Debra Winger quotes:

I was the all-American face. You name it, honey - American Dairy Milk, Metropolitan Life insurance, McDonald's, Burger King. The Face That Didn't Matter - that's what I called my face.

I was never afraid of failure after that because, I think, coming that close to death you get kissed. With the years, the actual experience of course fades, but the flavor of it doesn't. I just had a real sense of what choice do I have but to live fully?

Never say never, but the thought of electively cutting oneself is beyond my grasp, and I also object to it politically. Denying the lines on our faces makes a comment about age and wisdom I don't care to make.

If I could have one prayer answered, I would pray for patience. I move so fast sometimes. I try to slow down.

The sexiest thing in the world is to be totally naked with your wedding band on.

I need my family to remind me in a loving and nice way to lighten up.

I had a very insightful friend who warned me back when I stopped reading scripts, 'It's easier to change directions while you're still moving.' If you stop, it's harder to get started again. I still don't think I made the wrong decision, but he was right.

My grandmother gave birth to 13 children and I come from a long line of women who gave birth in their 40s.

Most bad behaviour comes from insecurity.

It's no secret that I didn't love 'An Officer And A Gentleman' then, and I certainly don't love it now, so at least no one could accuse me of being inconsistent.

When I was younger I probably didn't understand something basic about tact, but I think it kept faint-hearted people at arm's distance and that's not such a bad thing, because life is short and I know the kind of people I want to work with.

I just live in the truth and think that every moment counts.

I don't think that I'm that easy to live with. I have to be reminded that I can have fun. I need my family to remind me in a loving and nice way to lighten up.

In the early part of my life I carried the flame for fiery women: perky women who were not dumb.

Most bad behavior comes from insecurity.

I never lost my interest in acting but I did lose my interest in the business and what I had to go through to make a film. I felt saturated, you know, like a sponge when it's saturated - it's not good.

I've been acting all along. I understand that I haven't been in people's viewers, but acting has never not been a part of my life, just more time in between and less high-profile.

It's such an amazing thing to be loved for who you are.

A good marriage is different to a happy marriage.

But I never worried about having a child in my 40s, which is unusual - normally, I'm the queen of worry.

Just because we're on schedule is no reason to shoot bad acting. Someone once said to me, 'You're inconsiderate.' And I said, 'Inconsiderate? Bad acting is the ultimate inconsideration.' It's a collective slap to a million faces at the same time.

People pay to see movies with women looking beautiful, but I think there will be a place for me to play women looking my own age.

Bad acting is the ultimate inconsideration.

I don't think it is worth trying to look 10 years younger through surgery.

I think it's a little irresponsible for women who choose surgery to then say they can portray the average woman on the street, because if the average woman can't afford those treatments, then she's going to say, 'I'm 53 and I don't look like that,' and start thinking she's ugly or inadequate.

An actress in a film starts every day with an hour and a half in front of a mirror, with hair and make-up and costumes.

I am lucky enough to be married to a guy who tells me I look beautiful every day.

I hope to find the roles that are age appropriate but not yearning to be younger, or parenting ad nauseam.

There's a small club of women who are willing to age.

I happen to be interested in watching a face age. I like faces of women aging so it makes me personally quite sad. That's a beautiful gift from God. If people don't want to see that anymore then I won't be in anymore movies.

It's inconceivable to some people that that wouldn't be the sexiest thing to do in the whole world: to be a movie star, and make money, and be pampered, and whatever.

Granted there are only seven stories in the universe. And I agree with that. But give me a great variation of those stories. And literate.

If you want to get a facelift, get a facelift. Don't sit there and talk about why you got it because of the pressure.

I am one of the happiest people I know. And that's a weird place to have arrived at from being a depressed Jewish kid.

You see people on TV flying in to places just to pick up a baby, or brush some flies away. That's great if they can bring that issue to public attention. But that's not what I wanted to do. I was interested in committing to something that I could function in whether I was Debra Winger or not. Because nobody might care about that next week.

I do admit to being challenging, but it's always for the work, it's never personal. I will walk out on a scene if it's all lit and ready to go but it's not happening.

Show me the story. I just want to tell a story that pulls me forward.

I don't believe in careers. I believe in work. I'm not interested in some 'big picture that would be really good for me'.

People who make lots of money at what they do should just shut up about it.

When you connect with a cause, it's like falling in love.

I want to start a trend of women as we really look. Some good things, some not so good. I am tired of looking at frozen faces.

Theater is all about the rehearsal process. In fact, I think a lot of times opening night there's a mixed sadness because you're finished with a lot of people's favorite part of the process, which is finding the character and discovering it, and then you get to live it.

I make decisions for my life, not the other way around. Besides, when you have a kid, you must weigh everything against time with your child.

Denying the lines on our faces makes a comment about age and wisdom I don't care to make.

I started out in stand-up, so it's very satisfying to make people laugh, but it usually means at your own expense.

I started out in stand-up when I was 18, which is really masochistic, and I did it really till I started going in movies. I did it for about three years out in LA.

Actors always want you to believe something else even though that's the truth and to do that well it's almost a dying art.

"Stand up against the wall!" That's what everybody gets offered, especially women. When women started appearing on TV again in something other than the girl or the mother role it was all, "Get up against the wall," or, "The skin underneath her fingernail would tell me that she," you know, forensic stuff. Oh, God gross. Now, they're hunting terrorists.

The older you get, the more you've done.

It's fun to be loose. Just like on stage, all of your great ideas come from looseness.

I just want to sleep, and eat, and learn about what's going on in the world.

I have enjoyed a wonderful run in films, so far, and I may, at some point, come back. But it will be in my own time and in my own style.

I tend to wear outfits that match the walls.

I think when it comes to Botox and surgery, actresses should do it or not do it, but be honest about their choices.

I do not need a lot of money to be happy.

I will walk out on a scene if it's all lit and ready to go but it's not happening.

I became an actor because I couldn't not.

I used to love going on a junket and promoting a film when it was not a 24-hour news cycle, and when there weren't so many media outlets. You could actually talk about the film.

I have a thing with the camera. The lens is unconditional. It doesn't judge you.

It's easier to change directions while you're still moving.

I always loved working as an actress, but I didn't understand why I couldn't just opt out of being famous. And then I realized you can, and I think I did. And eventually, I came to understand that you can do that and also keep working.