“I refuse to let what happened to me make me bitter.”

If you enter the dark side of life, and come through it, you emerge with more strength and passion.

As a child, my whole life was books. They were my fantasy. That’s where I could go. That was a lot of times [what] saved me.

Sometimes your mistakes are you biggest virtues. You learn so much from the mistake. Those things that you think are the worst thing that’s happening to you can somehow turn around and be the greatest opportunity.

I find standing and posing for photos very awkward.

I’d like to be wise. You have to go through a lot to get there, but I’m willing to go through a lot.

I yearn for things, but at the same time I am just peaceful.

Even as a child I had a strong relationship with yearning and desire. And loss. Those things spoke to me.

I have always tried to be a woman who protects other women. I have a sister, I have daughters, I have girlfriends, and I was raised by a feminist mother.

I’m willing to fly close to the flame.

You can’t find peace by hiding from life.

I believe the experiences of life are more important than any film you make.

It’s good to have a little distance. If you discuss your love too much, it just damages it.

I love acting but I don’t like all of the other stuff associated with it. The interest in celebrities, the press, the Internet, when your identity becomes mixed up in the way people are perceiving you.

I’m not sure what the future holds but I do know that I’m going to be positive.

It’s my job as an actor to commit to the role and not – through my own inhibitions – run away.

I like exploring life and its complexities.

Nothing is so bitter that a calm mind cannot find comfort in it.

Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.