There are times when I haven't been proud of America or really proud. But there have been times that I've been incredibly proud of the country.

I am an artist, art has no color and no sex.

No matter what you say to yourself, you do want to win. You try to look casual, like you're not thinking, 'oh, please pick me.'

Most women do not have [abortions] with some sort of party going on. It is the hardest decision that a woman ever has to make . . . One of the reasons we've had to make this decision is because so many women were found bleeding, dead, with hangers in their bodies because they were doing it themselves. The idea of this was to make it safe and clean - that was the reason the law came into effect.

[On her monologue as the thief 'Fontaine':] People always got things. People always want things. So I provide a service.

I believe strongly that most people in this country U.S. don't want a totalitarian state...And when conservatives say, "Get the government out of my backyard," the reality is, you can't say that and put somebody in the White House who's gonna be in your business.

[On writing to Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple:] I told her I would play a Venetian blind, dirt on the floor, anything.