Wisdom in fragments

It took me a long time to figure out that the sensation I was having was anxiety- it's a real, physical, feeling that manifests within you. It's so much more than just being 'in your head' it's your whole body.

Actor best known for Jurassic Park and The Piano films

An actor who isn't acting becomes a sort of non-person. If you're not acting, what are you?

Actor best known for Jurassic Park and The Piano films

There's also a danger in acting of identifying yourself as an actor. We have to try to identify ourselves as human beings first, and our jobs second. I'm Sam, I act sometimes… not I am Sam, I am an actor. What I do is separate to me.

Actor best known for Jurassic Park and The Piano films

Authenticity- for me- is incredibly important. It's easy to spot the difference between acting and authentic performance- even though it may seem a contradiction in terms. When you're acting, 10% of you needs to be conscious of what you're doing, and 90% lost in the moment.

Actor best known for Jurassic Park and The Piano films

I've always been self-taught, sort of like the Grandma Moses of acting. If I'd gone to drama school, I would probably have had a very different career- perhaps not as much fun in some ways.

Actor best known for Jurassic Park and The Piano films

What novels do is to turn the tide and restore our individuality. The writer is alone when s/he is writing, the reader is alone when s/he is reading. This bond is precious.

Turkish-British novelist and author of "The Forty Rules of Love

They help us to understand that there is no 'us' versus 'them', and that 'The Other' is, in fact, my brother, my sister; the other is me.

Turkish-British novelist and author of "The Forty Rules of Love

Stories help us to develop cognitive flexibility, strengthen our epistemic muscles. It is an intellectual growth but also a spiritual one. It changes us deep inside. Stories rehumanize those who have been dehumanized.

Turkish-British novelist and author of "The Forty Rules of Love

What politics couldn't say and left silent, fiction could tell. Literature takes us out of our comfort zones and pushes us to see the issues from various angles. Fiction is an intellectual exercise.

Turkish-British novelist and author of "The Forty Rules of Love

There is no such thing as History with a capital H. There are histories, multiple stories waiting to be told, researched, understood and appreciated. The story changes depending on who tells it.

Turkish-British novelist and author of "The Forty Rules of Love

I started writing fiction because I was lonely. I was an only child, a solitary child, raised by a single working mother, which was very unusual at the time in Turkey. Literature gave me a sense of continuity, coherence; it kept my pieces together. It helped me to connect even when I felt like I didn't quite belong.

Turkish-British novelist and author of "The Forty Rules of Love

Some of my greatest rewards have been when I jumped off the cliff and figured out how to fly on the way down.

Academy Award-Winning Actor Known for Dallas Buyers Club Role

That constant re-entry back into who we are if we're acting like someone, we're not is laborious and exhausting to do over and over.

Academy Award-Winning Actor Known for Dallas Buyers Club Role

What's beautiful is when you're filling your bank account and your soul account. There are two accounts! You can't chase those goals at the expense of your own character, that makes you a paper tiger, a fool.

Academy Award-Winning Actor Known for Dallas Buyers Club Role

When faced with the inevitable, get relative.

Academy Award-Winning Actor Known for Dallas Buyers Club Role

It's only when you look back that you can connect the dots to where we are right now. Looking back, I learned that it was those red and yellow lights that revealed those solar-powered green lights.

Academy Award-Winning Actor Known for Dallas Buyers Club Role