Mary Steenburgen

My mother was a gorgeous person with no vanity, but she was a really good soul.

The sights and sounds and smells, the whole genre of Westerns - I love them.

I am lucky enough not to have to take jobs unless I love the material.

I know this is kind of corny, but we thought about renewing our vows again because I think my mom would really love it if we did that in Arkansas, where I came from.

I think the secret to what Jim Henson did, ultimately, is that he understood how to cut through to the... I know this sounds corny... but the child inside of you.

I have never had any success in planning my life, really.

I've never been able to write a movie script. I respect that skill so much, but it's not been the way my brain works.

My family didn't have money to travel, so reading was how I knew about the world. It made me hungry to have more experiences than just what I could possibly experience in Arkansas.

When you spend three months of your life doing a movie, it's important to enjoy yourself.

I know that's why I became an actress. In my dream world, I could get mad and scream and yell, and if somebody died, they got up again. In real life, I didn't dare try it.

Life is about surviving loss.

I decided if you're lucky enough to be alive, you should use each birthday to celebrate what your life is about.