Quotes from Natalie Portman

I remember as a kid being really scared of the Smurfs.

Everyone dreams of living in Paris.

I speak fluent Hebrew and even dream in Hebrew when we visit there, once or twice a year.

I was really excited to get to shave my head - it's something I'd wanted to do for a while and now I had a good excuse. It was nice to shed that level of vanity.

New York is more where art is bought than where art is made.

My dad's a doctor, and when I was 8, I went to one of his medical conferences where they were demonstrating laser surgery on a chicken. I was so mad that a chicken had to die, I never ate meat again.

When I was growing up, my mom told me every story that was happening to her. Most of the stories that come to me are through a female voice in my head. My stories seem to naturally be about females.

Our generation has the ability and the responsibility to make our ever-more connected world a more hopeful, stable and peaceful place.

I also feel I'm a positive role model by not putting my education on hold.

I just stay away from the news and try and find people around me who are doing positive things and look to them.

Grab the good people around you. Don't let them go.

Ninety per cent of how you learn is watching great people. When you are surrounded by good actors it lifts your performance.

Sometimes just watching a person doing the things they would only do at home lets you know who they really are.

Microcredit is about giving hope.

I always think the most romantic books or films are the ones where the romance doesn't happen, because it makes your heart ache so much watching it.

A movie about a weak, vulnerable woman can be feminist if it shows a real person that we can empathize with.

I always ask myself, would I want someone to do something that wasn't comfortable for them just to please me? And the answer is no.

Committing yourself to one person is sacred.

I think mainly it's an optics thing: to be able to visualize a woman in a position of power. It's going to be wonderful for all of us in every field.

Your relationship with your husband should be an important part of your private life, but publicly you should be able to define yourself.

I was really into dancing, taking six classes a week, and my real dream was to be in a Broadway show.

I loved school so much that most of my classmates considered me a dork.

I'm not convinced about marriage. Divorce is so easy, and that fact that gay people are not allowed to marry takes much of the meaning out of it. Committing yourself to one person is sacred.

You know, I get much more Jewish in Israel because I like the way that religion is done there.