Amy Poehler

I really do believe that anything in life – any obstacle or challenge – can be made better with humor.

Women talk about stuff on the way to the valet that it takes men 10 years to admit to each other. The depth at which women talk to and about each other is invaluable to me. With your really, really close good friends you do that fast.

You know, as a comedian your body has to be – I need to think of a better term than ‘up for grabs’ – but you kind of use whatever you have to get the laugh. And if you’re worrying about how you look… Vanity is the death of comedy.

[on her mother] she’s a very smart, independent woman who was kind of coming into her own in the feminist movement of the 70s and 80s

It takes years to find your voice and seize your real estate.

The streets and woods around my house were a perfect setting for fake mischief. I would spend all afternoon pretending I had run away and had to live on my own. I would bring Toll House cookies and a sweatshirt and try to make a fire. I would sneak out side my house at dusk with a pair binoculars and search the streets for murderers. I created scenarios in my head that I always managed to escape from kidnap fantasies where I would wriggle free from the ropes.

Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have.

There is a certain amount of dissatisfaction that goes with knowing your time, talent and abilities are not being properly used.

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.

Due diligence equals increasing your financial IQ daily.

Take action. Every story you’ve ever connected with, every leader you’ve ever admired, every puny little thing that you’ve ever accomplished is the result of taking action. You have a choice. You can either be a passive victim of circumstance or you can be the active hero of your own life.

Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.

A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and a pebble in the hand of a fool.

Aim for the highest

I would say to do you and do you well. Don’t try to be anyone else. Don’t try to emulate what someone is doing. Play to your strengths. Even if you see someone onstage that is killing it, don’t try to do what they’re doing. Just keep doing you.

Rules are meant to be broken.

Success is…knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.

Stay confident even when something bad happens. It is just a bump in the road. It will pass.

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

Always think positively and expect the best.

My philosophy in life is this: if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out.