Meryl Streep

"Your child is your legacy, not your Oscar."

"Authenticity is much more beautiful than perfection."

"The joy is in the doing, not the acclaim."

"Women have always been this powerful force in society."

"Learn to value yourself, which means fighting for your life as if it were a precious thing."

"I don't think about myself as a serious actress. I think about myself as a human being who acts."

"The only thing you really owe anybody is honesty."

"Everything is temporary. Everything is always evolving."

"I've done my best work when I'm not thinking about the work."

"Age is no barrier. It's a limitation you put on your mind."

"The difference between reading something and acting it is enormous."

"Women are the guardians of the family."

"You're going to make a lot of mistakes in life. That's just part of the deal."

"Acting is about truth and observation."

"I've always tried to understand what other people are experiencing."

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

"I want to be a woman. That's what I am and what I do best."

"Everybody has a story. Everyone has dimensions."

"You have to trust yourself. And when in doubt, see what's in your heart."

"The most important thing is to be present."

"People are interested in people. Not in ideas, not in causes, but in people."

"I think there's such a thing as good and bad. And I think there's such a thing as trying to do good."

"The person you become after loss is the person you've always been, just slightly altered."

"A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not away from womanhood but toward it."

"I did not want to become a saint. I wanted to become an actress."

"The craft is the thing that keeps you grounded."

"Family is the most important thing in the world."

"I'm not afraid of older women. Older women make sense."

"Writing is such hard work all by itself. Why would you want to inflict it on someone?"

"You can't do everything, so you have to be strategic about what you do."