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My Mom Grew Up In Poverty In Oklahoma - Like Dust Bowl, Nine People In One Room Kind Of Place - And The Way She Got Out Of Poverty Was Through Education. My Dad Grew Up Without A Dad, With Very Little And He Also Made His Way Out Through Education.

-Jennifer Garner

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My Mom Grew Up

Jennifer Garner

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My Mom Grew Up In Poverty In Oklahoma - Like Dust Bowl, Nine People In One Room Kind Of Place - And The Way She Got Out Of Poverty Was Through Education. My Dad Grew Up Without A Dad, With Very Little And He Also Made His Way Out Through Education.

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My Mother Is A Big Believer In Being Responsible For Your Own Happiness. She Always Talked About Finding Joy In Small Moments And Insisted That We Stop And Take In The Beauty Of An Ordinary Day. When I Stop The Car To Make My Kids Really See A Sunset, I Hear My Mother’s Voice And Smile.

I Think All Of Us Have Our Inner 13-year-old A Lot Closer To The Surface Than We're Willing To Admit Even To Ourselves.

I Would Roll Up Pennies To Take The Subway To Work In Times Square. I Was Broke, But I Was Happy.

I Mean, I Didn't Ever Watch 'gilligan's Island' And Think, 'those People Are Actors.' I Lived In West Virginia. Hollywood Just Felt Like This Total Other Universe.

Growing Up Where I Did, The Thought Of Working On A Television Show Or In A Movie... That Existed On A Parallel Plane, You Know?

I Wish I Was One Of Those Cute Pregnant Girls Who Wear Skinny Jeans Throughout Their Pregnancies. But I Just Gain Weight.

I Really Choose By What I Like, I Thought 'alexander' Was A Super Smart Script. Just [costar] Steve [carell] Alone Would Have Been Enough. Gosh, I Love Working With That Guy. He's Just The Best.

Approaching The Treadmill I Tell Myself, 'okay, It's Just 10 Minutes, After That You Can Get Off The Thing'. That's No Time At All.

You Stick To The Script, The Script Is Bible.

I Don't Have This Fantasy About Marriage Anymore. Everyone Says It Takes Hard Work. Well, It Kind Of Does -- And I'm Much More Pragmatic About Romance Than I Used To Be. [with Scott] I Wanted To See Him As A White Knight And Was Crushed Whenever Anything Normal Happened. I Wanted To Be The Princess. Now I'm Much More Willing To See Myself As Human And Flawed, And Accept Someone -- The Whole Picture. My Life Is Definitely Changing For The Better. I Couldn't Be Happier Or Feel More Comfortable With The Direction It's Going In.

I Am The Model Middle Child. I Am Patient And I Like To Take Care Of Everyone. Being Called Nice Is A Compliment. It's Not A Boring Way To Describe Me.

I Mean, Any Time An Actress Gets To Work With Another Actress, It’s Like, “oh, There Are Two Of Us In A Movie! How Are You? Let’s Sit In The Hair Chair Together!” We’re Lonely, Women.

You Can Choose To Be Civil Or Not Be Civil. What Is The Point Of Going Through The Day And Think It's Cool To Wear Your Honesty On Your Sleeve At The Expense Of Everyone Around You?

I Have This Internal Battle Between, I Need To Work, I Need To Work, I Need To Work And I Need To Be Home With My Kids. And The Kids Win.

It's Not A Bad Thing, Is It, To Be Strong In Some Ways And Fragile And Vulnerable In Others?

I Never Had A Problem Resisting Somebody That I Knew Was Going To Break My Heart.

It's About Getting The Kids Up And Fed, Getting One To School, Getting The Other Down For A Nap, Going To The Grocery Store, Picking One Up From School, Getting The Other One Down For Another Nap, Cooking Dinner... I Live My Life At These Two Extremes. I'm Either A Full-time Stay-at-home Mom Or A Full-time Actress.

I Certainly Never Expected To Be In Front Of A Camera One Day Of My Life.

I Have Always Been Drawn To Child-related Causes. I Find That People Listen To Me More When I Advocate For Children Now That I Have My Own.

I Want My Girls To Love Math. I Want Them To Think That Being A Scientist Is The Coolest Possible Job On The Planet. I Want Them To Not Be Afraid To Lean Toward Their Femininity.

Your Happiness Is Your Own Responsibility.

You're Supposed To Look A Certain Way When You're A Celebrity, But I Want To Take Care Of My Baby, And Those Two Things Don't Mesh Very Well.

I Am Usually Part Of Any Disaster At A Wedding If I'm A Bridesmaid, Which I've Been Lucky Enough To Be Several Times.

My World Was A Community Ballet School, A Marching Band, My Two Sisters And My Girlfriends. I Played Saxophone In The Band And Was A Bit Nerdy.

I Don't Have This Fantasy About Marriage Anymore. Everyone Says It Takes Hard Work. Well, It Kind Of Does - And I'm Much More Pragmatic About Romance Than I Used To Be.

We All Have A Responsibility To Volunteer Somewhere And I'm Lucky That I Get The Education And Get Taken To Places To See What's Out There And See What's Happening And To Then Be A Part Of It In Hopefully An Impactful Way.

I Do All My Own Stunts!

The News Of My Pregnancy Got Out When I Was In The Middle Of My First Trimester. I Hadn't Even Had A Chance To Tell My Friends. That Alone Was So Ugly. It Made Me Hyper-protective ... I Feel Uncomfortable With People Reading Too Much About My Pregnancy Or My Relationship. It Grosses Me Out. It's Too Sweet To Read About Or Dissect.

The Outside World Can Be Very Tough.

I Was A Ballet Dancer And That Kind Of Bled Into Musical Theater. I Was Constantly In Rehearsal For One Thing Or Another.

My Parents Started With Very Little And Were The Only Ones In Their Families To Graduate From College. As Parents, They Focused On Education, But Did Not Stop At Academics - They Made Sure That We Knew Music, Saw Art And Theatre And Traveled - Even Though It Meant Budgeting Like Crazy.

In My Teens, I Was Never Part Of The Cool Crowd.

I Know Enough To Know That When You're In A Pickle... Call Mom.

I've Always Been Attracted To Humor And Funny People In General. It's A Joy To Make People Laugh, But It's Not As Fun As Laughing Yourself.

I Try To Eat In A Way That Makes Me Feel Good. If That Means A Little Bite Of Chocolate I Do That, But I Try Not To Use Food As A Reward For Myself.

The Rule With Marriage Is The Less You Talk About It The Better, As Far As I Can Tell.

I Will Tell You What I Can't Abide - And I Think The Internet Has Really Created A Space For It - Women Criticizing Other Women And Mothers Criticizing Other Mothers.

I've Found Out That I Cannot Pass Up Pizza Without Having Some. I Just Can't! My Kids Have A Lot Of Pizza. I Can't Go To A Kid's Birthday Party Without Having A Slice.

I Do Think About Aging. I Have Those Moments Of Panic And Vanity, But Life Keeps Getting Better, So You Can't Worry About It Too Much.

I Know I Live A Charmed, Beautiful Life And Nobody Wants To Hear A Celebrity Whine. The Last Thing I Want To Do Is Complain; I Love What I Do And I Know Every Job Comes With A Downside.

To Become A Classical Ballerina, You Have To Move To New York When You're 12 Or 11 And That Becomes Your Life. I Just Wanted To Be Good In My Company In Charleston And I Wanted It To Always Be Part Of My Life.

My Mom Is A Hard Worker. She Puts Her Head Down And She Gets It Done. And She Finds A Way To Have Fun. She Always Says, 'happiness Is Your Own Responsibility.' That's Probably What I Quote From Her And Live By The Most.

My Mom Was Really Vigorous About Making Sure That We Saw Things And That We Questioned Things. Education Was So Important To Both Of My Parents.

I Don't Think That Because You Are A Perfectionist That That Makes You Necessarily Automatically Unlikable.

I Am Not Pregnant, But I've Had Three Kids, And There Is A 'bump.' From Now On, Ladies, I Will Have A 'bump' And It Will Be My 'baby Bump,' And Let's Just All Settle In And Get Used To It. It's Not Going Anywhere.

Well, You Can't Be Trying To Achieve Success Of Any Kind In This Business Without Accepting That There's Going To Be A Flip Side To It.

I Think That Baseball Games Are Like Soap Operas. If You Watch Five In A Row, You Know Enough To Get Hooked.

I Just Try Work Out At Least Twice A Week If I Can.

I'm Here To Tell You I Do [have A Baby Bump]. I Am Not Pregnant, But I Have Had Three Kids And There Is A Bump.

My Parents Came From A Poor Background And Worked Their Way Up Because Of Education. They Saw It As A Way To Succeed. So They Cared About Me Getting Straight A Grades When I Was Growing Up.

After The Kids Are Asleep You... Well, You Know. Whatever It Is. You Slip Away For A Night.

And Now, I Still Really Don't Care That Much But Now I Have Music Playing All The Time At Home, Which Is A First For Me. Whatever. Everything From Ani Difranco To Dave Matthews To Jack Johnson And Norah Jones.

I Think That It’s Not As Crazily Different, My Job, From Anyone Else’s, As People Let Themselves Believe. I Think People Get Wrapped Up In Their Own Idea Of What It Is, But It’s Really Not That.

I Don't Understand How Women Can Manage To Get Back In Shape With A New Baby And A Job.

I'm Still Really Close With Everyone At Home And Their Parents - And Their Brothers And Sisters. I Was So, So, So Lucky To Grow Up As Part Of A Community And I Don't Take That For Granted. I Try Very Hard To Stay Part Of It.

My Big Sister Melissa, Is Such A Stud And My Little Sister Suzanna, Has Always Had A Perfect Body And Big Blue Eyes. We Were A Force.

I Adore Going To Movie Sets And Being Part Of A Team Trying To Create Something. And Yet, I Hate To Miss Even One Bedtime With My Girls. . . My Sisters Both Are Working Mothers. I Understand That My Being An Actress As Well As Being At Home Isn't Some Heroic Thing. That Doesn't Mean It Isn't Confusing Or Difficult--especially That Question Of How You Find A Balance.

I Always, Always Meant To Be On Stage. I Only Ended Up Even Auditioning For Television And Movies Because I Was Understudying A Turgenev Play On Broadway And Was So Broke That, When I Got A Mini-series, I Had To Take It And Was So Ashamed Because I Was Such A Snob.

I Hoped, Hoped, That Maybe I'd Be Lucky Enough To Do Something On Broadway, In The Chorus.

I Love Being Physical And Acting At The Same Time.

I Remember, My Mom Didn't Have Any Help, So If She Needed To Be Somewhere After School, We'd Just Go Down To The Neighbors' And She'd Give Us A Snack And Make Sure We Did Our Homework. There Weren't Any Latchkey Kids.

I Knew We Were Going To Marry Someday, But I Was Absolutely Surprised When He Actually Proposed. And Surprised He Had Bought A Ring. I Ran Around The Yard Screaming.

I Do Like Having My Ears Pierced, Because There's A Lot More Choice In Pierced Earrings Than There Is With Clip-ons, And They're A Lot More Comfortable To Wear - Sometimes I Completely Forget I've Got Them In And End Up Going To Sleep Wearing Them.

I'm Privileged, Because I Have A Lot Of Freedom. I Want To Use It To Make As Warm And Normal A Life As I Can For Our Daughters.

I Don't Want A Gang Of Shouting, Arguing, Law-breaking Photographers To Camp Out Everywhere We Are, All Day Every Day, To Continue Traumatizing My Kids.

I Thought The Divorce Statistics Would Never Apply To Me. I Was Beyond Heartbroken When They Did. But I Got Up And Got On With It. I Also Kept My Belief In Marriage.

I Love The Feeling Of Being On A Team, Rehearsing Together, Sharing A Dressing Room - I Love That So Much.

I've Made My Mind Up That I Will Only Do A Film That I Really, Really Love. I'm Determined To Lie Low Until A Role Comes Along That Really Makes Me Want To Work.

No Matter What, It Is Very Tricky And Difficult Just To Be A Good Parent At All. I Have A Lot Of Help. And For That I'm Very Grateful.

My Mom Grew Up In Poverty In Oklahoma - Like Dust Bowl, Nine People In One Room Kind Of Place - And The Way She Got Out Of Poverty Was Through Education. My Dad Grew Up Without A Dad, With Very Little And He Also Made His Way Out Through Education.

I Am A Bit Of A Goody-goody. Not That There Aren't Times When I Think, I Was Kind Of An (ass) Today. I Work In A World In Which People Are Really Catered To; Someone Will Come Up To Me And Say, "is It Ok If This Person's Makeup Is Done Before Yours For The Premiere?"

You Can Do A Lot With Scotch Tape. Almost Anything! I Love That You Can Hem A Dress, And Its An Instant Remedy In A Fashion Crises.

Beauty Comes From A Life Well Lived. If You've Lived Well, Your Smile Lines Are In The Right Places.

Inspirational Life

I Mean, The Men In Hollywood Event Is Every Day - It's Called Hollywood.

I Rebelled By Not Getting Straight A's And Not Following The Path That My Elder Sister Did. She Was Valedictorian And Is Very Exemplary In Her Way. I Look A Lot Like Her, So I Just Had To Do The Opposite. Not That I Got Bad Grades, But I Was All About Performance And Just Finding Any Way That I Could To Be Involved In Any Kind Of Production.

But I'll Never Be One Of Those Women Who Feel That They Always Have To Wear Earrings And Aren't Properly Dressed Without Them.

I'd Rather Be The Bloke Laughing At Other People. I Don't Need To Make People Laugh. I Surround Myself With Funny People. I Laugh All The Time.

Drink Water, Drink Tea. I Find That If I Drink Tea I Can Make Myself Think That It's Something Special, Because You Know How You Just Really Want A Glass Of Wine At The End Of The Day? So Sometimes I Can Really Want A Glass Of Wine But Talk Myself Into Believing That Tea Is As Nice, And That's One Thing To Do To Be Nice To Your Skin. Actually, Two Things: You're Not Have The Wine And You're Drinking Water. Also Just Working Out. All The Things You Do To Be Healthy In Your Life Help Your Skin.

My Mom Has Always Said That The One Thing She Wishes She Had Done Differently Is Have A Job. She Felt Like The Single-mindedness Made Her A Little Nuts Sometimes, And She Could Have Used An Outlet For Herself When We Were Little.

Going After 'the Bad Guy' Has Not Been A Real Issue For Me.

My Mother And Father Always Supported My Passion For Acting. I Think They Just Kind Of Expected Me To Move To New York And Become An Actress And Have All These Adventures.

And You Can't Hide In A Comedy Scene Either. You Have To Give In To The Scene And Commit.

My Mom Gave Me A Good Piece Of Advice. She Said Never Marry A Man Thinking You Can Change Him, And I Think That Starts From Your First Date When You're In The Seventh Grade Onwards. Women Are Fixers So We Have To Just Not Fix. Don't Fix.

I'm Still Conflict-averse. I Don't Like To Argue.

Women Should Take Care Of Each Other, Not Tear Each Other Down.

You Know How As A Kid You Picture Yourself With A Tall, Handsome Husband, And You Imagine Him Cuddling Your Baby? Ben Is Like That, Like, On Crack.

I Don't Know Anyone Who Was Never A Geek, Really, When They Look At Their Own Lives. I Think That From The Outside Looking In, You Think That You Weren't Necessarily A Tragic Geek, But Yes, You Did Lean In That Direction.

I Wasn't A Woman Who Stayed Tiny Like I Thought I Would. I Definitely Gave Myself The Freedom To Eat What I Wanted.

I Feel Lucky, Though, Because Even When 'alias' Was Popular, I Was Still Sent Scripts Against Type. I've Never Felt Like The World Only Sees Me One Way. But Yes, It's Been Really Fun To Be Bad.

I Am Lucky To Have Had An Attentive, Curious And Loving Dad And Heart-smart, Down To Earth, Gifted Mother. They Changed The Outlooks Of Their Own Lives And Have Never Forgotten The People And Organizations That Helped Them Dream Bigger Than Their Circumstances Should Have Allowed.

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