"I think there is something at Christmas that challenges us all to think about being generous to others. To reach out and maybe give people a little joy. Maybe that’s why I love doing Christmas movies. It’s a way of being generous with oneself and I like that."

"We have to keep learning over and over in life not to worry about what people think or at least not to let that worry drown out what our heart's desires are."

"I think you learn something from everybody that you work with if you allow yourself to do that. What you might learn is to just be freer or braver. That's part of what you take away from an experience like that, and you grow. You might be a little less afraid the next time you work with somebody whose mind works like that."

"I think it causes the business to probably take you a little more seriously and to believe in you more. That’s a meaningful thing to me. This is something I’ve now done for 45 years. I treasure every single day that I’m on a set. I think anyone who’s worked with me would agree that I’m not bored or jaded or any of those things. For me, it’s still an utter privilege to do this for a living. I never forget that for a second."

"A lot of people misunderstood why I was doing what I was doing, or even what I was doing. Then other people were actually kind of pissed off about it. Or they were worried I was going to make a fool of myself that it was somehow undignified or just weird."

"I've spent 26 years with this man. If I could sign up for 100 more lifetimes with him, I would do it right now because he is just one of the great people on this planet."

"It’s changed a lot. As a mother, when my kids were younger, I have to admit, I looked for the juiciest role I could get that would shoot in the smallest amount of days so that I could keep being a functioning mom."

"Part of the beauty of being this age is that it doesn’t feel like it’s for ever. You can be overwhelmed, or you can go."

"To be honest, when you have four kids and one grandchild, and one on the way, and a marriage that you are very blessed to have, I don’t want to work all the time."

"If people call me a songwriter, I am honored to be called that. I’m keenly aware that I’m lucky to get to work with these writers."

"I thought they were saying this because they felt my music wasn’t good enough, and I needed to write with other people to make it better. Being open to everything and always saying yes, It was very frustrating for me because I have a really strong work ethic. I’ve never missed a performance in my life, so I’m sure not going to miss a co-writing session."

"That life keeps teaching me how little I actually know. I used to think I was going to die wise, and now the one wisdom I have is I know very little."

"I'm nicer than I am. Like most people I have a dark side, but because of roles I played early on people tend not to guess that."

"When I came round I felt very odd, It was like I had headphones on and I was listening to music. It didn’t go away. I wasn’t sleeping at night. It was as though my mind had become a musical tornado, and whatever came in front of me got whirled into it."

"Advocacy succeeds through two things: consistency and tenacity. You have to be patient and keep working."

"If northern Nigeria were its own country, it would have the world’s worst maternal mortality rate."

"For you to be able to inform others and to educate them, you have to be informed yourself and be educated yourself."

"In Rwanda, we are now investing in making the agriculture sector an attractive and profitable business opportunity for our young entrepreneurs. They are bringing in new energy and advanced technology that will further diversify our crops and ensure quality production in the future of our agriculture sector."

"We’re a small country, but we have our own dignity."

"You can’t embrace if you believe somebody is more superior than you are."

"The savior mentality does not really take root in our country because it doesn’t work. You have to get something from us before we can get something from you."

"You have to own up first, you have to own your own failures."

"You can’t really solve problems without linking with regional entities because the problems of one country become the problem of another country."

"I can pretty significantly say that I learned more from them (students) than they learned from me. They pushed me to become who I became."

"They (Rwandans) have come from the ashes and have created a society that the people are proud of, and I’m proud to expand where I can in terms of the understanding of the American public."

"Rwandans became agents of their own destinies."

"We must remember not to dwell on the past, but to strive for a better future."

"Part of our job is teaching. We travel all over the country to major institutions and help organize conferences to teach people about Rwanda."

"They were the backbone of reconstruction of our country but at the same time also there was a political will to empower women."

"Sometimes we look at Rwanda with genocide, Most of the time we don’t look at the incredible culture, the people."

"Giving a forum to promote genocide ideology is laying a breeding ground for preparation of future genocide."

"That change is key, because full development cannot happen if half the people of Africa are not fully recognized as equal partners in society."

"women are competing as men. Women are now flying the high skies in my country."

"If you dream of something that can break boundaries, Rwanda is the place to be."

"I urge and encourage our young people present today to embrace your heritage, draw inspiration from those who came before you, and use your talents to build a better Rwanda, a better Africa, and a better world for all of us."

"The notion of forgiveness is at the core of our being and has become our duty."

"Rwanda is a country governed by the rule of law where unity and reconciliation have allowed people to come together to build a cohesive and prosperous nation."

"We designed a roadmap and made transformative choices that are still guiding us today […] that can be summarized in three words: unity, accountability and thinking big."

"But you can't just come with promises of better things when you are not really offering anything."

"We didn't want our new generation and future generations to ever to go through what we have been through. We want to be Rwandans."

"Rwandans have engaged in a heart-to-heart conversation to strenghten the bonds of what make them to be truly one people. They have collectively rejected factionalism and divisionism of all kinds and have embraced the ideology of Ndi Umunyarwanda: I am Rwanda."

"It was my protection. If I allowed myself to feel anything emotionally, I was not going to be able to do anything."

"For me this land is not about what it produced, but about the people, where I was born and raised."

"We do not have to wait for someone to organize us when we are already organized, we should take charge and lead the way and also partner with others as we cross boundaries of race, color and have human solidarity that will help us to promote our cause."

"In Rwanda, we have removed all barriers that women used to face. Women have been included in different sectors even in Government and economic empowerment."

"We only need to change one thing: is social norms. Kids learn on the laps of their parents, the way you treat women is the same way your sons will treat them."

"When you are a refugee, you rely much on what people give you. Some people fall through the cracks. When you are a refugee and a girl anything can happen."

"I am very proud of my people. We faced big challenges, but we successfully confronted them together as Rwandans. We now live in peace. Rwanda has turned the corner. People are happy and there is hope and light at the end of the tunnel. Remember, Reunite, and Renew"

"This (Genocide against Tutsi in 1994) was not just a Rwandan failure, it was also a major failure for the international community."

"Rwanda would have been called a “failed state,” but people refused to surrender to despair."