Mariska Hargitay quotes:

Yes. I did more research than I ever wanted to and saw some things I wish I didn't. I went on ride-alongs, spent time with Homicide, Cold Case, and SVU detectives, hung out in subways learning how to spot pervs and pick-pockets, viewed an autopsy, went to a police firing range, and witnessed court cases and I read, read, read.

Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: Deliciusness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good.

It's a life's journey of finding ourselves, finding our power, and living for yourself, not for everyone else.

When my body is strong, I feel stronger inside. I feel more capable of handling emotional situations. Usually I'm more of a inside-out person, but this was a great case of me from the outside in.

You know how you wake up in the morning and sometimes you look gorgeous and other times you look like you got hit by a mack truck? I realized that my mack truck is food. If I have no sugar, yeast or wine, I have no undereye bags and my skin is perfect.

Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: deliciousness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good.

When I was in my early 20s, I had my hair permed. Bad idea! It turned into total frizz. My advice to women is, if you have nice hair already, don't get a perm, leave your hair alone!

Everything has combined to make my life in New York an amazing experience. I told my manager a few years ago that I wanted to move here and try acting in the theater.

Surviving and thriving in the wake of my mother's loss, I learned to believe in God. He has a plan, if you pay attention to the signs. I am inspired by the absolute proof of miracles.

Becoming a parent erased many of my negative childhood feelings and filled them in with something new.

Italian culture is so deeply soaked in an appreciation of the good things in life.

Sixty-five percent of Americans don't have the conversation with their children. So you're sending off boys and girls off to college, off to high school, off to wherever they go, and nobody's had the conversation about how to conduct themselves. About a man telling his son how to be a man. How to respect a woman. How do you respect yourself?

The experience of being cared for is profound, and it nourishes the soul as much as the food does the body.

When I was pregnant, I was so huge and people on the bus would get up for me. That made me feel so precious and valued and valuable. I try to treat everyone like they're pregnant.

I say to everybody, 'Adoption is not for the faint of heart.'

The message I got from my father was that life is hard, but you just don't quit. I am grateful that I didn't let fear get the best of me. It only holds you back from possibilities and greatness. You've got to kick fear to the side, because the payoff is huge.

Healing takes time, and asking for help is a courageous step.

I want to be a fun mom. Not a gasping for air mom.

Of course everyone says they hate baby talk, but mine was not annoying.

It's very difficult leaving the house anytime with my baby at home.

I am grateful that I didn't let fear get the best of me. It only holds you back from possibilities and greatness.

You make sacrifices to become a mother, but you really find yourself and your soul.

My heart just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Sometimes things in life happen that allow us to understand our priorities very clearly. Ultimately you can see those as gifts.

You should've seen my big hair in the 80's, that was a real project.

When you see a girl like me bustin' perps, there ain't no time to be pretty.

Being sexy is just one part of being a woman and an actress. But if the part calls for sexy...

I've always heard that you'll know, but I never understood it. With Peter, we even broke up after we dated for a year, for two or three months, but I still knew. I knew there was something different about this union. Even through the hard times, it was like "How are we going to get through this?

As an actress, there were so many months, years even, when I didn't get work, when I wanted to quit.

I have a more developed sense of my priorities. Life has so much more meaning now.

I'm an L.A. girl who became a tough New York cop.

I'm living every ten-year-old boy's fantasy. The other day, Chris and I had this big scene where we had to pull out our guns, and I was thinking, 'Here we are in New York City - a place where every actor wants to be - and we are literally playing cops and robbers. How great is that?'

I definitely have my days where I look like I got dressed in the dark.

Your body is not who you are. I don't think women should label themselves based on the way they look. What about defining yourself by a different kind of measurement? What about your heart, your soul, your compassion, your generosity, your strength and your power? There are so many other things to focus on besides your waistline.

But trust can take you a long way. And my faith takes me a long way. And I think that our pains, our vulnerabilities, and our insecurities can fuel us to be better. To try harder. To dig deeper.

I think people were expecting me to be that kind of glamorous sexpot. So they were always, Wow you're not what I expected.

Humor is about perspective, and hanging out with people who see life through a similar lens is so important.

We're all connected. Helping another woman is helping yourself, your mother, your sister, your children.

When I read the script sometimes, it's like 'Christ! Enough!' I can't sleep at night sometimes. There's the occasional script that just hammers you, that you can't shower off.

I'm a big believer that your word is your wand. You know how people say things like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm such an idiot.' I don't say things like that anymore. Those put-downs, even if they're in jest, are little bullets of negativity that you don't need in your life.

If you stop for one second and do something, everyone is happy. You pay it forward and it comes back to you twelve-fold.

Just smiling at someone walking down the street can make the person's day. It's all about paying it forward.

You've got to kick fear to the side, because the payoff is huge.

When I was in my early 20s, I had my hair permed. Bad Idea! It turned into total frizz. My advice to women is: if you have nice hair already, don't get a perm, leave your hair alone.

I think God runs the show. Completely. Life proves it every day: He runs the show

There's so much that you can get mad about. Out of self-preservation, I focus on being grateful.

Every day is deeper and richer and more soulful.

I get very excited about my double stroller. Every time I look at it, I get a shot of adrenaline and joy because I think, This is real!

I am proud to be a role model for my viewers. I am finding out that helping victims is as or more rewarding the all the awards I win.

Life begins at 40, and I'm living proof.

I look at all the things life has allowed me to do, and I feel like the luckiest person in the world.

I have a nest egg, and I don't buy above my means.

I'm a ready-shoot-aim kind of gal.

There's the occasional script that just hammers you, that you can't shower off.

I think because I became a mom later in life, everything in life means more.

Having a child changes everything. All of a sudden you have so much to lose, so much to live for.

I was lucky enough to have a father who said, 'Don't quit.' So I just kept going.

~Before you have kids, when you're on a plane and there's a screaming kid, all you can think is, Give me earplugs! As soon as I became a mom, though, I got it. You find yourself asking, 'What can I do? You want me to hold him?' Because you think about the time your kids was screaming, and there was the one parent who looked at you and smiled. And that compassion was everything.~

A guy at ABC told me to change my name and get a nose job. I said 'You get a nose job.'

Adoption was a bumpy ride - very bumpy. But, God, was it worth the fight.

Being fearless means busting down those walls of fear and being who you are, not who someone else thinks you are. People like to put others in a box and tell them what they can and cannot do or who they can and cannot be. No one can tell you who you are and what you are made of, only you yourself know what you are made of, and only you yourself can do the work to become who you want to be.

Being thin is not more important than enjoying life

Criminals are just regular people who didn't have time to read all the laws.

Eric Lewis doesn't play the piano, he devours it. He doesn't play music, he channels the divine.

Fifty years ago my Mother stood on this stage accepting this award; She was fortunate enough to have my Dad with her. Fifty years later, I'm fortunate enough to have my Dad with me. I love you, Dad.

Golf made me feel like a loser. So I dismissed it.

I don't have to be an expert. I just have to care.

I have so much love that I didn't even know about.

I realize that you have to show up for your life.

I wasn't at all trying to be skinny, My Mom is Jayne Mansfield, I'm allowed to have curves.

If I can play a little part in the world's healing, and making it a better place than when I came, then I just thank God for that chance.

If I eat clean, I look 10 years younger.

I'm a size 8, and I feel proud of that, because it's healthy. I've never felt compelled to be a skinny actress.

I'm a water person; water heals.

I'm just grateful that my body is healthy. I want to be on this planet for a long time, so I try to eat things that make me feel good and make me strong. But I also love food and I love life: Some days having that extra bowl of pasta and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup means more to me than being thin.

In life you have two choices. You can laugh or you can cry. You have to laugh, you have to.

It wasn't really that hard to act when you see somebody holding a gun to your partner. It's also believing the circumstances and I believed it.

I've got no problems with my age. I rejoice in the knowledge I have accrued and savor the greatest moments, because I know how fast it goes.

Just having someone make you laugh so hard that it hurts is so healing to me.

Kids who drink alcohol, fairly regularly before they're 14 have a 48% chance... of becoming alcoholics.

Losing my mother at such an early age is the scar of my soul. But I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today; I understand the journey of life. I had to go through what I did to be here.

My Dad taught me that good health is all about living in gratitude.

My weekends are extremely precious.

No one can take away your pain, so don't let anyone take away your happiness.

No one can tell you who you are and what you are made of, only you yourself know what you are made of, and only you yourself can do the work to become who you want to be.

Our early dating life consisted of trying to figure out whether we were dating.

Over half a million women are raped in this country every year, and only a fraction of them report it because they're too ashamed. It's a really screwed up world, but its not your fault, and what happened to you, it doesn't make you the monster.

People who overcome their fears every day, without fanfare, without recognition. Quiet, everyday courage, that's what I admire most.

Sexual assault and domestic violence are difficult things to talk about. Talk about them anyway.

Surviving and thriving in the wake of my mothers loss, I learned to believe in God. He has a plan, if you pay attention to the signs. I am inspired by the absolute proof of miracles.

The definition of inspire is 'to fill with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.' There you have it: Jeffrey Bilhuber inspires me. I watch him make his magic, and I want to do the same. Those are always my favorite people, the ones who are so alive in the practice of their art that I want to jump in and join the fun.

The only reason I have the career I have is that I didn't quit.

They say that the average lifespan of an SVU detective is 4 years. People can't do it longer than that because it's so difficult.

You survived the abuse, you're going to survive the recovery.

By coming forward and sharing your story, you don't know the countless lives you change.

To me, the definition of sexy - at any age - is strength and confidence.