If Woody Allen called me, I'd be there straight away. Who wouldn't? Truly.

If Woody Allen called me, I'd be there straight away. Who wouldn't? Truly.

I was six years old when I saw my first Godard movie, eight when I first experienced Bergman. I wanted to be a director when I was fourteen.

I don't want to go to the Bahamas on holiday. I hate islands. I want to go to Brittany, where it's cold and raining, and there's nothing fancy about it.

I love acting and I still want to do it, but I've such an instinct for directing, it's something that comes naturally to me. It's why I'm here on this planet.

Too many women throw themselves into romance because they're afraid of being single, then start making compromises and losing their identity. I won't do that.

I'm an adaptable nomad. I love Paris, I've been living in Los Angeles and New York since 1990. I love London, too. My roots are inside of me.

I had to trick people into giving me money for my first film. Making a romantic comedy is easier and more expected from a woman than it is to make a drama about a Japanese warrior.

I love the acting process. What I don't like is what's around it. The auditions and being rejected every other day. The look thing. That you have to lose weight, that you have to do Botox.

I make these little films. I'm just a working person. I just study people a little bit more. It's more sociological, and it's funny anyway - not that serious. It's not like false humility. I just take it for what it is.

I wasn't born an artist. I was really good in science as a kid. I probably shouldn't have been an artist because I'm much more interested in science. But I was raised by artists. I can't really escape it.

I went to film school to make films just because you're in control of the story.

The condition of being an actress can be unbearable.

When you're an actress, you become this thing in people's hands that people are trying to manipulate. I cannot stand it.

Too many women throw themselves into romance because theyre afraid of being single then start making compromises and losing their identity. I wont do that.

You can never replace anyone because everyone is made up of such beautiful specific details.

Too many women throw themselves into romance because they're afraid of being single, then start making compromises and losing their identity.

I knew when I got to play with Al Jackson I would be a better bass player because he was the best drummer in the world. I worshipped him.

No one can create negativity or stress within you. Only you can do that by virtue of how you process your world.

I think all art comes out of conflict. When I write I am always looking for the dramatic kernel of an event, the junctures of people's lives when they go in one direction, not another.

Most of the models have this thing I call slouchy sexy, not only in the way they dress, but in the way carry themselves. I don't think they would look hot in one of my dresses. They are more into A. Wang. Most of my clothes are nerdy sexy.

Even mud gives the illusion of depth.

I always thought my records were number one; it's just the charts didn't think so.

It's easy to underestimate the real cost of home ownership.

Enmity means 'hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.' It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

Practicing yoga and learning about yourself is like entering a big dark room and turning the lights on one by one. People want instant transformation. Yoga is not for these people. It is for people who are patient and willing to work hard to overcome their limitations.

Iranians hate Arabs. They're a fairly well-educated population and they have centuries of experience with self-government.

I do believe at some point in time everyone will be genotyped at birth.

In the democracy of the dead all men at last are equal. There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave.

A man's got to work for more than himself and his kids to feel right.

What other culture could have produced someone like Hemmingway and not seen the joke?

Tiger father begets tiger son.

My advice is for veterans to seek out mentors, people who are doing what you want to do. You have to decide what you want and have a goal. Don't worry about how you're going to do it. Just trust that you'll get there.

Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.

All history, and most especially the history of the 20th century, argues against placing ideas in the saddle and allowing them to ride mankind. Too often, they end up riding individual men and women into mass graves.

Microphones are just like people, if you shout at them, they get scared.

But one of the big lessons I have learned from my journey is you can't please everyone, so don't try.

I'm not interested in making clothes that are not accessible.

There's a unique bond of trust between readers and authors that I don't believe exists in any other art form; as a reader, I trust a novelist to give me his or her best effort, however flawed.

Every girl should use what Mother Nature gave her before Father Time takes it away.

I think Michelle Obama is on the right track with her Let's Move campaign to bring down childhood obesity. She and I come from the same state, Illinois, which is number four in the nation for obese children. One out of five Illinois children are considered obese. Not overweight, obese. And two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese.