Things happen to you out of luck, and if you get to stick around it's because you're talented.

I want Carl Sagan to explain the sky to me.

Things happen to you out of luck, and if you get to stick around it's because you're talented.

I grew up in a time when it would never have occurred to anyone to tell me there was anything I couldn't do.

And I don't believe that I have to stay on one side of the fence or the other. I don't believe that there is any good career move or bad career move. I believe there are only the things that make me happy.

You've got to vote for someone. It's a shame, but it's got to be done.

For some reason, all artists have self-esteem issues.

When I started, I knew I didn't fit any visual that anyone was going to lie down and take their clothes off about. Work doesn't come to me; I go out and look for it.

When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll remember and be kind to someone else. And it'll become like a wildfire.

I don't really view communism as a bad thing.

Sitting at the table during Color Purple and looking up and suddenly realizing I was acting in front of Steven Spielberg, was pretty cool. It was pretty good.

That's the thing about Mother Nature, she really doesn't care what economic bracket you're in.

I don't have pet peeves, I have whole kennels of irritation.

When I listen to these women, it makes what I thought were my hard knocks feel like little nudges.

I am the American Dream. I am the epitome of what the American Dream basically said. It said, you could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country. That's exactly what I've done.

An actress can only play a woman. I'm an actor, I can play anything.

I don't look like Halle Berry. But chances are, she's going to end up looking like me.

If every American donated five hours a week, it would equal the labor of 20 million full-time volunteers.

I am where I am because I believe in all possibilities.

The art of acting is to be other than what you are.

I am an artist, art has no color and no sex.

Born ham, that's basically me.

Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine.

Normal is in the eye of the beholder.

It's being willing to walk away that gives you strength and power - if you're willing to accept the consequences of doing what you want to do.

I used my imagination to make the grass whatever color I wanted it to be.

I'm fighting the label of "Black" actress simply because it's very limiting in people's eyes, especially people who are making movies.

You know, be an actor because you love to act. Don't be an actor because you think you're going to get famous, because that's luck.

Everything for me is visual. That's just how my head works.

I am the American Dream. I am the epitome of what the American Dream basically said. It said you could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country. That's exactly what I've done.

I don't have pet peeves; I have whole kennels of irritation.

I don't look like Halle Berry. But chances are she's going to end up looking like me.

I think the idea that you know who your inner self is on a daily basis, because... you know. What's good for you 25 years ago may not be good for you now. So, to keep in touch with that, I think that's the first ingredient for success. Because if you're a successful human being, everything else is gravy, I think.

I'm a big old egotistical baby and that's okay. I can accept it.

It bums me out tremendously what the church has become, and if it's got me bummed, imagine what Jesus Christ must be feeling.

Most of all, I dislike this idea nowadays that if you're a black person in America, then you must be called African-American. Listen, I've visited Africa, and I've got news for everyone: I'm not an African.

We're born with success. It is only others who point out our failures, and what they attribute to us as failure.

When I was doing ensemble theater and comedy work, I felt I had some talents. But when I started doing my shows in Berkeley and found that I could be funny on my own, I was shocked.

The advantage of dyslexia is that my brain puts information in my head in a different way.

We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.

It's a no brainer. If you're not for gay marriage, don't marry a gay person.

Thank you, God, because I am lucky. Also let's face it, it turns out I'm black. And I'm having a career quite different from lots of people, so I feel doubly lucky.

When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll remember and be kind to someone else, and it'll become like a wildfire.

Luck is everything... My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film.

I still have horrible luck with girls.

How is it the great pieces of good luck fall to us?

With a little bit of luck, you'll never work!

The greatest luck that I've had has been the ability to find men and women who came into my administration who worked with me and brought extraordinary talents that we were able to take full advantage of.

So, it takes a lot of chance and luck. I mean I was lucky enough to get in the program where people with the same skills never made it to the program. So keep trying.