People in power have to be careful about what comes out of their mouth. They have to find exactly the right word that can't be attacked.

I call the language of political figures, pundits and administrators "the haute couture of language."

When I got out of acting school, I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses - it was right after 'Roots,' and for society, not me, it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion, and I was not.

Confidence is the mark of a hopeful disposition.

People realize that we're very good at sending people to war, but we're not good at taking care of them. And people are coming back from war now; years ago, they would have been killed, now they're wounded; and they're coming back alive and with post-traumatic stress. So, I think Americans are sensible enough to know we've got to figure out a way to take care of them.

I think as a kid I always liked to listen to people. I loved hearing stories.

I think some of our most talented people are not going to pick the arts as a way that they're going to spend their lives.