Key quotes: “When Joséphine called me saying, ‘I’m going to do my first movie. Do you want to be my mother?’ I didn’t read the script. I said ‘yes.’ And then I read the script, ...

The following is an excerpt from "I Said Yes to Everything," the new memoir by Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning actress Lee Grant. Once, when I was little, I dreamed that I could fly.

Homer: If I said `no’ the first time, what makes you think I’m going to say `yes’ the second time? Lisa: Nothing, but you may say `yes’ the ninety-ninth time. Homer: Oh? Try me.

What if, instead of constantly saying no, I gave myself a day off from adulting and said yes instead? I had been toying with the idea for months, but I didn't actually work up the nerve to try ...

All things that I likely would have said “yes” to anyway, I was ardent in my acceptance in all of the above—except the movie screening. (I valued the assignment, but not enough to give ...

I said, “Yes.” I’ll be honest, I am not sure if an emergency truly happened what I would do. Should I have asked to be moved or just pray that nothing happened and enjoy the extra space?