“I didn’t like children. I didn’t think of myself as a child. I didn’t like any of the things other children were interested in.”

I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.

The only time a woman really succeeds in changing a man is when he is a baby.

Almost every girl falls in love with the wrong man, I suppose it’s part of growing up.

Today’s films are so technological that an actor becomes starved for roles that deal with human relationships.

Sometimes when I visit my sister and her two children, I wonder if she missed a lot by getting married. Right now, nothing could be further from my mind than getting married.

I didn’t know who the hell I was. I was whoever they wanted me to be.

If I didn’t believe in what I’m doing, I’d rather go to work in a dime store.

From ages 10 to 12 or so, I barely remember anything.

There are certain stars who are not actors. I don’t want to be that type.

I was so young, and making movies, going to the studio every morning at dawn was magic.

The times that I have done something that I didn’t respond to emotionally right away, it’s generally not worked out too well.

For the first time I feel an inner emotional security. There is reality and dependability. My life revolves around Richard and the baby.

I’ve been terrified of the water, and yet it seems I’m forced to go into in on every movie that I make.

I thought it was a wonderful line – right on the cutting room floor.

My mother used to tell me, No matter what they ask you, always say yes. You can learn later.

I’m just going to have to grow old, because I’m too terrified to have anything done.

Nothing is more completely the child of art than a garden.

Racism is a grown-up disease, and we should stop using our kids to spread it.

I felt like there was something I needed to do – speaking to kids and sharing my story with them and helping them understand racism has no place in the minds and hearts of children.

Sooner strangle an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires.

It’s wrong for parents to bury their children. It should be the other way around.

Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to ‘jump at the sun.’ We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.

Most children turn out badly because they have the wrong parental image. This doesn’t mean their parents are criminal. It means they are boring and cruel.

Our very lives are dependent, for sustenance, on the sweat and sacrifice of the campesinos. Children of farm workers should be as proud of their parents’ professions as other children are of theirs.