Quotes About Challenges

I'm not a household word. The climate for original music is always a bit difficult.

I wanted to play my original music, but it was really hard because a lot of the people who would come out to the shows found out about me through 'The Voice' and wanted to hear covers.

I was originally going to become a biochemist, but it just got way too complicated.

It's hard growing up in Hollywood, you know? I'm not from L.A. originally.

The inconveniences we faced within this state are minor compared to... New Orleans.

I grew up within New Orleans; my greatest concern is rising water. But I think life is a process of moving items from the 'scared of' to the 'not scared of' list.

Military brats have this toughness: they're almost like orphans or foster children; they develop little mechanisms. It sets you up to look at things a little differently.

I never thought I'd play an orthodox Jewish man.

A lot of young Latino actors have said to me, 'Why can't we get an Oscar? Why can't we be nominated?' And the terrible truth is that if you don't get the right parts, you're not going to be. Are you going to get an Oscar nomination for one of those Judd Apatow movies? Not likely, no matter what nationality you are.

I'm definitely interested in taking on roles where I don't look like myself. But I'm not saying I'm going to go out of my way to play a disabled person in order to win an Oscar.

When you're up for an Oscar, you just get offered everything. It's fantastic, but a lot of it you're completely inappropriate for.

I would like to be an actress in Hollywood and win an Oscar. The only difference is my height.

I've experienced a great deal of, you know, ostracism from the making of films.

Russia probably knows the true cost of revolutions better than most other countries.

One of the flaws in the American dream is that there isn't as much of a safety net as you may get in other countries.

I don't want our country to be like other countries in Europe in having a challenge to integrate their new immigrants.

It was funny being at high school and also grocery shopping and having a job. Other kids were going home to their parents, who were doing their laundry, and I was like, 'Wait, what?' I was super isolated. I was 16, alone in New York, and modelling.

At school, I was a lot more advanced compared to the other kids but I didn't like authority and was kicked out for fighting.

The problem is foster youth don't really have this network that other kids have.

One thing about having children is that even as it complicates many aspects of your life, it simplifies others.

The more I do, the more frightened I get. But that is essential. Otherwise why would I go on doing it?

Our country was founded by geniuses, but it's being run by idiots.

We all have human emotions that rob our lives.

One question hovers over all of us who choose to spend our lives writing: why keep doing this in a world where so many forces are aligned against us?