Quotes from Halle Berry

I'm not one of these actresses like, 'Okay, where's the camera? Is it here? Is it here?' I don't even ask the questions because I don't really want to know. I like not performing for a camera but giving it my best every single time whether you're close or whether you're far.

Being biracial is sort of like being in a secret society. Most people I know of that mix have a real ability to be in a room with anyone, black or white.

I always had to prove myself through my actions. Be a cheerleader. Be class president. Be the editor of the newspaper.

I'm not the girl for superhigh fashion because I don't have the right body.

It gave me strength and toughness because I had to face reality, no matter how uncomfortable or painful it was.

During really difficult times in my life when I start questioning why I am struggling with something, I often turn to books to understand myself better.

My whole life I've had the fear that I was going to be abandoned.

When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner.

Motherhood sort of puts things into perspective, and it's bout real life, and life is about people, what we give, what we take, what we share.

As a woman, when you embrace where you are in life, then I think the struggle [life] isn't so hard. If you're 42 and still think you're an ingenue, then you've got a problem.

Let me tell you something - being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life. No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory.

Blackness is a state of mind, and I identify with the black community. Mainly, because I realized, early on, when I walk into a room, people see a black woman, they don't see a white woman. So out of that reason alone, I identify more with the black community.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Know when to laugh at yourself, and find a way to laugh at obstacles that inevitably present themselves.

What's hardest for me to swallow is when there is a love story, say, with a really high-profile male star and there's no reason I can't play the part. They say, 'Oh, we love Halle, we just don't want to go black with this part.'

I spent a lot of time with a crown on my head.

In the X-Men the women are so strong and sexy! We really kick some male butt!

People win Oscars, and then it seems like they fall off the planet. And that's partly because a huge expectation walks in the room and sits right down on top of your head. The moment I won the Oscar, I felt the teardown the very next day.

If you set out to do something and you give it your all and it doesn't work out, be willing to modify your goal slightly. Have the ability to look in another direction. A small shift could guide you to the real purposes of your life.

Throughout my career I have been talked out of things I wanted to do, and when I look back, I think I should have followed my instincts.

By the time I left school, I had a lot of tenacity.

The day I saw my mom eating the Santa cookies on the plate was one of the most horrific days of my life.

I used to believe that if my career was going great, then I was not entitled to a great personal life. Well, I've stopped thinking that way. I believe I can have it all.

Being a mother is probably the most important thing in my life right now.

Self-esteem comes from who you have in your life. How you were raised. What you struggled with as a child.