It makes me feel resilient when you tackle different things.

It sounds ideal, a sort of beach childhood. But it wasn't really. I didn't use the beach very much at all.

You can't please all the people all the time.

And there's no way I'm going to do Dame Edna.

But I hope that you walk around the corner and you get very surprised.

You can have a laugh in Los Angeles, or you can weep in Los Angeles, depending on your attitude towards it.

Insecurity, commonly regarded as a weakness in normal people, is the basic tool of the actor's trade.

It makes me feel resilient when you tackle different things.

Somebody referred to me as a ringleader, which I wouldn't have classed myself as, but anyway, there you go.

I would rather do many small roles on TV, stage or film than one blockbuster that made me rich but had no acting.

Feminism was a dirty word for a while.

For years, I never knowingly went on a holiday. When I travelled, it was for work. Now I am a huge advocate, particularly to places which have amazing wildlife, such as Antarctica, India and Patagonia.

I carry music in my head, so I don't need more. It drives me nuts that, in hotels or on boats, people seem to think you need music 24 hours a day.

I don't necessarily wait for that massive leading role. I want to keep the juices flowing.

I have no idea what my persona would be. As far as I'm concerned, I'm changing all the time.

I like the personality of the Belgians. They're deeply eccentric, which is something that comes across in their design - terrific.

I need my friends, I need my house, I need my garden.

I wouldn't want to go back to my 20s; they were pretty angst-laden times.

I'm not someone who can lie on a beach and do nothing. I am not sure what you are supposed to do, so I get bored. I prefer to have a purpose, such as going to Alaska to see orca whales.

If I don't believe in a role, I can't pull it off.

If you only took on roles that had the same qualities, then I suppose it might make a critic feel better, if he can see some kind of bedrock. Perhaps that's the old definition of a star, someone who's always going to come up with the same goods. But it intimates limitation to me and I don't want to think of the job like that.

In my industry, everybody wants to know everything about you, and it's just dumb. I think the only way of maintaining some of that mystique is by not giving away too much about yourself. It has served me well so far. I never want to feel up for grabs.

It's difficult to keep in touch with someone when you're moving around all the time. I've decided that you can have it all, but you can't have it all, all of the time.

It's the idea that when you say 'actress', people think of an airy, floaty, no-brain person, which of course you can't be if you are an actor. It is an unfortunate word, which is why, for a time, I hung on to 'actor', because it just seemed more workmanlike, you know, like you say 'woman doctor' not 'doctoress'.

London keeps me grounded. We don't get praised every time we open our gobs there.

The writing is the springboard for your intuitive stuff and then you see, maybe a colour of what you want to achieve. Then you bring in the technique you've learnt. But when you're on film, you're not always in control of that. That's what makes me believe in a kind of collective unconscious, a sort of experience you draw on.

Why did I not stop to have children? I suppose because the opportunity didn't present itself. Yes, many women feel they are not complete without having children, but I have different creative outlets.

Inspiration and genius one and the same.

Anyone who reads my work will see that there are often difficult relationships between fathers and sons.

In the mid-1800s, they were known also as 'singsong houses,' and the courtesans were actually master musicians.

I've never understood the 'things to do before you die' idea. If I was ill, I'd be in no mood to have a swim with a dolphin.

Millions of Mexicans leave their kids in order to take care of other kids. That's a very painful thing.

No one can really pull you up very high-you lose your grip on the rope. But on your own two feet you can climb mountains.

One of the few things I like about Bill Clinton is that he has very good manners. If his momma were still alive, I would congratulate her.

I don't live that much with the character. I find it hard enough having to spend so many hours with the character during the day.

I try to change my physical appearance for every role.

I particularly like Hershey's chocolate, the kind which has almonds in it.

We should try to understand our innermost needs. We shouldn't use irony to reduce their power.

Use coconut oil; it is one of the best moisturizers. Use it right after the shower on wet skin and then wipe it off with a towel.

I'm usually working on my own mythology, my own realm of created characters. Stories in mythology inspire me, though I may not be conscious of it.

If you think there are no new frontiers, watch a boy ring the front doorbell on his first date.

When I was 12, I was taking batting practice with an aluminum bat at Tiger Stadium. I don't know where it landed exactly, but upper deck somewhere. Yeah, people were surprised.

A technical solution may be defined as one that requires a change only in the techniques of the natural sciences, demanding little or nothing in the way of change in human values or ideas of morality.

At Lackland Air Force Base, they make an effort to retrain military dogs that suffer from PTSD. It's a lengthy, long process. The treatment is much the same as it would be for people, but it's a difficult road back.

I hope to bring people to God with my songs.

I have never seen a connection between cinematic violence towards women and actual violence towards women in society.

In addition, for almost a year now I have been urging the President, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate suspicious gas price spikes.

I was in an industrial laboratory because academia found me unsuitable.

And of course, the musician - if he's serious - always answers: My last album is my best, otherwise I wouldn't have done it.