"I got this part [On The L Word] two weeks before my twins graduated from high school.  It was very hectic: I ndeed to make sure I was there for my kids, but I wasn't going to miss this part."

[On her hands on mothering style] "I don't want to farm out my children."

[On the difference between mothers that work outside the home and those that don't]  "Let's start with the main difference:  I think while all mothers deal with feelings of guilt, working mothers are plagued by guilt on steriods.  No matter how many times I tell myself that I am what I am -- and that I cannot imagine myself not working (it's such a big part of who I am), the truth is I will always keep comparing myself to my own phenomenal stay-at-home mom, for whom the universe began and ended with her children.  She was the ultimate nurturer -- and she set the good mother bar very high indeed."

"Some days I think, 'wouldn't it be nice to just stay home and bring everybody to school?'  Then I spend a couple of days bringing everybody to school and I think, 'oh god, I can't wait to get back to the office. [I'm] exhausted.'  For most of us, you just figure it out.  Some days you do more and some days you do less.  I want to cover the big story, but I also want to go to the sing-along at kindergarten.  How do you balance?  That, to me, is hard and I don't think people articulate that well yet."

"I don't think [motherhood is] ever what you expect.  I mean, in a sense, I knew I was going to be tired.  Being a mom and a working mom is never easy, everyday, it's just crazy.  It's insane "

"I'm very, very lucky.  I love the different elements of my life.  I love working abroad and I love being with my kids and I love being with Brad.  I'd like to add many more children and many more obstacles and many more things to my life."

"I always say to women who are trying to do everything, 'Of course you can do it all, but it is going to be difficult.'  My mother did it and I do it, just not in a conventional way, which is to say I got a messy divorce and all the rest of it, but I had a husband I loved, children I loved and a job I loved simultaneously.  Just undertsand that sometimes you're going to think, 'I'm losing my mind'"

"Every working mother faces my dilemna.  I can't think of a single one of them who has ever said, 'It's easy.'  It's not.  But I would bet that every single one would tell you it's worth it.  It's really important to let every woman find her way.  And it would be great to support their decisions, whether its to take two years off or to take six weeks off.  Working mothers have a hard enough time as it is, wearing a zillion hats and juggling all these balls, and meeting  a lot of people's expectations.  What we don't need to do is pile on more pressure, and insist that she do it the way we would do it.  Let her figure out the best way for her.  [In response to the question: So in your 20/20 special, when you examine the issue of whether women -- even women with fame, prestige, and plenty of money -- can have it all, your answer would be . . . ]  No!

"I have respect for all working moms out there, because it's definitely a complicated balancing act, which millions of women are doing all the time...But I'm a part of that club now.  I'm still new to it.  I'm green.  I'm still figuring it out as it goes."

[About her working mom character on The New Adventures of Old Christine] "I think women are relating to the struggle that Christine has, which is to keep a million balls in the air and trying to, sort of, I don't know, keep your head above water all the time.  You have to compartmentalize, which is what I do, sometimes well, sometimes badly.  On the show, Christine is often looked down upon by mothers at her son's school for being a working mom.  Sometimes there is a tension between the mothers who work and the mothers who don't.  I have had comments made to me like 'Oh Julia, it's so good to see you, we haven't seen you in school for so long.'"