Nicole Kidman quotes:

I auditioned for the role of an angel in the Nativity play at school. I didn't get it. I auditioned for Mary; didn't get it. So I made up the character of the sheep who sat next to Baby Jesus.

I'm not sure what the future holds but I do know that I'm going to be positive and not wake up feeling desperate. As my dad said 'Nic, it is what it is, it's not what it should have been, not what it could have been, it is what it is.'

It's a very brave thing to fall in love. You have to be willing to trust somebody else with your whole being, and that's very difficult, really difficult and very brave.

You've just got to have a sense of respect for the person you have children with. Anger doesn't help anybody. Ultimately you have to say forgiveness is important, and honoring what you had together is important. But it's easy to say and harder to do.

I think when you're in a relationship where you really care for the other person, when they achieve their dreams it's better than when you do yourself.

I always wanted to get married with just candles! I think candlelight is the most beautiful light there is and there's something very spiritual about it.

I believe that as much as you take, you have to give back. It's important not to focus on yourself too much.

Even as a child I had a strong relationship with yearning and desire. And loss. Those things spoke to me.

When you relinquish the desire to control your future, you can have more happiness.

Salary stories are intrusive. Do you ask your neighbour what they earn for their job?

I'm a person that carries everything that happened to me in my past, with me into the future. I refuse to let it make me bitter. I still completely believe in love and I remain open to anything that will happen to me.

Since I have fair skin, I have to stay out of the sun. I can't stand the sun. I dyed my hair red for a while during the 1990s but I'm actually a natural blonde.

I was walking around legally blind. Now I have 20-20 vision. I can't believe I spent so many years blurry, but I think that coincides with how I was feeling. Now I notice if people are watching me, but I also smile right back if someone waves, which helps.

I'm trying to find a man to share my life with, but it's not been easy. I'm a 35-year-old woman with two small children.

I have a different approach. I don't file lawsuits because I really don't care.

Not to be too detailed, but I've had an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriages and I've had fertility treatments. I've done all the stuff you can possibly do to try get pregnant.

I love acting but I don't like all of the other stuff associated with it. The interest in celebrities, the press, the Internet, when your identity becomes mixed up in the way people are preceving you.

Every day there is a compromise. Living with somebody requires a lot of understanding. But I love being married. I really love it.

I don't really celebrate fame because I get enough attention.

I love working with people who are inspired and obsessive.

I have a boy's body. I would prefer to have more curves because I think that's more beautiful. I would much rather have J. Lo's body than mine.

It's very easy to fall in love when things are great, but the way to really fall in love is when things aren't great.

Part of the reason of being an actor is you like playing other people's lives and exploring all the psychologies in that and the emotions.

I think it's important that we don't all have to hold our heads high all the time saying everything's fine.

The loss of a child is the most terrifying place for me to go.

I find standing and posing for photos very awkward.

You can ask me pretty much anything. There'll be things I'll go, 'That feels a little too personal.' But most things I don't have a fear of being asked about.

I think at some stage, I would love to have another child. I would love to settle into a relationship that was really important to me. I actually am not good at the balance at that.

I want to go home at night and feel discomfort.

I was fair-skinned in a country that's about the outdoors.

I have a little bit of a belly, a tiny bit of pooch. It's the one thing I don't want to lose. I just like having some softness. If I lose that, then Tom might leave me.

To be honest, I am completely natural. I have nothing in my face or anything. I wear sunscreen, and I don't smoke. I take care of myself and I'm very proud to say that.

I think each role takes a little from you and circles around you for the rest of your life. I don't think you ever abandon any of them.

Even from a very early age, I knew I didn't want to miss out on anything life had to offer just because it might be considered dangerous.

The thing you hate about yourself tends to be the thing that everyone likes about you.

That goes against what I believe morally. That's adultery, and if I'm accused of that, no, that's not right. I have two kids who see that and remember that and judge me. It didn't happen, and it's not to be reported that way.

Cinema is a director's medium, so you're saying, 'What do you want?' Being an actor is about adapting - physically and emotionally. If that means you have to look great for it and they can make you look great, then thank you. And if you have to have everything washed away, then I'm willing to do that too.

Somehow destiny comes into play. These children end up with you and you end up with them. It's something quite magical.

I never knew I'd be in a musical, let alone win an award for one.

I just want to be nominated; beggars can't be choosers.

I did try Botox, unfortunately, but I got out of it and now I can finally move my face again.

If you've got red hair, try washing it in cranberry juice. And, if you're blonde, a champagne rinse can work wonders.

I wouldn't want to be married to me, but luckily Tom Cruise does.

Why do a crappy film role when you can do a meaty stage role? and ...I'm not small and curvy and I don't fit the prerequiste for small, passive, sexy chicks.

If you enter the dark side of life, and come through it, you emerge with more strength and passion.

I'm interested in going places that I haven't been. And I'm interesting in working with people that I feel are dangerous and sort of push me in different places.

It's so bizarre, I'm not scared of snakes or spiders. But I'm scared of butterflies. There is something eerie about them. Something weird!

I believe the experiences of life are more important than any film you make.

Forget the past. You can never predict what the future is going to be. Live for the moment.

I'm spontaneous. I jump in. I kind of like getting married and then getting to know each other; I know that it sounds incredibly strange, but to me, it's a more natural process.

Now I can wear heels. (on divorcing Tom Cruise)

The things that go on in my head are far more interesting than what actually happens...

There are moments when you feel as if you have been blessed for a while, moments when you think this is perfect, moments when you start to believe that even for an hour, even for a year, it might all happen. So I'm determined to keep making it get better and better.

I kept looking for happiness, and then I realized: This is it. It's a moment, and it comes, and it goes, and it'll come back again. I yearn for things, but at the same time I'm just peaceful.

These different people that I play become the loves of my life.

And I am standing in front of my mother, and my whole life I have wanted to make my mother proud. And now I'm going to make my daughter proud.

You don't have to be naked to be sexy.

In my heart I'm independent, a bit of a rebel, a nonconformist.

I think it's important for me as an actor that I say these are the issues I'm going to be committed to. One of them for me is women and children's health around the world and their rights;the other is ovarian cancer.

One in three women may suffer from abuse and violence in her lifetime. This is an appalling human rights violation, yet it remains one of the invisible and under-recognized pandemics of our time.

I'm especially interested in helping to give visibility to the pandemic of violence against women

I'm drawn to the psychology of really interesting, flawed people.

I refuse to let what happened to me make me bitter.

You have to operate from the sense of everything is new and you're starting again.

I was taught a very strong work ethic that included punctuality, which I've always felt is a sign of respect for others.

I never wore glasses except when I had to read a teleprompter at an awards show or drive, so I didn't notice much. I could exist in my head. It was kind of my escape from the world and my protection.

My parents thought it was nice to develop my imagination, but they never seriously thought that anything would ever come of it. They said that I couldn't be an actress because I would be taller than all my leading men, so I thought I would be a writer instead.

I love just sitting quietly meditating. With an hour free, it depends. I love getting down on the floor and playing with my kids.

I wear sunscreen, and I don't smoke. I take care of myself. And I'm very proud to say that.

There's no drugs, no Tom in a dress, no psychiatrists.

Sometimes your mistakes are you biggest virtues. You learn so much from the mistake. Those things that you think are the worst thing that's happening to you can somehow turn around and be the greatest opportunity.

LIfe has got all those twists and turns. You've got to hold on tight and off you go.

I think I would be very sad if I wasn't able to have a baby.

Violence against women is an appalling human rights violation. But it is not inevitable. We can put a stop to this.

As a Goodwill Ambassador for UNIFEM, I've learned that violence against women knows no boundaries. Join me in helping women worldwide who have suffered unthinkable violence.

I think actors are getting so much more power these days, but I'm not. I stay very much away from the decisions, the way in which things are orchestrated, what's been changed. I just try to stay completely in the role as the actor and as the character.

I love acting, but it's much more fun taking the kids to the zoo.

Stay out of the sun, because it is the worst thing in terms of aging. I'm very medical. I come from a medical family.

I'm a woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister. I'm a real person operating in the world. For me to discuss the most private thing feels wrong. It feels like I'm betraying myself and my children.

Yippee! I can't believe I made it. It feels like a long haul to get here. I'm so fine with it. People want you to have some sort of breakdown, but I'm relieved to be 40 years old, and I've lived a life.

They've said I'm gay, they've said everyone is gay. I personally don't believe in doing huge lawsuits about that stuff. Tom does. That's what he wants to do, that's what he's going to do. You do not tell Tom what to do. He is a force to be reckoned with.

If I were a strategically minded person, I think I would have a far different career.

I would describe myself as emotional and highly strung. If something upsets me, it really upsets me. If something makes me angry, I get really angry. But it's all very upfront. I can't hide it. I'm also loyal and I hope I'm fun.

I don't believe in having body doubles for a film.

It was very natural for me to want to disappear into dark theater, I am really very shy. That is something that people never seem to fully grasp because, when you are an actor, you are meant to be an exhibitionist.

If you're going to be with someone, you're with them, you're committed to them. I'm not sort of flitting around.

I'll put it out there: I love getting hugs.

I want to be in places I've never been before.

What's the point of doing something good if nobody's watching.

My life collapsed. People ran from me because suddenly it was 'Oh my God! It's over for her now!'

I think that the most difficult thing is allowing yourself to be loved, so receiving the love and feeling like you deserve it is a pretty big struggle. I suppose that's what I've learnt recently, to allow myself to be loved.

~My instinct is to protect my children from pain. But adversity is often the thing that gives us character and backbone. It's always been a struggle for me to back off and let my children go through difficult experiences.~

Acting for me is not a business, it's about trying to make pieces of art that I believe that I feel proud of. And it's the journey of that.

Acting runs through my blood. There is some sort of creative desire to express myself and I would need that outlet. Otherwise I would be a nightmare to live with

Actors have to protect each other in a way. The idea of humiliating another actor or being humiliated myself is devastating.

An actor who's a control freak, that doesn't work. We have to be malleable. We cannot come in and try to control or dominate.

As an actor timing is important, especially as a mother with small children, so a lot is chance.

As an actor you don't control the end result. Because you're a director, you get to control the end result. I think for us, we really have to show up and participate and give. And then let go.

As much as I have films and all that sort of stuff, a lot of my memories are to do with relationships and love.

Breathe and don't try to be perfect.

Dealing with these emotions as an actress is like being a boxer put into the ring.

Deep down am I superstitious? No. Do I believe in trying to be as kind as possible and as compassionate as possible because ultimately you're alone with yourself and your own conscience, and you want that to be as clear as possible? That's not superstition. You have to just try and stay pure and know what you value.

Divorce is divorce and it's a really tough thing to go through, (But) I'd love to get married again.

Don't worry about something going away; enjoy it while it's happening. And don't worry about something that's not even real.

Don't you worry about a thing, my darling. You live your life.

Happiness, that's obviously different for everybody, but what I call my joy, the thing that makes me feel incredibly satiated, is my family, and then I get to go and play out all of my ideas and feelings through all these different characters.

Having your work be the basis of fame, that's a far more stable feeling.

Honestly, people have said everything under the sun. I just want to do my work, raise my kids, and hopefully find somebody who I can share my life with again.

I always say, when I work with younger actresses, "I'm here." Reese says it, too: "We've lived it. We know things. So if there's anything you want to know." I'm careful not to be the preacher, like, "Now, listen to me!" But I do want to be available. Even in terms of things like finances - where do you learn that, if you don't have people you can ask, "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

I always try to push through fear.

I always try to push through fear. I won't be crippled by it. People say, "Oh you take such risks", or "You're brave." And I'm like, 'Well, if you knew - inside I'm really frightened!' But the way people navigate fear and pain is fascinating... The more you feel, the stronger the pain. And the more you engage in life, the more you have to lose.

I am very shy - really shy - I even had a stutter as a kid, which I slowly got over, but I still regress into that shyness. So I don't like walking into a crowded restaurant by myself; I don't like going to a party by myself.

I believe in continuing to put love and kindness and compassion and art into the world.

I didn't really care about my physical health; I only cared about what was on screen.

I dig my heels in every now and then, and think 'I'm not going to do what's expected or what people think is the right thing.' So I have a little bit of that in my personality.

I do believe there is enormous possibility to change this world.

I do research. I do emotional sort of Method work. Somehow it's a huge mishmash of things that becomes my own acting process and my own way of navigating through something. But ultimately the desire is to be honest, and for that truth to bleed through into your work and onto the screen.

I don't like changing with the wind; I like sticking to my own self.

I don't mind being naked.