Salma Hayek

I have a ranch, which is my favorite place in the world.

I don't want to be size zero and I'm glad I'm not.

My heart has been stolen too - but I've gone and got it back every single time!

You can be a thousand different women. It's your choice which one you want to be. It's about freedom and sovereignty. You celebrate who you are. You say, 'This is my kingdom.'

I love to cook for my husband and daughter. I enjoy going to the market for fresh vegetables.

I think it's nice for women to try to be sexy for their man.

There is a subconscious way of taking violence as a way of expression as a normality and it has a lot of effects in the youth in the way they absorb education and what they hope to get out of life.

I have a small house so I borrow everything except art, that's what I love.

It sounds trite to go after men who are nice but when you've been hurt a lot it becomes appealing.

People often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves.

If I go on a diet and work out, I'm always in a bad mood. I'd rather be a little heavier but nice.

I want my little girl to tell me who she is so I can encourage her and not impose my desires for her on her life. I want her to dream big and to know that if she is willing to earn it, she can have anything - and become anything.

I have never denied my background or my culture. I have taught my child to embrace her Mexican heritage, to love my first language, Spanish, to learn about Mexican history, music, folk art, food, and even the Mexican candy I grew up with.

Hollywood has definitely grown, in embracing the inclusion of Latinos in the world, because, for some time, we didn't exist. We were not part of any stories.

If I go on a diet and work out Im always in a bad mood. Id rather be a little heavier but nice.

And I highly recommend for all the women in the world, even if they're 71, you can never take for granted that he loves you. It's always good to flirt with him. It's a great sport.

There has never been a female director who has won an Oscar. There has only been one woman who won at the Cannes Film Festival.

I have one friend that I've had since I was born, and she's from Coatzacoalcos. She's not really impressed or interested in the actor's life. My family isn't really either.

I don't believe in the so-called Latino explosion when it comes to movies. Jennifer Lopez doesn't have an accent. She grew up in New York speaking English, not Spanish. Her success is very important because she represents a different culture, but it doesn't help me.

Everybody has a weakness. Mine is food.

I know the only reason that I haven't gotten many good parts is because I am Latin - and they tell it to my face a lot of times.

For me, I have to say that I like to work a lot too, but I like not working better. The perfect scenario is when you just worked and you know something's coming up, then you have four, five, six months off. But you know you're going to have a job later.

What works in a relationship of very public people is not making the relationship public - keeping it as personal as it can be. It's the only way it is real.

I work hard, I make my own living and I love it. I like having financial independence.

I love being a wife and homemaker - because it's my choice. My husband doesn't expect me to do it. I don't mind doing things for him because he does so much for me; we both feel that way so there is no power struggle.

I grew up in Mexico, not the U.S., and the fact is that there just aren't any parts for Latin actresses. I have to persuade people that my accent won't be a problem, but an asset.

You can have a spiritual awakening and discover a new side of you at any age. And best of all, love can happen at any age. Life can just start to get exciting when you're in your 40s and 50s. You have to believe that.

Do I envy Madonna's body? Yes. Do I thank God that she has it? Yes! If you're fifty-something and you look like Madonna, and you put a lifetime's work in the way you look, then flash it to the world!

I don't have stamina in exercise... but I have it in life.

What once was an expression of who I was - acting - also became my hiding place.

You know how macho boys get when they're all together? Well, the set of 'Desperado' was like that. They were all trying to put me down, saying, 'Bring on the stuntwoman, Salma can't do that.' But I did everything.

When I first came to Hollywood I was told to go out with an agent because it was good for my career. So I went to a party with him because it was good for my 'career.' Well, he thought the whole thing was a big date. Needless to say, I was very upset.

I'll tell you, there is nothing better in life than being a late bloomer. I believe that success can happen at any time and at any age.

My mother was devoted to helping people - with my father's money! - who had great voices but didn't have the financial means to study music. He and my mum gave away dozens of music scholarships, and my mum opened a school in town, introduced opera to children and created fantastic programmes.

No woman has to be a victim of physical abuse. Women have to feel like they are not alone.

Imagine if I'd said, 'I have to be the best actress - I want that and nothing else.' I never would have directed. I never would have produced. I never would have done a beauty line. I would have just worried about getting a job or been frustrated that I wasn't getting the job that I wanted. I was ready to be a businesswoman.

I don't see women and think of them as competition or with judgment. Women really move me. I feel connected to all kinds of women. I am angry because I think we've been mistreated throughout history in different countries, including America. I admire women.

I'm concerned about my daughter because she will not believe in Santa Claus. No matter what I say to her, she just doesn't buy it, and she's 2. I refuse to give it up. I say, 'There is a Santa Claus,' and she says, 'Okay, Mommy. In pretend world, right?' She really doesn't believe.

I directed a movie and now, I'm going to do the editing.

I think it's important that kids have responsibilities and understand the value of things, but I think it's great I get to travel the world with my daughter.

There's a lot about the character. It doesn't always happen, but there are some characters you really create a relationship with, almost as if they were your friend. And you never get into their heads again or think like them.

How I would describe my characters is absolutely different from how I would describe myself.

I do have thighs and a butt. I have cellulite.

They thought I was crazy in Mexico when I said, 'I'm going to Hollywood.' Nobody thought I could make it.

The truth is, I just don't have the drive to be the prettiest and the thinnest. I can be happy for other people for their beauty.

Beauty products always cheer me up and give me hope. If it makes you feel pretty, why not?

After doing a juice cleanse, I'm motivated to eat healthier and not emotionally. Cleansing is like my meditation. It makes me stop, focus and think about what I'm putting into my body. I'm making a commitment to my health and hitting the reset button.

My English was limited to vacationing and not really engaging with Americans. I knew 'shopping' and 'eating' English - I could say 'blue sweater,' 'creme brulee,' and 'Caesar salad,' - so I came here thinking I spoke English.

I proved to myself that if I believe in something and set my mind to it I could actually accomplish it.

I really do love Diana Ross; I grew up listening to her records. I grew up in a little town in Mexico, so while we got the music, we never got the experience of watching her.

I realize now that I've hoped to be great - as an actress, as a mother - because I want to embody the greatness of women who didn't get to be all they could have been. Their dignity, their courage, and their brilliance make me strive to be better. They're a part of me.

It's very easy to feel someone's pain when you love them.

I've stolen a couple of hearts and they are in my private collection!

Art and activism seem to go together naturally, the idea being that if you're an entertainer, you can have a voice, and if you have a voice, you can make a difference. But if I were not an actress, I would still try to extend myself beyond my little micro-universe of my job, family and personal joy.

I do have a Mexican accent, but that doesn't mean that I'm a Latin vamp.

What you need is one black dress I call Plan B. It doesn't have to be fabulous, it just looks good, covers up the problems and is neutral enough for dinner, business, a date, a funeral. You don't overwear it, you don't overwash it, because the Plan B is - gold.

My grandmother was energetic and fearless - a talented poet and songwriter. She was also interested in chemistry and history and medicine, taking care of the people in her hacienda in Mexico, delivering babies. She could have become anything, but this was the 1930s, and she was forced into an arranged marriage.

At one point in my life, I was very involved with social causes. I'm still involved, but now I have a family and it's important to me.

I noticed in the past, a lot of guys who like strong women, they really freak out if you're not strong 24/7. Or they complain about you being strong, then the moment you're not strong, they're like, 'Oh, no, no, no.'

Find your own style. Don't spend your savings trying to be someone else. You're not more important, smarter, or prettier because you wear a designer dress.

When I started acting, I was told over and over again, 'You're no good.' But I said to myself, 'You've got to keep it up.'

I have always been an active part of my community.

I like being a mother. For some people, it's so much work that it can be a burden. But it's not for me, maybe because I had my daughter, Valentina, later on in life, at 41.

Producing is hell, writing is frustrating, acting is really satisfying, directing is heaven.

I have tried my whole life to represent my Mexican roots with honor and pride.

My accent was horrible. In Mexico, nobody says, 'You speak English with a good accent.' You either speak English, or you don't: As long as you can communicate, no one cares.

I think if you are young and you have children, you still have so much to prove. When you have children later in life, you lose a bit of that urge for working.

I keep waiting to meet a man who has more balls than I do.

If a man lets all of my dogs sleep in the bed with us, then that is the most romantic thing. You must love my dogs in order to love me. A man who is nice to my animals and doesn't shoo them away - well, that's the height of romance.

For my wrap present, Colin Farrell gave me a first edition book. I got so involved with this character and I was so sad when the movie was over that when I got home and I tried to read the book I got really emotional and I started crying.

I'm a country girl. I have to be in nature, so my daughter is exposed to it a lot.

I'm not a skinny girl. I push it. I'm at the limit of chubbiness at all times, but I'm happy at all times.

I said, 'I'm going to the United States to study with Stella Adler and do movies because nobody here has done it and my passion is films.' But I came here and I didn't speak English, I didn't have a green card, I didn't know I had to have an agent, I couldn't drive, I was dyslexic.

If you look at any other group of people suffering injustice, women are always in the worst situation within that group.

My driving abilities from Mexico have helped me get through Hollywood.

What is important is to believe in something so strongly that youre never discouraged.

They offered me that film before I did Frida and I said, no, I'm not capable of directing. Then after seeing Julie direct, I was inspired by it. She motivated me to do it, because we don't have role models as woman for directors.

I want to work for a long, long time and keep growing in my work, and if I am very lucky and very blessed, maybe somewhere along the line there will be one movie in there that becomes a classic.

Some men have a silly theory about beautiful women - that somewhere along the line they'll turn into a monster. That movie gave them a chance to watch it happen.

I have a farm and I love it there. There's really nothing to do, but even watching the chickens, its fun.

People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing you are the beholder.

People always underestimate me. But if you stick around long enough, act out of conviction, and try to be honorable in everything you do, good things will come to you.

What is important is to believe in something so strongly that you're never discouraged.

Botox, trust me I've been tempted - but I resist! Think about what happens to your muscles - and your skin - if you're sick and don't move for a few days. It all atrophies! Plus, if you freeze a muscle in your face, other muscles have to compensate! And once you stop, what does that look like?

If you give me any problem in America I can trace it down to domestic violence. It is the cradle of most of the problems, economic, psychological, educational.

I also have a film coming up called Breaking Up, and my part in that was not written for a Latina, and my character is not particularly pretty or sexy or exotic.

I've never had anything done on my face. I've never had dermabrasion or peels or injections of any kind, nothing.

People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing you are the beholder.

Somehow I am really relaxed within the chaos of having a baby - and anyone who's a mother knows it's very hard to relax, because there is so much to do and worry about!

I became obsessed with all these women who die never feeling they did anything extraordinary with their lives.

Love food and I love to eat.

Every woman who thinks she is the only victim of violence has to know that there are many more.

I'm good at working, but I'm very good at playing.

Life is tough; and if you have the ability to laugh at it, you have the ability to enjoy it.

I didn't think marriage worked. I thought everybody who was married was secretly miserable - that it was something they just put up with for their children.

I don't ever want to have to depend on anyone completely.

I aim for a lifetime full of movies.

I think it's not a femme fatale when someone is not doing it to manipulate men or be like a black widow. She loves him. She does it out of love. She wants him so badly to stay with her.

I think that it's important for every single person, no matter what they do in life, to participate in the well-being of humanity and the planet. Don't let a year go by knowing you didn't make an effort to do something - no matter how small - outside your own problems and drama.

I like to eat. I'm always on the edge of how much can I eat without looking too - you know. If I eat something salty, it makes me want something sweet. I eat something sweet, then I want salty. And exercise is not my thing, though I do it.