Starting out to make money is the greatest mistake in life. Do what you feel you have a flair for doing and if you are good enough at it the money will come.

One of the most gratifying things I get as an artist is when people watch me do these different demonstrations and they in some way feel empowered by what I'm doing so they can confront their own fears. Maybe it's the fear of getting in an elevator maybe it's the fear of going on a plane and seeing the world.

We fear doing too little when we should do more. Then atone by doing too much when perhaps we should do less.

I decided to make 'Captain America' because I realized I wasn't doing the film because it terrified me. You can't make decisions based on fear.

Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once to get over the fear of doing it. Twice to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.

I always say three things make a writer: inspiration obviously perspiration doing the work. But the third is desperation. I'm not really fit for anything else or to have a real job. That fear drives me. The pressure has always been self inflicted.

President Obama is doing the right thing by offering young immigrants most often in this country through no action of their own a chance to live and work openly free from the fear of deportation.

I've noticed a lot of younger artists have less fear of doing different sorts of things whether it's various types of music or gallery artists moving between video and sculpture and drawing.

You have to be careful not to let your fear stop you doing things. It's very exciting to test yourself.

Injustice is censured because the censures are afraid of suffering and not from any fear which they have of doing injustice.

Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it... that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.

I still forgive him because by doing what he did he made it famous.

I think success right now is not about how famous you are or how much you're getting paid but it's more about if you're steadily working and you're happy with what you're doing.

It's not a matter of becoming a superstar. Fame and money aren't the purpose of all this. No actor's going to say 'I don't want to be famous.' But the main purpose for doing what I'm doing is the passion in the work.

Some people with blogs are never going to get famous and they've been doing it for like over a year. I feel bad for them.

I totally related to Cole Porter's magnetic pull to any piano that was in the room which he was famous for doing as was Gershwin. You couldn't drag them away from a piano.

Well yeah. At a certain point you've got to be really honest with yourself. Like 'Why am I doing this? What are my motivations?' Like if you get into it because you want to be famous? Then you've got a long row to hoe. But if you really feel like it's a labour of love and it's something you're actually legitimately good at then it's not that hard to keep plugging away.

I love singing - singing is what I'm famous for doing. Now it's turned into things I am famous for doing - like having rows with my mum or about my boyfriend so it does get irritating.

You don't have to be rich and famous. You just have to be an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. I'd like more people to know that it's there. Women's achievements still aren't recognised enough in many areas.

I got very famous for a minute and then it just all went away you know? And for the last 20 years - you've got to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and then go on your merry way and start again in a sense and that's what I've been doing.

I don't come from a famous family and don't have this detachment from everyday people and everyday life. I'm just doing my job and the attention that comes with it is part of the territory.

When you're a famous successful person at 16 years old the rules change for you. Everybody is doing things for you to make life easier so you can go out and play. And I think you miss out on lot of growing up and a lot of reality checks.

I know I had my equivalents in Adrian Lester and Lenny James when I was at drama school. I remember David Harewood doing 'Othello' at the National and Adrian Lester having done Cheek by Jowl's famous 'As You Like It and Company' at the Donmar. Not necessarily performances I saw but just the fact they happened was massively encouraging.

I don't want to end up being a circus act doing my most famous tricks when I'm 70.