At home, growing up, we weren't really poor. We had everything we needed, we just didn't have what we wanted.

It seems very safe to me to be surrounded by green growing things and water.

I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the future and my attachment to it. I can't imagine what kind of writer I'd be if I didn't have my kids.

There's always a part of your nation's history that you haven't been told that... has a powerful impact on how you yourself may behave and may believe.

My career may look bizarre to some, but I have very strong reasons for doing every single job I've done.

I thank the Lord for having the kind of a career that doesn't happen very often to an individual. A lot of times when I was playing, I pinched myself to see if it was really me and if it was really happening. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change anything.

The first aspect of a business that you need to make it work well is money. Once the money aspect is flowing, you can freely work on other aspects.

I know it wouldn't seem like I've had a lot of failure in my career, but there are things that I regard as failures, when I look at certain performances and go, 'That's not good enough.'