The ups and downs, the problems and stress, along with all the happiness, have given me optimism and hope because I am living proof of survival.

You find out who your real friends are when you're involved in a scandal.

I don't entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I'm me. God knows, I'm me.

I know I'm vulgar, but would you have me any other way?

It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance.

The public library is more than a repository of books. It's a mysterious, wondrous place with the power to change lives.

I, along with the critics, have never taken myself very seriously.