolic power before their followers. It's kabuki theater, mostly.

Ballet is like any other art form in that we all start out knowing nothing about it.

I've dominated past competitions, but I've sweated blood and tears for every medal. I take nothing for granted, and I'm fully focused on doing my best.

Sometimes one word can recall a whole span of life.

I've always been jealous of rappers, because they can fit so many words into a song and tell a story with lots of details. But when you're a songwriter, you have to fit the words to the melody and you can't fit as much in. I'm just a big fan of storytelling.

Therefore, I feel convinced that any political picture can be changed to suit the needs of the powers that be.

The women executives in the film industry have the power to say, 'No,' but few of them have the power to say, 'Yes.'

Roaring like a tiger turns some children into pianists who debut at Carnegie Hall but only crushes others. Coddling gives some the excuse to fail and others the chance to succeed.

It feels really sad, to me, to go to a dark bedroom. It's like surrendering to the night or something.

Parenting is the biggest sacrifice one can make. It's putting your life on hold to fulfill the promise of your children's tomorrow.

It's not natural to outlive your child. This has always been my greatest fear.

When you think about your heritage, you think about toughness and hard work.