Quotes by Elisabeth Shue

“I understand now that the vulnerability Ive always felt is the greatest strength a person can have. You cant experience life without feeling life. What Ive learned is that being vulnerable to somebody you love is not a weakness, its a strength.”

“Sadness, joy, wonder - all feelings come from a place of grounded strength that comes from trust in yourself. We spend so much time trying to control our feelings out of fear that something may happen, that somebody may not love us, or walk away or die. Its only when you stop living in that fear of what other people might do to you or how they will react, only then are you free to be alive.”

“I may be the girl next door, but you wouldnt want to live next to me.”

“After Leaving Las Vegas I did assume that things would get a lot easier than theyve been. But its just been a mirror of the way my careers been from the beginning, so for it to have changed would have been strange. My career has never been perfect.”

“I spent my whole life trying to play the games males play.”

“She has a wisdom beyond her years. But what I love about her most is that she is a girl. Her playfulness and her appreciation for where she is, is so strong that it re-inspires you. She has a beautiful imagination, and she believes the circumstances of the characters. Shes in the moment, and she has great instincts, and she works hard. Its not just instinct. Shes brilliant.”

“I was really so excited and thought, `If theres a part, I dont care what it is, Im going to do it, just because I love her so much,”

“She is a little girl. Her playful spirit is very much alive when shes not working. Even when she is working, she comes, and she runs and hugs everybody in the morning, and her beautiful smile just sort of forces everybody, pushes them, to open up to the day.”

“She reminds you of the joyfulness that you felt when you first started and reminds you to never let that go.”

“Yeah, it was so good. I was so-o-o mean to her before [in Hide and Seek ]. Man, I felt bad because I love Elisabeth so much, but I got to be nice with her in this movie. Thats what I like about doing movies because you get to do things and portray characters that you would never do or be like in your real life, ever.”

I want to be involved with young people in some way. Teenagers. Because thats the most vulnerable time. I have a fantasy of becoming a teacher one day.

I understand now that the vulnerability Ive always felt is the greatest strength a person can have. You cant experience life without feeling life. What Ive learned is that being vulnerable to somebody you love is not a weakness, its a strength.

I try really hard to give my kids as much independence as I can, caring mostly about their character: Are they kind? Generous? Do they work hard?

My mom had started to go to work when I was nine or ten, so I was aware of women trying to find their own identities by working. But I was still influenced by men to such an extreme. I wanted to play their games and wanted to compete in their world and be like them.

I dont think Cocktail was a perfect critical success, but it touched a vein in our culture.