Quotes from Ryan Murphy

I'd never had a mentor in Hollywood. Men have always been in control of the business, and they usually mentor people who are like them - but two inches shorter.

I think I have a pattern of nice and lovely and then dark and twisted.

When I was growing up my favorite show was 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', and I loved all the stuff that Norman Lear did.

For me, growing up in Indiana with cornfields and churches, I was always very intrigued by the Academy Awards - they were a big event. That was the one night of the year when all of the glittering movie stars got together, and I used to love that night because, as a child, it was a way to dream for me.

For me, the saddest thing in the world is always lost potential. That is always the most heartbreaking thing, when there's something left to be mined from a situation or a person that goes unexplored; that's a tragedy to me.

I remember I always felt much more safe standing up on a chair and singing in front of my mother than I was in front of my father!

The only way to get through the life I had was just to have a big head of steam and determination.

I'm not interested in anything but emotionally driven stories; that's why almost all of my work is exclusively anchored by women.

I believe most people don't go into show business unless they've been majorly unloved as a child.

I formed this thing called the Half Foundation, and what I tried to do is quantify hiring practices in Hollywood. Half the population is women, so half of the storytellers should be women. Fifty percent of all the directors in my company are women, and it will forever be that way.

I love Olivia De Havilland. She is forever a lady.

I think the great thing about a television set is that it can be turned on and off, and you don't have to watch it if you think it's going to be something that you're not going to like or learn from.

I was an altar boy, with a very strict father. And movies were always my escape.

When I talk to young people, I always tell them the biggest lesson I learned was that you shouldn't care about the outcome. If it fails, it fails. Every failure will groom you for your next big reward.

At the end of the day, a divorce is a divorce, and a break-up is a break-up. They are essentially small matters of the heart. They are human stories.

If you look at 'American Horror Story' or 'Crime Story,' these are visceral, action-packed, sometimes bloody episodes of television. They're not 'feminine.' They're not about sexy women sitting around looking beautiful, drinking lattes. These episodes are calling cards to show companies like Marvel, 'Look, women can do these kind of movies.'

I love Larry Kramer's advocacy, and I love him as a person, and I think young people need to see that story.

I lean into fear because I feel like that excites me as an artist.