They made me use an accent, which I wasn't thrilled about because a lot of us, obviously, don't have them.

Bigger than life is not difficult for me. I am bigger than life.

This is my idea of heaven, coming home and watching the news.

When was the last time you saw a musical about people at war with each other?

The reason there weren't any, I am surmising, is that a lot of Latin kids, Latino kids, in those days didn't have the money to take those kind of classes.

They made me use an accent, which I wasn't thrilled about because a lot of us, obviously, don't have them.

Then there's the story of ill-fated love. It's universal.

This is my idea of heaven coming home and watching the news.

Build strong foundation under your dreams.

In this new century, our commitment to family and to faith, to community and opportunity, to freedom and to hope, will be the light that shines to lead us forward.

I want to try and do as much as I can as an actor. So far I think I've done pretty well with being a minister's son. And now I know I'm pretty darn good at playing a woman too.

If you repeat something, it can become pointless. Some things can repeat and be endlessly fascinating.

Nearly two weeks have passed since Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast, and while we are still dealing with the tremendous devastation - and will be for quite some time - we are also seeing increased signs of recovery and help in our region.

The pro-immigration people are really having a fit saying that I don't care about the children.

I would like to be known as someone who was really sweet but also knowledgeable in all areas of life.

I knew Secrets and Lies was a great film, but I didn't expect it to get the attention it did because none of his other films had and I thought they were just as good.

By the time you are 30 you are still trying to make your 15-year-old self happy but you are a different person. You need to be brave and let go of that.

One thing all the way through the show to me is boring. I don't care how great the artist is. I find that if my audience is very young, and they want to hear very young songs, my show will be dominated by that. But there'll be some ballads here and there and some swing tunes.

On stage, you can use your emotions. It's the place where you can channel them. They have a purpose.

The great break of my literary career was going to law school.

Well, I've been happily supporting myself for ten years now on the hustle and trade of live entertainment. I guess my breakthrough moment was when I decided to go for it once and for all.

Sorry to interrupt myself, but it's the only way I stop talking.

Social Security is at last on the nation's front burner.

I was very close to my mother as the youngest of three. She was my playmate.

My personality is that I like to express myself, and that is not something I will look to change.

I urge researchers to make use of the opportunities that are available to them and to do all they can to fulfill the promise that stem cell research offers.

To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time.

I probably have less revision than those who have that wonderful rush of story to tell - you know, I can't wait to tell you what happened the other day. It comes tumbling out and maybe then they go back and refine. I kind of envy that way of working, but I just have never done it.

I did really well at school, and I would have loved to have gone to Oxford or Cambridge. I would have read English, and I'm really interested in politics.

You can't win some people over.

Reading takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere.

There are some family traditions I don't want my children to carry on.