Our character is not so much the product of race and heredity as of those circumstances by which nature forms our habits by which we are nurtured and live.

All cartoon characters and fables must be exaggeration caricatures. It is the very nature of fantasy and fable.

A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body it gives boldness enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.

And whether you're drawn to gospel music or church music or honky-tonk music it informs your character and it informs your talent.

In these confused times the role of classical music is at the very core of the struggle to reassert cultural and ethical values that have always characterized our country and for which we have traditionally been honored and respected outside our shores.

What I took back because of my exposure to the Jewish music of the 30s and the 40s in my upbringing with my father was that kind of theatrical songwriting. It was always a part of my character. This desire to make people laugh.

It is so characteristic that just when the mechanics of reproduction are so vastly improved there are fewer and fewer people who know how the music should be played.

I like to comprehend more or less everything around me - apart from the creation of my music. It's an obsessive character trait that's getting worse. I don't switch the light on and off 15 times before I leave the room yet but something's going wrong.

I want people to think about movies and how we watch them. Let them know it's okay to question the structure or how we're sometimes duped into a false sense of normalcy. Most of all I want people to question the old standard practices of 'This is how the structure of something should work ' or 'This is how a character must behave.'

Television is where the best work for women is right now. I would love to do more movies but the reality is women have many more opportunities on television to play a greater variety of characters.