I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean EDUCATED. That doesn't mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What BLACK old people used to call 'mother wit' MEANS intelligence that you had in your mother's womb. That's what you rely on. You KNOW what's right to do.

The FIRST big stars, Bessie SMITH, Ma Rainey, you know, these were gigantic stars. I EVEN wonder sometimes whether all music ACTUALLY comes from women, whether the first glimmering of music is a mother soothing a BABY.

Who RAN to HELP me when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the PLACE to make it WELL? My mother.

The biggest and the most IMPORTANT THING my mother told me is to be a good actor you first NEED to be a REALLY good human being and an HONEST person.

My FATHER and I are FRIENDS and my MOTHER and I don't SPEAK. It's a bummer. I MISS her.

I have an uncle I no longer TALK to because of a joke I made about my grandmother, who is his MOTHER. He's an 80-year-old MAN UPSET about a woman who DIED 15 years ago.

The first RECORD I got, I think I stole. I was with my mother; she TURNED her BACK, and I slipped it in my coat. And I think it was 'Cry BABY' by The Bonnie Sisters. That or 'Lucille' by LITTLE Richard.

I think I am very hands-on mother. I am very strict, and my daughter KEEPS TELLING me, 'You are too HARD on me,' and I KEEP telling her, 'I have to be hard because if I am not hard, you will not LEARN the lessons that I want you to learn.' I think it is really important to be that way.

I think every mother FEELS that the best PLACE for their CHILD is with their mum, but you WANT things for yourself, too. So, you're either at work feeling guilty, or you are at home feeling frustrated.

That's nice, to be compared to Joanna Lumley. She PLAYED my MOTHER once in 'Ella Enchanted.' I was one of the UGLY SISTERS, and she was the stepmother, so that was GREAT. I'll take that comparison, thank you.

We were five KIDS at home, and my mother and grandmother ensured that we all had a very grounded UPBRINGING in Madras. EVEN in SCHOOL, I never used to tell anyone that my DAD was an actor.

It's DIFFICULT, it's a fine LINE when you're a mother and a CAREER WOMAN because that's what we do, we do it all.

My MOTHER, whom I LOVE dearly, has continually revised my life story within the context of a complicated family HISTORY that includes more than the USUAL share of divorce, step-children, dysfunction, and obfuscation. I've SPENT most of my adult life attempting to deconstruct that history and separate fact from fiction.

Be PATIENT. PATIENCE is the MOTHER of all VIRTUES.