Women singers from the United States

"I've never really lived a conventional life, so I think it's quite foolish for me or anyone else to start thinking that I am going to start making conventional choices."

"To rule the world."

"Now there's no point in placing the blame And you should know I'd suffer the same"

"A lot of people are just really confused by me; they don’t know what to think of me, so they try to compartmentalize me or diminish me. Maybe they just feel unsafe. But any time you have an overtly emotional or irrational, negative reaction to something, you’re fearing something that it’s bringing up in you."

"Better to live one year as a tiger, than a hundred as sheep."

"I love horses. I think I may have been one of Henry VIII’s knights in another life, riding through a great forest."

"I just like the idea of pills. I like to collect them but not actually take them. When I fell off my horse, I got tons of stuff: Demerol and Vicodin and Xanax and Valium and Oxycontin, which is supposed to be like heroin. And I'm quite scared to take them. I'm a control freak."

"I'm tough, ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay."

"I wanted to be a boy when I was growing up because I was in love with all of the male dancers I knew and they were all gay. And I thought, Well, if I was a boy, they'd love me. So I got into role-playing then. That's where it began. I remember when I was still in high school, I had cut my hair off really short, and I was totally anorexic - I had no boobs - and I would dress like a boy and go to gay clubs and my goal was to trick men into thinking I was a boy."

"I have the most perfect belly button. When I stick my fingers in it, I feel a nerve in the center of my body shoot up my spine."

"I liked my body growing up and I wasn't ashamed of it. I liked boys and didn't feel inhibited by them. Maybe it comes from having brothers and sharing a bathroom. The boys got the wrong impression of me at high school. They mistook forwardness for promiscuity. When they don't get what they want, they turn on you. I went through this period when all the girls thought I was loose and the boys said I was a nymphomaniac. The first boy I ever slept with was my boyfriend and we'd been going out a long time."

"I'm not interested in being Wonder Woman in the delivery room. Give me drugs."

"She never had public favor; it was a bit like the Hillary Clinton thing. She did all the right things for her country, but she wasn't ultimately revered. So she had a conversation with her confidant-adviser. She asked him, when have they ever looked up to or idolized a woman? Only one, he told her, the Virgin Mary. So she said, Then I will become like the Virgin Mary, and she did. She created a facade for herself; she stopped having lovers; she became like a virgin. She became sexless, and painted her face in a white alabaster way, and turned herself into an icon that was untouchable and sexless, and then she had everybody's respect."

"Phallic symbols. You know Catholics. I used to draw people naked all the time in my art class and my nun teachers used to tell me I had to put clothes on them. So I just drew lines around their bodies. See-through clothes."

"I've always known that Catholicism is a completely sexist, repressed, sin- and punishment-based religion."

"Fame is a by-product. Fame is something that should happen because you do work that speaks to people and people want to know about your work. Unfortunately the personality of people has taken over from the work and the artistry and it's this thing now that stands on its own. I don't think one should ever aspire to being famous."

"I must have been Japanese in a previous life. I'm pretty sure I was a warrioress. I can't explain it, I just know. I'm good at fighting - fighting with a big sword."

"This is a historical evening. This is fucking important evening... We are lucky to be sharing it with each other. This is the beginning of a whole new world. Open your fucking head!"

"If we can elect an African American as president, we can support gay marriage! Defeat prop 8! We will not give up!"

"One is that we are all responsible for our actions, our behavior, and our words, and we must take responsibility for everything we say and do. When you get your head wrapped around that, you can no longer think of life as a series of random events - you participate in life in a way you didn't previously. I am the architect of my destiny. I am in charge. I bring that to me, or I push that away. You can no longer blame other people for things that happened to you. The other is that there is order in the universe, even though it looks like chaos. We separate the world into categories: this is good and this is bad. But life is set up to trick us. It's a series of illusions we invest in. And ultimately those investments don't serve our understanding, because physicality is always going to let you down, because physicality doesn't last."

""When I experienced what was going on first hand, I just got sucked into the whole thing. Thank God I did. I met some amazing people and, hopefully, I’ve changed the lives of a lot of children. Just as important, I think it’s been an incredible growing and learning experience for me." (About her work in Malawi)."

"Not only does society suffer from racism and sexism but it also suffers from ageism. Once you reach a certain age you're not allowed to be adventurous, you're not allowed to be sexual. I mean, is there a rule? Are you supposed to just die?"

""Publicly humiliating someone for your own gain will only come and haunt you. God’s going to have his revenge."

"I hate polite conversation. I hate it when people stand around and go, 'Hi, how are you?' I hate words that don't have any reason or meaning. Also I hate it when people smoke in elevators and closed in places. It's just so rude."

"I don't take drugs. I never did. All the feelings that drugs are supposed to produce in you - confidence or energy - I can produce naturally. The only problem is going to sleep. But I never take pills... I drink herbal teas."

"I think that life is a paradox and you have to embrace that in your work and your belief systems... you can't be a literalist, and that's the trouble that people always find themselves in. That's why people always hit a wall with any of my stuff, because you can't take it literally."

"One of my all-time favourite poets is Charles Bukowski. I think he's the coolest guy in the world."

"I'm not a feminist, I'm a humanist."

"Listen, everyone is entitled to my opinion."

"That consciousness is everything and that all things begin with a thought. That we are responsible for our own fate, we reap what we sow, we get what we give, we pull in what we put out. I know these things for sure."

"I am because we are. We all bleed the same color. We all want to love and be loved."

"Be strong, believe in freedom and in God, love yourself, understand your sexuality, have a sense of humor, masturbate, don't judge people by their religion, color or sexual habits, love life and your family."

"Every time I do a show, I die a little bit, but no shit is worth doing unless you're willing to die for it."

"I pay attention to what’s going on around me. I’m always looking for new energy, new talent, new voices. When you do that I think it’s easier to come up with fresh ideas. It's not that my career has been based on surprising people, but it’s been about challenging myself — to constantly do new things that are going to broaden my own mind and in the process, hopefully, connect with other people."

"Family is everything. Family comes first. It's not what I expected it to be, but nothing ever is."

"Now that I got everyone's attention, what do I have to say?"

"I'm not going to compromise my artistic integrity."

"I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star. I didn’t know anybody. I wanted to dance. I wanted to sing. I wanted to do all those things. I wanted to make people happy. I wanted to be famous. I wanted everybody to love me. I wanted to be a star. I worked really hard and my dream came true."

"I have a cage It's called the stage When I'm let out I run about And sing and dance and sweat and yell I have so many tales to tell I like to push things to the edge And inch my way along the ledge I feel like God, I feel like shit The paradox, an even split It's just a job, I always say I should be grateful everyday Sometimes I think I just can't do it But I persist and I get through it And I console myself each night At least my cage is filled with light."

"I haven't got much time to waste It's time to make my way I'm not afraid of what I'll face But I'm afraid to stay."

"Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another."

"Most priests are gay."

"Come on girls! Do you believe in love? Cause I got something to say about it."

"I was sacked from Dunkin' Donuts for squirting the donuts jelly all over the customers."

"Rejection is the greatest aphrodisiac."

"The cross is a very powerful symbol and it symbolizes suffering, but it also is connected to a person who was loving and sharing and his message was about unconditional love. I tried to take a powerful image and use it to draw attention to a situation that needs attention. For me, we all need to be Jesus in our time. Jesus' message was to love your neighbor as yourself and these are people in need."

"I fear the future I wish for my children is at risk, so I'm taking action. Please join me. Our greatest risk is not terrorism, and it's not Iraq or the "Axis of Evil". Our greatest risk is a lack of leadership, a lack of honesty and a complete lack of consciousness. Unfortunately our current government cannot see the big picture. They think too small. They suffer from the “what's in it for me?” syndrome. The simple truth is that the current administration has squandered incredible opportunities to bring the world together, to promote peace in regions that have only known war, to encourage health in places that are ravaged with disease, to make us more secure by living up to our principles at home and abroad. The simple truth is that the policies of our current administration do not reflect what is great about America."

"It takes a Real man to fill my shoes."

"Maybe I'm just a gay man inside a woman's body!"

"I don't care if you have a small dick, as long as you know how to use that stick."

"Hey you! Don't be silly! Put a rubber on your willie!"

"No man can have sex with anyone but me and since I don't have that kind of time on my hands, you might as well all be gay!"

"I'll flirt with anyone from garbagemen to grandmothers."

"If you don't like my attitude, then you can fuck off, just go to Texas and suck George Bush's dick!"

"When I came to New York it was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi-cab, the first time for everything. And I came here with 35 dollars in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done."

"For me, a male image that I'm really moved by is somewhere between of Oscar Wilde type of a male: the fop, the long hair, the suits, too witty for his own good, incredibly smart, scathingly funny - all that. But then my other ideal is more like the Buddhist monk - the shaved head, actually someone who sublimates their sexuality."

"I am attracted to a thug. I like that quality, but I like the other side of it, too. Because all guys who go around behaving in macho ways are really scared little girls. So you have to look beneath the surface. There's a difference between my ideal man and a man that I'm sexually attracted to, believe me. Therein lies the rub."

"Hollywood is about playing the game, and I can't think of any successful actresses who didn't play the game. there's a lot more renegades in the music business, from Patti Smith to Janis Joplin."

"David Bowie has a huge influence on me because his was his first concert I went to see. I remember watching him and thinking I didn't know what sex he was, and it didn't matter. Because one minute he was wearing body stockings - the whole Ziggy Stardust thing - and the next minute he was the Thin White Duke in white double-breasted suits, and there's something so androgynous about him. And I think androgyny, whether it's David Bowie or Helmut Berger, that has really really influenced my work more than anything."

"I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art."

""When I got my first paycheck, $5'000 or something. I bought a Leger and I bought a Frida Kahlo self-portrait, but I don't know which came first. But I remember buying it and I had just gotten married and it looked completely out of place in my house in Malibu." (When asked what was the first painting she bought)."

"I've always been kind of obsessed with Frida Kahlo, so I was really into the idea of getting something that belonged to her. And then from Frida Kahlo I found out about Tina Modotti and then I started collecting her stuff and Edward Weston, and one person always leads to another person with me, because for me it started with Diego Rivera, then it went to Frida Kahlo, then it went to Tina, and Edward and... Also, if you're into Picasso, and you want to find out about him and that whole area of art and European culture, then you start reading about Man Ray and the surrealists and Andre Breton, and all of a sudden you're in that whole world and you start having interests in other people. It's like a disease."

"What else is there for me to conquer? Hopefully my ego. How will I know when I've succeeded? When I stop caring what anyone thinks."

""When in doubt act like god"."

"One must dare to show what he wants. You have to go and ask for things rather than wait for them to happen."

"I'd like to think I am taking people on a journey; I am not just entertaining people, but giving them something to think about when they leave."

"One set of circumstances does not complete you. Maybe nothing ever does. So you work on your life and you work on your 'work' and you try to live every single day like it's your last. And you try to be better, to yourself and to others. I don't always succeed. But I try and it's my goal."

"I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams."

"I'm everything!"

"Italians do it Better"

"Life's too short to be bitter, I'm too short to be bitter."

"Beauty is where you find it."

"Absolutely no regrets."

"Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 and feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working and adventurous. […] I have been degraded by the media since the beginning of my career but I understand that this is all a test and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come."

"When I'm hungry, I eat. When I'm thirsty, I drink. And when I feel like saying something, I just say it."

"Madonna: "Is that a rug?" (referring to David Letterman's hair)."

"Letterman: (after the singer brands him a "sick fuck") "You realize this is being broadcast don't you?""

"Madonna: "Listen, all you do is talk about my sex life on your show, so now you don't want to talk about my sex life when I'm on your show?!""

"Letterman: "I want to thank you folks for coming out for this run-through show. Thank you very much. This, of course, will never see the light of day. You won't miss a thing tonight.""

"Letterman: "Oh, stop it! Will you stop? Ladies and gentlemen, turn down your volume. Turn down the volume immediately! She can't be stopped! There's something wrong with her!""

"Madonna: "I am a sick fuck I have my nose in everybody's sex life!""

"Straight men need to be emasculated. I'm sorry. They all need to be slapped around. Women have been kept down for too long. Every straight guy should have a man's tongue in his mouth at least once."

"Then there are guys who say 'I have never fantasized about being with a man.' They are lying. And the least offensive men I've been with in terms of their sexual politics and how they view me as a woman, have been men who have either slept with men, or at least kissed or held a man once. It opens up your thinking. You don't think that women are less-than you are."

"My pussy has nine lives."

"A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That's why they don't get what they want."

"I think I have a dick in my brain. I don't need to have one between my legs."

"Christopher Ciccone:"

"Guy Ritchie:"

"Joe Henry: "I've known her since I was 15 and she was 17, longer than I've known my wife. We have had a great relationship, and part of that was because I never needed anything from her. I recognised that we were in two different occupations. Not to disparage one ounce of her musicality, I was always of the belief that her persona was her career. Whether she was making a movie or writing a song or punching a photographer, it was all pushing a persona forward, and that was the real body of work. I was never tempted to slip a song to her at thanksgiving.""

"Sean Penn:"

"William Orbit: "You know, she hasn't shouted about her musical abilities, but she is the consummate songwriter. She listens to classic musicals a lot. Not just the obvious ones, like Singin' in the Rain, but the lesser ones. I remember one time we all had dinner in Germany, and somebody brought up old musicals, and she was the one who knew all the verses. And she writes really solid, melodic stuff like that.""

"Sting: "She's outrageous, she's provocative, she's inscrutable. And over the years, we've all been witnessed to her evolution, from street smart kid sister to virgin bride, from sex goddess to a yogi. Her mind is as celebrated as her body, she's as feared as she's desired, she leads while others follow... A woman who is all woman, and all women." ."

"Janet Jackson: "I think she's done wonderful things. She's done great things in her career, in her life, and more power to her."HX magazine March 2008"

"Mary J. Blige: "I don't think the music business, as far as females, would be anything without Madonna.""

"Tupac Shakur: "I was letting people dictate who should be my friends. I felt like because I was this big Black Panther type of nigga, I couldn't be friends with Madonna. And so I dissed her, even though she showed me nothing but love. I felt bad, because when I went to jail, I called her and she was the only person that was willing to help me.""

"Marilyn Manson: "I watched a screening of her [Madonna's] film and I was sitting right next to her, which to me was exciting still. I’m not jaded enough to not be excited by that.""

"Sinéad O'Connor: "I love her, I adore her and I respect her. I pity her for all the analysis she has to put up with.""

"Cyndi Lauper:"

"Mirwais: "Once I collaborated with the Queen Bee, whoever came after her seemed a little boring to me! Many came to ask me to produce tracks, from Depeche Mode to Jennifer Lopez, but I said no to all of them!""

"DJ Enferno: "She has so much knowledge– she’s been in the business for so long, she’s got so many good ideas, and she’s really witty, that was one surprising thing that I found out about her. She’s really sharp and she’ll kind of bust your chops a little bit.""

"Seymour Stein: "I was in the hospital, I had her come see me in the hospital, we talked a deal in the hospital and we did the deal in the hospital. Within days, even before I got out of the hospital, she was starting to record what became her first single, Everybody, and we were off and running. I saw her staunch determination and I knew she would work as hard as I did and much harder, in fact. And that's what you need in an artist. She worked harder than anybody. I just saw her perform in Berlin, and she still works harder than anybody." ."

"Shakira: "I admire Madonna because she always did whatever she felt like doing. She went through some controversial periods when people rejected her, but she kept on reinventing herself." ."

"Lenny Kravitz: "She's a genius, she can do no wrong." VH1 Behind The Music."

"Daddy G.: "Working with Madonna is something to tell to your grandsons.""

"DJ Gordon Edge: "She is very natural. I did not get to know her as a person but she is down-to-earth and straightforward. She just speaks her mind.""

"Donna Summer: "I was sitting around thinking I should do something. I was thinking about design school. A friend said, 'Are you out of your mind? Do an album.' But I like privacy and I like my space. I like being with my family. You have to be in the right frame of mind. You can't be like 'Don't touch me.' to your fans or saying 'I don't want to sign autographs.' I think I was exhausted for a lot of years. I have to take my hat off to people like Madonna. They keep doing it." ."

"Ayumi Hamasaki: "I really like Madonna. What I admire is she's made it on her own terms." ."

"Beyoncé: "I love Madonna. I do! Definitely. It all works for Madonna. I mean, I couldn’t do a lot of the things she does, but it works for her. I watched the "Human Nature" music video for the "Check On It" video even though it didn't come out anything like it. I wanted to do something like that but we didn't have time to do it because it was just a 12-hour shoot.""

"Sean Combs: "I'd like to do something with Madonna in Malawi. I see what she does and I think it's fantastic. I'd like to help in any way I can.""

"Ricky Martin: "I know Madonna as a mother, and she’s exemplary, the love she gives her kids is a dream, and I know that her heart is big enough to adopt not just one child but to adopt 20." ."

"Bono: "Madonna should be applauded for helping to take a child out of the worst poverty imaginable and giving him a better chance in life. Baby David is lucky to have been adopted by someone who can give him a chance of survival in this world and I don't think it's fair that people are criticizing her.""

"Melanie Brown: "It's easy for critics to knock celebrities who choose to adopt, but it's a good thing that Madonna's doing. Not only is she highlighting the plight of orphans in Africa, she's also giving this little girl the chance of a better life." ."

"Britney Spears:"

"Jon Bon Jovi: "Madonna has been incredibly important to the 1980s, musically... a little disco queen who... became an icon." (1990)."

"Alice Cooper: "Look at Madonna; she did all the outrageous stuff, but she could sing. She was a great performer! If she got up there and she couldn't sing a lick, I'd go, 'Ok, this is a sideshow.' But, she can really sing.""

"The Androids:"

"Robbie Williams:"

"Darren Hayes:"

"What impressed me most? Her stamina, dedication and perfection. Her precision and respect for her body and the craft. What an icon! What a role model for women! I bow down to the one I truly serve!!"

"Justin Timberlake:"

"George Michael:"

"Liz Phair: "Madonna is the speedboat, and the rest of us are just the Go-Go's on water skis." ."

"Cher: "She could afford to be a little more magnanimous and a little less of a cunt.""

"Kylie Minogue: "Madonna's the Queen of Pop, I'm the princess. I'm quite happy with that.""

"Timbaland: "Madonna's a funky lady, she's up for everything." ."

"Christophe Willem: "In music, the one who has reached the tops, it's Madonna.""

"Damon Gough:"

"Sophie Ellis-Bextor:"

"Susanna Hoffs: "I think she's really great. I respect and admire her and think she's really talented." (From the book "Madonna talking" by Mick St. Michael)."

"Eugene Hutz:"

"Marc Almond: "It was a hell-hole. There were prostitutes upstairs, junkies downstairs and it was a bare room with a bed, nylon sheets, and a kitchenette with dirty plates and a lamp. I’ve always felt ashamed she stayed in such a pit. If I’d known in 1983 how big she’d become, I'd have cut up the sheets and sold them on ebay.""

"Tom Meighan: "Ooh, Madonna’s thighs! She reminds me of my old dance teacher, who I used to have a crush on. Who didn’t have a huge crush on Madonna when they were a kid? "I’d marry her. If she came for me, I really would.""

"Don McLean: "Madonna is a colossus in the music industry and she is going to be considered an important historical figure as well. She is a fine singer, a fine songwriter and record producer, and she has the power to guarantee success with any song she chooses to record. It is a gift for her to have recorded 'American Pie.'I have heard her version and I think it is sensual and mystical. I also feel that she's chosen autobiographical verses that reflect her career and personal history. I hope it will cause people to ask what's happening to music in America. I have received many gifts from God but this is the first time I have ever received a gift from a goddess.""

"Peter Hook: "Madonna's like a Black Widow spider. She tends to use people, then they shrivel up and disappear. She sat there with her back to us, and Rob went up and said, 'We were wondering if you wanted to appear later at the club', and she just went, 'Fuck off.'""

"Steve Bray: "If people feel exploited by Madonna - that's resentment of someone who's got drive. It seems like you're leaving people behind or you're stepping on them, and the fact is you're moving and they're not... Madonna doesn't care if she ruffles someone's feathers.""

"Pet Shop Boys: "Madonna always looks ahead, both for looks and sounds, just like we do.""

"Fran Healy: "I had a massive crush on Madonna when I was a kid, I mean it was huge. It was worrying. I just thought she was amazing.""

"Dave Grohl: "...It could be Madonna, if she wants to come do a couple of shots of Jagermeister with her friend Dave she's more than welcome to come into the room and I'll pour her some chilli shots of whisky, it'll be great!""

"Kim Gordon: "She's strong, beautiful and a manipulator. Qualities which makes her to write great songs.""

"Stephen Malkmus: "She doesn't seem to run out of ideas, does she. I used to love her when I was 14 or so. I had a regular crush on her. I couldn't swear if it was her music that fascinated me, or the generous cleavage. But yeah, she was hot." ."

"Pat Boone: "[Madonna's] a talented tart.""

"Natasha Bedingfield: "I have so much respect for Madonna after learning how hard it is to sing ["Ray of Light"]. She has an amazing voice - the range you need to sing the song is incredible.""

"Annie Lennox: "Lo and behold, Madonna's track came back and she'd sung the second verse, which was a huge bonus. I was really touched - for Madonna is very rigorous in what she gets involved in and for her to do that for me, I was thrilled to bits." ."

"Ludacris: "Madonna was so low key and so incognito that I hardly noticed her, and when I did it kinda caught me by storm. But honestly speaking, she's a really down to earth, really cool individual. I'm glad I got a chance to meet her – rub some of that energy off!""

"Fergie: "Oh MADONNA! You know, I saw her after her concert and I wanted to give her some positive words but I didn't want to talk too much to her because I understand what it feels like after a show when there's a lot of people in the room who want to see you. I wanted to give her some kind words but I didn't want to take up her time. I really wanted to ask her some more questions but I doubt it would have been as exciting for her as it was for me! But if I ever got the chance to sit down with her I think I'd want to ask her some advice questions and I would love to collaborate with her. That would be amazing.""

"Gwen Stefani:"

"Donna De Lory:"

"Mika: "Believe me, if I got asked to work with her, I certainly wouldn’t turn it down. Of all the women I’m fascinated by, she’s certainly up there.""

"Stuart Price:"

"You don't produce Madonna, you collaborate with her. She's a really good producer herself and obviously a great writer too. I've never worked with anyone before who is as genuine and as hands on as an artist as Madonna is. She's has her vision and knows how to get it. What's interesting with this one is that she's picked a DJ to make dance tunes for her to make songs, which is exactly what she's been doing since 1983 - hanging out with DJ's and making records."

"Ciara: "She's a tough lady! She's a megastar, and that [media scrutiny] goes with the territory, But she's definitely put her foot down as a woman over the years and she's proven to be one of the best to me.""

"Ashanti: "Yeah, Madonna is ill. All the clamps and chains people had on what women can and cannot do — she just broke them. And I really wasn’t up on Madonna until my cousin — who’s six years older than me and my favorite relative on the planet; we’re more like sisters — when I was eight or nine I said, ‘Why you got these posters of that white lady all over your room?’ She's like, ‘This is Madonna!’""

"Pharrell: "She's a little baby tiger cub on the inside but outside she's as tough as anything. Once you are fighting with her you can't let your guard down, she'd beat your ass to a pulp. She could definetely beat me up. But you know, making Madonna cry has just cemented our relationship. We're tight now. Seriously tight. She's probably the best person I've ever collaborated with." (Manchester Free Magazine)"

"Danja: "She was cool. She had a dark sense of humor that I can’t explain. She might just say something crazy that you might feel is out of line. But it’s not. It’s just her sense of humor. She was in the studio chilling with us, being open and the whole nine." ."

"Eric West: "A lot of people make her out to be arrogant, and not fan friendly, but I can say otherwise, for such a superstar, she makes you feel as if you’re talking to an old friend.""

"Adam Lambert:"

"Tracy Chapman: "I was trying to make a case for Madonna the other day, saying that she's to be admired for her longevity in a genre that has mostly been for younger acts. Men are able to sustain a career into their 50s and 60s and still present themselves as sex symbols. With women on the other hand, people say, 'Why doesn't she retire?' It's just so unfair. So I have to give props to Madonna.""

"Randy Jackson: "Madonna knows the business and her art better than anyone.""

"Kim Wilde: "I had the top of the charts two years before Madonna came on the scene and stole my thunder. I remember seeing her and thinking, 'Here's trouble'! I'd be lying if I said it didn't get to me, but I never disliked her. And I look at her now and think she's amazing. When I started doing yoga, I was inspired to look after my body. Now I love going for long walks, eating healthily and working out with a trainer.""

"Belinda Carlisle:"

"Simon Cowell:"

"Katy Perry:"

"Randy Newman: "I once had dinner with Madonna and I wasn't nervous but within about a minute I found myself talking about underwear." ."

"Marina Diamandis:"

"Jason Derulo:"

"Craig David: "Madonna is still sexy and cool. She’s had such an amazing career and has always been able to re-invent herself time and time again, and it’d be fascinating to chat to her about that over a couple of drinks.""

"Bette Midler: "She has pulled herself up by her own bra-straps... and has been known to let them down occasionally"."

"Carole King: "I think Madonna has a great deal of intelligence and capability. I have a lot of respect for her. She's taken her career and maximized it with intelligence and creativity." ."

"Matthew Bellamy: "Ambition - whenever I hear the word, in my head, all I can think of is Madonna, for some reason. Very ambitious person and a great artist, certainly explores many avenues to get her name out there. I think she’s a very special lady.""

"David Foster:"

"Taylor Momsen:"

"Jessica Simpson: "I think people are ready to hear something that Madonna used to do. We all need to hear that every now and again. It wasn't a sample or something I meant to do, but she did influence me and still does today. I hope to have the longevity of her career."."

"Tracy Young:"

"Christian Thielemann: "I find this woman fascinating. Not just musically... I’d like to get to know Madonna a whole lot better." ."

"John Benitez: "My first impression on meeting Madonna? I thought she had a lot of style. And she crossed over a lot of boundaries 'cos everyone in the rock clubs played her, the black clubs, the gay, the straight... and very few records have that appeal." ."

"Kurt Cobain: "In a way I respect Madonna for the things she introduced because she introduced some subversive things and it has nothing to do with sex as far as I'm concern, I'm talking about the introduction to the vogue dance which originated in the gay clubs in 80', and she was always supportive of stuff like that which I think is really cool.""

"Shirley Manson: "I turned round and it's Madonna, and I'm thinking, 'Fucking hell, it's Madonna!' But I say 'hi' and she grabs my hand and she gives me the famous blink and says, 'I think you're amazing' in that tiny voice she has. And I'm thinking, 'OK, try and be cool, this is possibly the biggest pop icon of our life, be cool'. I tried to say something even remotely understandable and instead just garbled my words. I had high heels on and I hardly ever wear high heels, and I lurched towards her, and I could see the alarm on her face, thinking 'who the hell is this?' And I lurched off flustered without even saying goodbye. I always blow my big moments" ."

"Kelly Osbourne: "I've always been a huge, huge, huge fan of Madonna, but it completely changed my whole opinion of her -- made me like her even more once I met Lola because she's done a fantastic job with her. Madonna is one of my idols and my first single I ever released was a cover of 'Papa Don't Preach.' To have it come full circle -- now I'm actually doing something with her and her daughter -- it's just kind of like... ahhh!"""

"Lady Gaga:"

"Paul Oakenfold: "Madonna was without doubt one of the best artists I have ever worked with. She had so many fantastic ideas and really took her music seriously. You can tell that with Madonna, everything is about the music. She's a global name but still works tirelessly in the studio, puts on her best possible live gigs and puts 100 per cent into everything she does. "She's really grounded too and easy to work with.""

"Brooke Candy: "She's so smart, I want to follow in her footsteps.""

"Alison Goldfrapp:"

"Marlene Dietrich: "I played vulgar, she is vulgar." (Marlene refused to meet Madonna, who wanted to remake The Blue Angel in the 80s.)"

"Ashton Kutcher: "Madonna has a project in Malawi where she has genuinely affected the lives of about 250,000 children who are orphaned. I think that's a pretty generous person, not someone who should be criticized. That sort of generosity is pretty admirable.""

"James Franco: "After our kiss, Sean texted Madonna and said, 'I just popped my cherry kissing a guy. I thought of you. I don't know why.' " Out magazine."

"Tony Ward:"

"Susan Sarandon: "The history of women in popular music can, pretty much, be divided into before and after Madonna." ."

"George Clooney: "She's probably everybody's high watermark about learning how to reinvent yourself every few years and continue to stay alive. She without a question the absolute best at that. And she's nice, I like her; she's a friend. She's seems to handle things really well; people can be really tough on you on & off at times and she seems very good at handling it.""

"Warren Baetty: "Madonna is simultaneously touching and more fun than a barrel of monkeys. She's funny and she's gifted in so many areas and has the kind of energy as a performer that can't help but make you engaged.""

"Ethan Hawke: "She transcended being a pop star. She drew international attention and shone the spotlight on a level of racism and the need for greater education.""

"Dita Von Teese: "Madonna is the only modern celebrity who is truly a style icon. Who else has the audacity to dress like her these days? She really influenced how I wanted to look when I was growing up, and made me realize that I didn’t have to look like a blond beach bunny or a Playboy model.""

"Esther Rantzen: "I do get very surprised by the venom that I hear about [the] Kaballah [Centre]. I think part of it is Madonna-envy. It's also about money. People have this feeling that Kaballah Centres make a lot of money. And there is a traditional aspect too in that kaballah is meant to be a secret for married Jewish men. The idea that unmarried Jewish women could learn the secrets is seen as blasphemy.""

"Tom Hardy: "When we had a break Guy asked if I'd like to meet the wife as she was in the car park and he knew I was a fan. So off we trotted. To be honest, I had the shock of my life. There she was in the back of her Range Rover administering a shot of B12 into the arse of Gerald Butler. Believe me. I was completely stunned to be quite honest, stunned - I mean to throw open the door and see that... I knew it would be magnificent to meet her because she's cult - I mean like Elvis - but the last thing I expected to see was her giving Gerard a shot in his bare arse because he wasn't very well. She does it for her dancers, she's trained doing it, so she decided to do it for the actors as well. She was so cool. She just said to Gerard, 'There you go - bosh! That does it.' And while she was doing that she was talking to me about a load of books I should be reading. I was really thrown." [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=19888"

"Gerard Butler: "She was awesome. She was very, very cool. She played a bit of nurse to me, because I got sick in the middle of the film. She turned up with all these medications. In fact, the first day I met her, she was like, 'So you're the sick one. Take this, take this, take this.' The infection was in my throat and chest and I was really run down. Madonna thought the whole thing out and helped me get better." ."

"Benjamin Bratt: "Madonna is one of the only people in the world that can make a straight woman become gay, or a gay man become straight." ."

"David Tennant: "She's quite extraordinary. When I was 14, the first single I ever bought was "Like a Virgin". She was kind of my sexual awakening. I had some full-on posters of her on my wall. I don't know what my parents thought. She still looks damn fit.""

"Miley Cyrus: "Madonna always reinvents herself, and that's what I want to do. Whatever comes my way that sounds good, that's what I want to do. Whether it's designing clothes or photography or whatever.""

"Dakota Fanning: "I got to meet her one time and she’s so beautiful in person. I’ve never seen her in concert but I would love to, on her tour. But she’s amazing and I hope that she goes for many, many more years." ."

"Hilary Duff: "Oh, [I'm] definitely [a fan]. I grew up listening to Madonna. It feels surreal getting to do a cover of "Material Girl". It's such a great dance song.""

"Glenn Close:"

"Susan Seidelman: "She is an incredibly disciplined person. During the shoot [of Desperately Seeking Susan] we'd often get home at 11 or 12 at night and have to be back on the set by 6 or 7 the next morning. Half the time the driver would pick Madonna up at her health club. She'd get up at 4:30 in the morning to work out first." ."

"Andy Bird:"

"Trudie Styler: "Oh, God! Yes, I had a sense that they'd really like each other and really complement each other and I think they do - they're fantastic parents, and they sparkle when they're together. But I'm not a kiss and tell!""

"Ricki Lake: "I love that Madonna adopted this baby and has brought so much attention to Malawi. She's my hero." ."

"Emanuela Rossi: "I'm a big fan of Madonna, I love her music a lot. I like her persona, her ways to reinvent herself, not being the same all the time. I think it's vital and creative for an artist to look for new ways, new looks, different ways to sing but at the same time keeping those qualities that make you unique. Madonna is also a controversial artist that tends to amaze people in every possible way and the same time I think she's a very authentic person. She looks very visceral to me, also in her quests. She has become quite sophisticated over the years but she stays true to herself and still capable to push people's buttons. I think that's the key of her success.""

"Rosie O'Donnell:"

"Will Smith: "Madonna is in really good shape. I actually get a sexy chill every time I think about Madonna.""

"Al Pacino: "She was doing a dance and she was naked under her coat. Over the course of the dance, she became inspired and opened her coat, and there she was. She has an extraordinarily beautiful body, like cut out of ivory. One day, when I'm old and I'm wheeled out on my porch wrapped in a blanket, if I have a beatific smile on my face, I'll probably be thinking of that." [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=8532"

"Rupert Everett: [http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=2396048&page=1"

"Gwyneth Paltrow:"

"Helen Mirren: "The thing that was imposed on me from the outside was crude and vulgar and distressful to me, and disturbing - that big tits, blonde hair, Diana Dors, blowsy kind of thing. (But) I think Madonna got it right. Madonna claimed it for herself, and I've always admired her for that. I loved that 'Sex' book she did. I thought it was fantastic, because it was a big two fingers up, 'This is my sexuality, it's not what you put on me, it's mine'.""

"Ricky Gervais: "The Mercer. It's just nice. Really cool. I turned up there last time, and there were about 20 paparazzi going, 'Ricky,' 'Ricky,' 'Ricky.' And I said, 'What are you doin' here?' 'We're here to see you.' I said, 'What [are] you really here for?' And they went, 'Madonna.' They were nice, but I knew the truth. Why would they be there for me?" ."

"Anthony LaPaglia: "I jokingly refer to Madonna being my template in making my decisions, because she’s the best at reinventing herself. Every two years she reinvents herself. [That's why] she still is where she is after 20 years. I think that that’s a smart thing.""

"Charlotte Gainsbourg: "Madonna was incredibly quick and professional. I was unable to say anything else than 'Hello','I’ll listen to it' and 'Good-bye' [when she asked to use a few lines from "The Cement Garden" for her song, "What it Feels Like for a Girl"]. That was incredibly stupid of me. Madonna was the idol of my youth and I grew up listening to her music.""

"Richard E. Grant:"

"Alan Parker: "She worked out her moves in the mirror the night before we’d shoot. She would work so hard. She was not someone who went out clubbing every night. She was the one who said, ‘I want to be there at 5.30 in the morning so I have enough time to get the hair and make-up right.’ So before the crew had even arrived, she would be there. By the time she arrived at the set she was smiling and she did her job. And she did her job brilliantly." ."

"Jon Lovitz:"

"Susan seidelman: "She's the kind of person that really does get up at five in the morning to go swimming. She wasn't at all prima donna-ish. She wasn't one of those people that want to be alone and sit in their trailer the whole time. I think she has much more of a sense of humor that people give her credit for. Too many people take that femme fetale stuff at face value." ."

"Sarah Jessica Parker:"

"Ellen Pompeo:"

"Kelly Ripa: "I think she's used to people gushing over her and all of that, but I think she quickly sort of came to realize that yes, in fact I do go to every concert. The last concert she did, we made eye contact. Okay, in my mind it was eye contact. Madonna has no recollection, but I know she stared at me. There's something about her. I think she's very clever and witty. She's really funny. She's really down to earth when she's here. And I just love that about her. And I love looking at her because she's a physical specimen. ."

"Debi Mazar:"

"Alicia Silverstone: "I'd die if I was Madonna. I'd die. God, what a horrible way to live. And Michael Jackson! To be so famous and to feel so isolated. I feel so bad for them. I don't know how it feels, and I hope it never happens to me." ."

"Mike Myers: "It was terrifying, It was like kissing the Eiffel Tower in terms of how famous she is." [about making out with Madonna for tv skit]"

"Pedro Almodóvar: "When she came with her Blond Ambition tour I prepared a dinner for her, and that little thief didn’t tell us that everything she was recording was going to be part of her film. Madonna was asking for Antonio Banderas’ phone number all the time, because she wanted to screw him and I never gave it to her. When she went out jogging she always had her six bodyguards and I told her: 'Madonna, babe, this kind of things are not very attractive here in Spain.' In this country, that thing about bodyguards is like an offense, nobody is going to shoot Madonna or whoever in Spain. But in United States bodyguards seem to be, like a part of the body of the star. She asked me if I didn't have bodyguards and I said 'I would only have them to fuck them'.""

"Quentin Tarantino:"

"Rachel Weisz: "I think Madonna’s amazing. She constantly reinvents herself and I just went to see her art show in New York the other day and that was great.""

"Rex Lee: "Remember when Madonna was first on American Bandstand and she told Dick Clark she wanted to rule the world? Well I don't want to rule the world, but I want to make my mark on the world... You know what? I'm lying. I do want to rule the world.""

"Tom Cruise: "I've known Madonna for years. I really admire her." ."

"Michael C. Hall: "I caught Madonna live in Miami last year. It was a kick ass show; truly amazing. Her stage presence left me speechless, I just loved it." ."

"Tim Vincent: "I get to meet some very, very beautiful ladies through my job. Madonna is very sexy and she really flirted with me, which was amazing.""

"Rosanna Arquette: "It suddenly just exploded overnight; you know, she was everywhere. And they started kind of rewriting the script for that, to tailor-make it for her in those moments. And here she is, still at it. She's 50 years old – almost 50 and rocking on. I think that's great.""

"Denise Richards: "You feel lazy watching her because you gotta get off your butt and just work, [She] is really an inspiration for everyone.""

"Anthea Turner: "I've got a huge amount of respect for Madonna - she's often labeled a control freak but she's just a perfectionist. There's a difference between looking tacky and artistic, and I think Madonna looks incredible. You can celebrate your body whatever age you are - there's no limit." ."

"Nathan Rissman: It was amazing working with Madonna. She does everything 100 per cent, and so to be involved in what she was doing, for her to let me go forward and make this project was amazing. She's been involved creatively on every aspect. She knows pictures, she knows sound, she's really, really good. The most memorable thing about working with Madonna is seeing her in the village - seeing her really letting go of that celebrity status, really spending time with people, getting her feet dirty, and dancing, singing and crying with people. It was amazing to see her take on that new character. Madonna really wanted to bring some awareness to Malawi, and she really believed in me."

"Malin Akerman: "I got ice cream cones and put them on my boobs. I wanted to be just like her.""

"Lindsay Lohan:"

"Emmanuelle Seigner: "I like her boss and ultra-feminist side. I hate the concept of "femme-objet", and the idea that women are still maltreated in certain parts of the world irritates me.""

"Toby Kebbell: "She's gorgeous. A lovely, stunning woman.""

"Michael Parkinson: "She turned out to be so bright, frank and funny it made you wonder what the previous debate had been about. Hers is an extraordinary story of determination and hard work and the perfect antidote to the celebrity pap fed to today's wannabes. Anyone wanting to succeed in the music business, or indeed any other business, should watch the interview and learn what it really takes to get to the top." ."

"Stephen Jon Lewicki: "That woman has more sensuality in her ear than most women have anywhere on their bodies." ."

"Michael Moore:"

"Andrea Riseborough:"

"Natalie Dormer: "Madonna is a woman of great vision and passion and focus - she is a force to be reckoned with, as you would imagine and she has a brilliant eye.""

"Christoph Waltz: "It was fantastic (partying with Madonna). Everyone was there. I fought my way through because I mean, this is the hostess, the least I can do is thank her for the invitation. It was difficult, it took me about an hour and a half... In the end, I got there, and apparently I was standing right in front of her. You know, I looked for Madonna and there was this chick dancing, 'Where's Madonna?' (pointing at the girl). That was her, she was dancing like... I thought she was, you know, 23-24.""

"David Fincher: "Madonna is my Vatican. She’s my Sistine Chapel.""

"Marcia Cross: "We used to swim at the same pool. She’d get out and put all this jewelry on - and I’d go home with my wet hair.""

"Julia Roberts: “I got her new album – it`s amazing,” she says. “I really respect and admire her.”"

"Bert Stern: "Madonna is gorgeous, the most beautiful eyes you ever saw. A little rough around the edges. She's a tough chick. She spits it out. She has her own agenda. It manifests in the pictures." ."

"Dolce & Gabbana:"

"Christian Audigier: "She is really all about the detail. She knows exactly what she likes and is always proposing ideas to us. After that she decides whether she wants to add shoes or other things. She's like me, when it's a, 'Yes,' it's a big, 'Yes.' When it's a, 'No,' it's a definite, 'No!' I like people like that, a lot of people are really critical but never give a solution. She is not like that.""

"Jean-Baptiste Mondino: "She's John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the same time". ."

"Donatella Versace:"

"Amy Arbus: "Madonna just wandered along like everyone else. I recognized her as the girl who went to my gym — as the girl who would sit around naked longest in the locker room. Now that I think back on it, how could either of us have afforded a gym membership? She still had a last name at that point, and when I told her I worked for the Voice, she said, 'Oh, that’s so funny. They’re reviewing my first single this week.' I recently looked back—it only took six frames to get that picture. I just think the look on her face is so prescient—it really has a sense of knowing what’s in store for her.""

"Frida Giannini: "Meeting Madonna for the very first time was a shock. She was a myth to me. She was the first poster I hung on my room's wall when I was 14. And then I found herself in front of me, shook her hand. Her immense mediatic power still impresses me. Only to mention that the laminated jacket we made in twelve different versions for her last tour ended up being one of the season's best-sellers would be enough.""

"Jean-Paul Gaultier:"

"Jenny Shimizu:"

"Lee Friedlander: "[She] seemed very confident, a street-wise girl. She told me she was putting a band together but half the kids that age are doing that. She was a good professional model.""

"Marc Jacobs"

"Natassia Malthe: "I'm a fan of Madonna's. I've followed her since I was 10. I'm a huge fan of hers - which woman isn't? She's such a strong person, she's just so different from anybody else. She's sustained herself in this business. I go to everything that is Madonna, she is just an amazing human being.""

"Steven Klein: "[Madonna] is very clear, surprisingly focused in conceiving innovative pictures. When you think about it you never see her back, you rarely see anyone's back in a photograph and it's fascinating to show its muscular structure". ."

"Fabian Baron: "She's very imposing and knows what she wants. She's very informed and opinionated, which makes her genius. She takes you in and swallows you up—and you don't mind it, you actually enjoy it. There's an unspoken seduction that goes on. I was young, She was young, too, and beautiful. She knows what she's doing. And such drive. Some people want to lift stones and see what's under it. She'll be on a beach with millions of stones and want to lift every one of them.""

"Herb Ritts: "I've always said that if you didn't know Madonna necessarily, you'd still be curious about the woman in the photograph.""

"Gregory David Roberts: "She was so unfussy. I think the thing about Madonna is that she's tremendously intelligent. She's fiercely intelligent; she's very sharp, very funny, very witty, very quick and will not accept second best. She will pick you up immediately in a conversation and defend her position and will put it forward with a rigorous intelligence. I think it's intimidating to a lot of people - I love it! For me it can't get any better than that, so I loved that about her, but I do think a lot of people are intimidated by her and reading it as something that it's not. It's simply a fierce intelligence. She's one of the smartest people you could ever meet.""

"Jeffrey Fulvimari: "There is only one thing to do with someone as special as Madonna....celebrate her. She told us so in one of her very first songs! But, mostly, she gives us something more to adore every year, and aside from making huge hits, her work in Malawi is something for everyone to emulate. Working with her is a dream come true!!! She has Never ever treated me in any other way but professionally, and with respect. I mean, gosh when the Queen of Pop loves what you do, there's no better feeling!! I really concentrate on the fact that these books are bringing a better life to those most in need in the world, and until more celebrities (and celebrity photographers) step up and do the charitable works she is doing, they cannot speak an ill word about her. People need to stop copying her videos and performances, and copy what really means the most to her...'Raising Malawi'! That's what it's all about!""

"Lucy O'Brien:"

"Paulo Coelho: "Today is late Sunday and I just returned from the show of Madonna. And what did I see? A young 50 year-old dancing like a child, a queen, a teenager. It got me thinking about the fact that I believe we are aging differently from the previous generations. I remember for instance my parents at the age of 50 and they were already old, and more importantly they considered themselves as already old.""

"Christopher Flynn: "She was kind of far-out. One of the best students I've ever had, a very worldly sort of woman even as a child. We would go to gay bars, and she and I would go out and dance our asses off. People would clear away and let her go." ."

"Camille Barbone:"

"Bernard Manning: "Madonna? Lovely. Oh yes. Nice skin. You could tell she wasn't a scrubber." ."

"Sandra Bernhard: "...I run into [Madonna] all the time, so it's not like there's any irresolvable strangeness. I like to think of the time when we were hanging out as the end of an era. We played out our friendship in the public forum, but it wasn't drunken or irresponsible airheads hanging out - she's a smart lady and I'm obviously my own brand of intellectual." ."

"Jonathan Ross: "Madonna, the original MILF.""

"Carlton Wilborn:"

"Sofia Boutella: "Amazing. It was really hard work, but it has helped me to know myself a little bit more, I really like Madonna because she is a tireless worker.""

"Criss Angel: "Madonna is a tremendous example of someone who went to NY with couple of dollars in her pocket and an enormous dream to conquer the world. She did whatever she had to do until she hit the big time. I admired her commitment and determination. She clearly understood what her market wanted in a performer. She's a great example of someone who developed a unique style, look, and brand and then marketed herself as a total package, filling a void that everyone else bought in to and tried to copy. She's an innovative genius.""

"Dennis Rodman: Bad as I Wanna Be"

"Florence Foresti:"

"Jamie King: "She's confident, sensual and strong, but I like to bring out her vulnerability as well.""

"Yuki Matsumoto: "Madonna inspires creativity and expressions beyond gender, religion, race, nationality, culture and all borders. "Madonna’s philosophy and originality always invigorates the world audience every time she produces a new album. Conventions and trends are challenged and redefined for the new values. "Madonna is in sync with nature and balances her lifestyle to achieve her best physical and mental conditions. Her ever innovative spirits are in tune with her respect of nature. Despite her celebrity and never ending professional activities, Madonna always says FAMILY FIRST. Love and respect for all those who are dear to her are the most important values in life.""

"Church of England:"

"Jorge Medina, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church"

"Nicolas Sarkozy: "The French like burgers, Madonna and Miami Vice." ."

"Al Gore: "I appreciate and respect her as an artist and as a person." ."

"Dr. Peter van Ham: "NATO should follow the Madonna-curve, and not wait till its controversies escalate into public wrangles. The argument that tinkering on the edges will do since all challenges can be dealt with one at a time simply does not hold. To be successful, NATO needs a package-deal of painful compromises, where each member state has to give and take. This requires a comprehensive reform effort which only a new strategic concept offers. The quality of adapting to new tasks whilst staying true to one’s own principles is something which business analysts qualify as the Madonna-curve. This curve is named after the legendary pop-diva who reinvented herself each time her style and stardom went into inevitable decline, but whose audacity has lifted her up to ever higher levels of relevance and fame." ."

"Pipe bands greeted the Queen and the Queen mother when they visited us and a few people turned out. But everybody appeared to see this woman Madonna. She had them all in the palm of her hand."

"I think she glows, she's an amazing performer and her work inspires me. There will be no other Madonna." (From the book "Madonna talking" by Mick St. Michael)"

"Alex Rodriguez"

"Tracy Anderson:"

"She's a dream pupil; She's very driven, listens to what you say and just wants to do it and improve. You can always get somewhere with someone like that. When I started teaching her she hadn't jumped at all and now she can jump a course of 1.05m. Jumping and hacking are her two favorite things."

"Sundance is weird. The movies are weird—you actually have to think about them when you watch them."

"I just want to say that um, I'm just really, really shocked at like how nice our world is because it's just so nice. Like oh my God! Like, the other day, like I was sitting there and I saw these magazines and they said I was pregnant, and like, it's so true. Like America, believe everything you read. Because, like, you're smart and I'm stupid. Like for real. Come on y'all."

"Eat it, lick it, snort it, fuck it!"

"I look back and think I'm a smart person! What the hell was I thinking?"

"Carlson: Give me the chronology of the kiss. How did you decide to kiss Madonna? Spears: Well, actually, in rehearsals, it wasn't something that was like, "Y'know, This is what we're gonna do. Y'know." It was just kinda like we play around a little bit and, um, she said during—before the performance, "Let's just feel it out and see what happens." So I didn't know it was gonna be that long and everything, but it was cool."

"I think I'm still clean living, you know? That's something, when I—I don't go home and have orgies or anything like that. I'm still the same person that I've always been. So…."

"Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that, you know, and, um, be faithful in what happens."

"About shocking. You know I feel comfortable in my skin. I think it's an okay thing to express yourself."

"Everyone now, they look back and they're like, "What happened to your sweet image that you used to be?" And I'm like, then when you came out you thought I was too provocative. It's like you can never win. No matter what you do, at the end of the day you can't please everybody, you know. I'm not here to please..."

"I think honestly if you can wait until you're married I think you should definitely do that, because it's so much more sacred. That you don't go around sleeping with people. But I mean, I really thought I was going to be with him for the rest of my life, I did."

"The only person I do worry about, that I want to be a good person for, I think is my responsibility, is my sister. I'm going to be cool for you, okay. I like, I need to, I like being by myself right now. I think it's good for me."

"I'm very, very blessed. But my safety, my privacy, and my respect are three things that I feel like are trying to be taken away from me right now. As a mother I have to speak up and say something. I have to speak up."

"I think with anybody who's doing well in the public eye or whatever, there's always gonna be a shift because people don't wanna see somebody happy all the time. And they're gonna try to take shots at people."

"That driving incident, I did it with my dad. I'd sit on his lap and I drive. We're country."

"Oh, I've wept. Yeah, I've definitely wept just with the world, you know, how judgmental they are. You know what, I know I'm a good mom."

"There will be a "Oops 100." They'll be plenty more oopses. I'm not perfect. I'm human."

"You have babies at home. And you have a life. And if you don't, you have to realize that we're people and that we just need privacy and we need our respect. And those are things that you have to have as a human being."

"There's always a way. Where there's a will there is a way. You have to believe."

"I'm so blessed with my baby. And I want the most normal life possible for him. And I'll manage, I will create that."

"Saying 'no' is so heartbreaking."

"My loneliness is killing me (and I) I must confess, I still Believe (still believe) When I'm not with you I lose my mind Give me a sign! Hit me Baby One More Time!"

"Sometimes I run Sometimes I hide Sometimes I'm Scared Of You"

"Oops!...I did it again I played with your heart got lost in the game Oh baby baby I did this to you please forgive baby"

"With a taste of your lips I'm on a ride You're toxic, I'm slipping under With a taste of a poison paradise I'm addicted to you Don't you know that you're toxic"

"Every time I try To fly, I fall. Without my wings, I feel so small."

"Someday I will understand In God's whole plan And what He's done to me Oh, but maybe Someday I will breathe And I'll finally see I'll see it all in my baby"

"If I said my heart was beating loud If we could escape the crowd somehow If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me? 'Cause you feel like paradise, and I need a vacation tonight So, if I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me?"

"I can't take it, take it, take no more Never felt like, felt like this before Come on, get me, get me on the floor DJ, what you, what you waiting for? Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh"

"See the sunlight, we ain't stoppin' Keep on dancin' 'til the world ends If you feel it, let it happen Keep on dancin' 'til the world ends Keep on dancin' 'til the world ends Keep on dancin' 'til the world ends"

"Every day The sun comes up again A little hope begins"

"Yes, I've done Britney Spears, but don't blame me, okay? I make her up and she just takes everything off and does her own thing."

"Her song is called "Gimme More" for a reason: because all you people want is more, more, more, more, more! Leave her alone! You're lucky she even performed for you bastards! Leave Britney alone! Please!"

"Every time I look at that girl on television, I admire her, not because she's a celebrity—I don't admire her celebreality—I admire her because she's a child of God and doesn't know it. I'm talkin' 'bout Britney Spears. It breaks my heart. Anna Nicole, it broke my heart. You know, I knew what she was doing, I didn't like what she was doing, but I know she's a child of God, and I see people all the time, who have so much that don't know they have, so much beauty, inner beauty, and so much going for them that they don't know they're goin', but the Devil will take everything from you if you don't know who you are in Christ."

"Watching Britney Spears the other night [on the MTV Video Music Awards] was like watching a public execution. How could the people at MTV, the people around her, not know this girl was fucked up? People came in expecting a train wreck, and they got more than they bargained for."

"Britney’s been doing it since she was like 13. It's kind of fair that she had a little bit of a meltdown. I mean, she's been through a lot. I think she's gonna be alright now. She's an intelligent girl."

"In the summer of 2021, the world was shocked to learn that Britney Spears had been forcibly inserted with a contraceptive IUD as part of her legal conservatorship, and that her father had control not only of her finances, but her performance schedule, access to her children, and ability to visit with her boyfriend. These are just some of the rights that are routinely stripped from people with mental illnesses and disabilities, and for those who lack the public visibility and privilege of someone like Spears, there is almost no recourse."

"I don't think you can ever count somebody like her out. Because she may appear one way, but she's very clever."

"I was hanging out the other night with a bunch of friends I've known forever. They were saying, "Look at you. You've grown into a swan." I looked at them and said, "My awkward phase lasted about three years longer than all of yours combined." I related to the physical and emotional awkwardness Mia goes through. She has incredibly low self-esteem. A lot of my life was spent having the same thing, but I'm getting over that now."

"Taking a year off and going to school was the best thing I could have done after The Princess Diaries. It taught me that I don't need Hollywood or a job to make me happy."

"We've all done things we shouldn't, it's just I did stuff at college, when nobody knew about it, so I'm not a saint. … I wasted time doing self-destructive things but it didn't work. I found out you can only dance on so many tabletops. I got that all out of my system and now I'm healthy and I'm grounded."

"Before I met him, I wasted so much time. I was just annoying and narcissistic and smelled bad. He’s protective without being possessive, passionate without needing to show his temper."

"My entire film career's been dependent on my ability to look unattractive."

"I have a lot more respect for it as a business. I understand fashion a lot more. Style, for me, is something I still can't get right."

"When I was younger I thought about becoming a nun for a while. You know how it is when you're growing up and you're going to be a lot of different things, but I actually wanted to be an actress before I wanted to be a nun. The nun was more of a side-bar thing."

"It's easier to think about the way I'm least daring. When I meet people for the first time, I'm friendly but shy. I'm much less outwardly nervous than I used to be, but I still get anxious sometimes. I'm not very daring in my street style, usually because there's a photographer around! I am getting more daring now—I'll wear my mom jeans in public that haven't been tailored 'just so' yet, just because they feel good. For a long time I was afraid of the harsh things people would say about me, but I might as well be happy."

"I did work at Christie’s for a couple of weeks, getting ready for The Devil Wears Prada, getting people coffee and doing whatever they needed around the office. It was amazing. I got to see some wonderful art and everybody was really nice. It was great."

"I’m always hyper-aware of how not to be a you-know-what. So to actually let it go and to lean into all the ridiculous fame nonsense that I’ve been trying to side-step for all of these years just felt really, really fun. It just felt great and to play someone who had such an enormous ego and someone who takes herself so seriously, and is so insufferable, came very naturally to me."

"I don't feel special … I was just full of energy and loved to learn."

"I've always wanted to do my own thing, and my parents allowed me to do what I needed."

"Whatever you've accomplished there's always more to experience."

"I just tend to admire people who go for what they believe in, like David Lynch for example, and just say what goes through their heads, and are not afraid of people not accepting them. I have no respect for people who deliberately try to be weird to attract attention, but if that's who you honestly are, you shouldn't try to "normalize yourself". It's a fine line."

"I'm so much happier now that people seem to find better things to ask me about than all my "accomplishments" from when I was a little girl. I feel like that was so long ago, and so irrelevant to who I am now, that I am glad the focus isn't really on that as much any more."

"When I was a kid, my dream was to be a farmer and marry Charlie Brown. I wanted to rescue him and make him happy. Besides, he was always lusting after "the little redhead girl"."

"Everything was okay, as long as I could dream. Its amazing, really, the difference between having a dream and not having any left that can come true. It's the difference between living and dying."

"I like digging into these characters that are a lot more complex, and there's a lot that isn't apparent on the surface … In a weird way, you can access all that fear and pain. … Nothing makes me happier than when somebody figures out I was in something, and then they'd seen me in something else, and had no idea it was the same person… Then I feel like I've done my job. … I've always loved finding characters that are not always the most likable ones when you first meet them, and finding a way to make them people that viewers will identify with, even against their better judgment."

"All we can do is live every single day and do our best to be present with the ones that we love and with everybody that we come in contact with … The timing of everything seems too divine sometimes to ignore."

"I don't consider myself to be a quote-unquote "good girl". I'm not prim and proper and polite. I'm very honest, and I love talking about sex, or people's deviances. I love psychology. I like listening to or talking about any personality traits that are unusual. That's what I like about acting."

"I don't know that I'm actually bipolar, but I definitely have huge mood swings, and I'm definitely passionate about the way I feel. I'm not really lukewarm one way or the other."

"I like to play any character that allows me the freedom to explore it and teach the audience something they didn't know, and show them a journey they identify with … or be inspired, or moved. Anything that touches someone's heart is important for me."

"i am always doing things i can't do. that's how i get to do them."

"so the moral of this week is: if u do something really, really stupid in front of someone ur just getting to know & they still think youre awesome, then you got yourself a friend."

"I'm bruised again, I wear it well, The self-inflicted tale they tell. I singed my hair, I broke my nails. You'd love me then, If all else failed. The night was long and dark and just Another dagger to my trust. I thrust it in until I bleed I wiped my point for you to see. And anyway, It's over now. Nothing left to say. I don't know why, I don't care how, It's over anyway. It's broken in pieces. You've got the space you needed. Too late to try, Just say good-bye It's over anyway."

"My so-called faith went up in flames Till I believed in all your lies, For the life of me I don't know why. They got you wrong, You're not that strong. I don't belong here!"

"You'll say I'm self-destructive — I constructed all this tragedy. Go tell them all it's all my fault You'll tell them I was crazy. And anyway it's over now Nothing left to say."

"hold your head up high to face the past stare it in the teeth question everything you never ask the earth shall drink the meek is there lighting in your veins is there something that remains nothings ever gonna change so take yourself out in the rain life is leadin while you wait waitin for your judgement day"

"damn my intuition here it goes wish i didn’t know the things I know you're backing off from me i saw it happening the moment she came back to you"

"looks like it’s time to walk away looks like my moment here is done your heart is broken in too many pieces and I’m not fighting for crumbs"

"I’m not ready for Christmas don’t need a gift list don’t give a shit how many shopping days are left this holiday season give me one reason i should believe it’s ever gonna change and why should i be merry when every January i come back so very broken hearted I’m not ready for Christmas I think i’ll skip this one and Santa I will see you next year."

"It just occurs to me the Grinch was not so mean he had a point or two I think he’d have liked me."

"I’m done with wrapping boxes buying things that no one wanted trying on my own to save the day while dad plays cards and bro reads verses mom’s in tears between the curses I need a fucking holiday I’m not ready for Christmas."

"and for the falling stars the broken hearts mansions in your mind and all the roads that were lost the signs you missed turns that passed you by maybe it’s not too late to find your way it’s not your place to say what if you can you can go home again"

"and tho you lost your way it’s not too late god knows you damn well tried and all the stones you tossed they’re ripples now waves you left behind they’re leading you back you can go home again"

"isn’t it nice to know that you’re not my consolation prize doesn’t it feel like freedom breathin in and out now isn’t it good to see all the love in someone else’s eyes doesn’t it all make sense that you’re better off without me"

"no grand intention no pain to mention just too many days that fade to blue and look how it came out perfect for better would have been for worse if I’d have been the one to settle down that walk with you"

"Look at the girl I did Urban Legends with, my last big hit, in '98. One of the girls in that, Alicia Witt — who was on the TV series, Cybill — she without a doubt did the best work on television last year when she guest-starred on the most difficult show to guest star on, which was The Sopranos. She played a non-Italian mafia type on The Sopranos — she was the best thing in the hour. To me, this girl is outstanding. This girl has movie star potential. Now, she was in Cecil B. Demented. I'm just amazed she's not a much bigger star already — not out of any disappointment in Alicia. But I just can't believe the town hasn't just sort of like scooped her up and made her as much of an "It Girl" as, for instance, Goldie Hawn's daughter or Gwyneth Paltrow, because I think this girl is really — and she's also genuinely funny in a wonderful, sexy, screwball comedy way."

"Arguably the smartest person ever to perform in the genre that gave us Green Acres. Exposed to Shakespeare as an infant — her mother, Diane, a former junior high reading teacher, would read aloud from his plays — Witt was able to recite from Romeo and Juliet and the sonnets at 2. By then, on some cognitive tests she was scoring at the level of a high school senior."

"It was her mother who launched Witt on her unusual trajectory from whiz kid to starlet. Back in 1977, Diane Witt — who, to give her her due as an amazing person, currently has the world's longest hair (documented as 12'8" in the 1994 Guinness Book of Records) — dropped a line to Good Housekeeping. She enjoyed the magazine, she wrote, and noted that her 2-year-old did, too. Housekeeping staff promptly visited and photographed "our youngest reader." Thanks to this bit of exposure, Witt was invited to appear on ABC's That's Incredible, where she played a scene as Shakespeare's Juliet. Working with the cameras set off lightbulbs in Alicia's head. "I loved it," she says. "It was like life, only 10 times more intense." At 7, brought to the attention of director David Lynch, she made her film debut in the sci-fi epic Dune as space princess Alia. She learned her lines in one reading. "It's easy," Witt says. "You memorize the thought process instead of the words." Of course. Dune opened and closed, and Witt stayed in Worcester, racing through her piano studies. She even created her own variations, in the style of Debussy, Chopin and other masters, on Over the Rainbow."

"I sometimes get a funny feeling, that Alicia Witt has to shut down half her cerebellum to have a conversation with me."

"Alicia was angelic … yet she could play Beethoven ferociously or Bartok at a raging tempo."

"She did have an extraordinary childhood. At the age of 1 month, she says, she was talking. At 6 months, she was reading. At the age of 4, she performed a scene from Romeo and Juliet on the Today show and wrote short stories based on the Peanuts characters. "In my fantasy I was always the savior. I would come to 'Peanuts' land and save everybody. Charlie Brown would fall madly in love with me. Peppermint Patty was so jealous.""

"She's very talented in everything she's ever done … [her brother Ian is also] a very talented boy, and I was advanced. But no one has seen anything like Alicia."

"They didn't understand it and I tried to make them see That one is only poor only if they choose to be Now I know we had no money but I was rich as I could be In my coat of many colors that Momma made for me Made just for me..."

"Now Momma's done away with the old black kettle she used to cook in when I was just little And the door ain't sprung on her electric range That little old farm and home we had it ain't there no more and that's too bad Folks are doing away with the simple things..."

"Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene I'm begging of you please don't take my man Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene Please don't take him just because you can"

"You can have your choice of men but I could never love again He's the only one for me Jolene I have to have this talk with you My happiness depends on you and whatever You decide to do Jolene..."

"I hope life treats you kind And I hope you have all you've dreamed of. And I wish to you, joy and happiness. But above all this, I wish you love."

"If I should stay, I would only be in your way. So I'll go, but I know I'll think of you ev'ry step of the way.And I will always love you. I will always love you."

"It's been a long dark night And I've been a waitin' for the morning It's been a long hard fight But I see a brand new day a dawning."

"I've been looking for the sunshine 'Cause I ain't seen it in so long But everything's gonna work out just fine Everything's gonna be all right That's been all wrong.'"

"I can see the light of a clear blue morning I can see the light of a brand new day I can see the light of a clear blue morning And everything's gonna be all right It's gonna be okay."

"A lot of people get all turned off by the wig, the heels, the fingernails, the whole artificial bit. I do dress kinda pretty but old-fashioned. I think maybe I dress this way partly because of the image, you know, and partly because when I was a little girl growing up in a big old poor family, this was the way that the rich folks' wives dressed, when we'd see them drivin' through in their big old cars. As for the 'real me.' Well, under this wig, my own hair is about the same length and color, and I wear it about the same. But sometimes I'll dress up in a baggy old shirt and go out with my husband in a camper or something, just havin' ourselves a good time, and nobody recognizes me."

"I just depend on a lot of prayer and meditation. I believe that without God I am nobody, but that with God, I can do anything."

"My nails are my rhythm section, when I'm writing a song all alone. Some day, I may cut an album, just me and my nails."

"It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world"

"The way I dress, for the most part, is how most people would dress for a costume party. It would scare most people to death to look this cheap or whore-y, but to me, I’m comfortable. The way I look was really a country girl’s idea of what glamour was. I patterned my look after the town tramp. I thought she was the prettiest thing in the world, with all that bleached hair and bright-red lipstick. People would say, ‘Oh, she’s just trash,’ and I’d think, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up.'"

"Even when I’m writing a modern song, I’ll find myself pulling stuff from those days before I ever left home, the days of Mama and Daddy and my grandmas and grandpas, and church days. All I ever have to do is close my eyes and just kind of go inside."

"I look so totally artificial, but I’ve always been the simplest person in the world."

"I think that if I am smart in business, it’s just that I’m smart about who I am. I know what I can, can’t, will and won’t do, and if I have to be strict about that, I will."

"Do not confuse dreams with wishes. There is a difference. Dreams are where you visualize yourself being successful at what's important to you to accomplish. Now, dreams build convictions because you work hard to pay the price to make sure that they come true. Wishes are hoping good things will happen to you, but there's no fire in your gut that causes you to put everything forth to overcome all the obstacles. So you have to dream more and never, ever, ever blame somebody else if it doesn't happen. That is in your department."

"It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."

"We [at Dollywood] don’t try to shove anything down anybody’s throat. We are very open. So many of my businesspeople and my best friends are different faiths, and I work with them, live with them, love them. The gays and lesbians, they come to our parks. I think people just know I’m a very open and accepting person. And in any religion we’re supposed to be that—we’re supposed to be kind...we’re not supposed to pass judgment. Our Bible says, ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged,’ and I believe in all those kinds of things. We’re all God’s children. No matter how we try to get to heaven, we all wanna go there. We just have our own routes to take, and that’s how I look at it."

"Now, that's some lines from the song that you and I did together. I know usually, at a memorial, people talk about somebody. Well, I'm gonna talk to you. 'Cause there is that place on the other side, and I'm certainly gonna see you there, little brother. You left a lot of people here with a lot of precious, precious memories. Everybody loved you. But I doubt that many of 'em loved you more than I did. Anyhow, I just want you to know that we all love you, we all miss you and I bet you're having a big laugh over all of us being sad and sorrowful and I know that would be the last thing you would want us to be. So, anyway, you made us happy while you were here, and we're happy that you're at peace. And I just want you to know that I will always love you. Goodbye, my sweet Leslie. See you over there."

"That's my therapy; my little guitar's my friend, And when I'm in that zone – I call it my 'God zone' – I just love that time."

"I could never do that. I don't care. I always count my blessings, more than I count my money. I don't work for money, never did. It was the art, it was the job. I loved the work. And I've done well, and I'm thankful for it."

"It is true that I look artificial, but I believe that I'm totally real. My look is really based on a country girl's idea of glam. I wasn't naturally pretty, so I make the most of anything I've got."

"Well, you should've seen me this morning before I got ready to see youǃ But I'm serious, though. I'm not, like, a natural beauty. But I can enhance it. Whatever it takes, I do. I try to make the most of everything."

"I wrote a song years ago called 'In the Good Old Days When Times Were Bad,' and it said, 'No amount of money could buy from me the memories that I have of then. But no amount of money could pay me to go back and live through it again."

"When I started writing these songs, my mom was real impressed with how I could write, writing these songs at such an early age, And she would say, 'Oh honey, go get that guitar. I want you to sing them.' And she'd say to people, 'I want you to hear this song this little thing wrote.' And so I thought, ooh, I'm getting a whole lot of attention now! So, I think that kind of encouraged it. But also, I loved the sound of that music. I loved the sound of the instruments. I loved being able to create something, and it gave me a little space, and a little world of my own that I could just live in, and be creative in."

"I guess I was about ten years old, the first time that my uncle took me to sing in front of an audience. And it was when they kept clappin' and clappin' after I had finished my song, that I thought that, you know, I felt something. I was scared, I was nervous, I'm a country little kid. But when I got that applause and got that feeling, is when I thought this is what I think I'm gonna do."

"I remember this little redheaded girl with green eyes, prettiest little thing, and I said, 'Well, what's your name?' And she said, 'Jolene.' I said, 'I love that name.' All the way back to the bus I was [singing], 'Jolene, Jolene, Jolene,' so I wouldn't forget the name."

"It wasn't meant to be. And I don't regret it. I never regretted it. I mean, it was a choice. So, you make your choices, you make your sacrifices, and I never looked back. I knew early on that I was gonna walk that road 'til God told me to stop. And I'm still walking it, and He ain't said nothing to me about quittin' yet!"

"Well, I guess I am. But I don't think of it like they do. I'm just, I'm a feminine girl. I'm a workin' girl. I think we all should be treated with respect. And if we do a good job, we should get paid for it. So, I'm all about that."

"I have so many: Merle Haggard, Elton John, Billy Joel, Paul Simon. Hank Williams is one of the greatest ever because people can take his songs and do them in any fashion. They are simple, sweet songs, but they just touch your guts and reach you wherever they want to."

"I remember feeling like all our hard work had paid off: I was going to be able to make a life in this business. I don’t remember making that much money from [“Joshua”] at that time, but I’m sure I spent it on stage clothes or my family or something like that. I remember watching it rise up the charts and thinking, “Golly, that’s such a great feeling!”"

"My guitar and my songwriting: That’s my therapy; that’s my doctors, my nurses, my medicine. I really think my music has saved me — and saved a lot of other people because I’m able to write the feelings of people who are broken and don’t know how to express it. I can do it for them, and it really seems to help. It is wonderful when you’re going through hurt to be able to write about it."

"When I heard that huge production with Whitney’s voice, my gosh, who could even sing better than that? And David Foster’s arrangement overwhelmed me. I would have never in a million years believed that my little heartfelt song could have turned into one of the biggest love songs of all time. I was never so proud in my life as a songwriter to think that my little song could be that good and that big."

"I don’t really realize it until it’s already said. I just answer from my heart when somebody asks me a direct question. I love everybody. And, of course, Black lives matter. We all matter. We’re all God’s children. I hope people learn to love one another a little more than they do, and if I can be any help in that respect, then I hope to be."

"I think I’m a star to everybody but me, I always wanted to be famous, but nobody could have thought of the extent it became. I’ll see a whole wall of my pictures somewhere, and I’ll wonder ‘How did that happen?’ It’s more a joy than a surprise."

"I’ll go into a closet and wonder, ‘Now, what in the hell did I come in here for?', There’s nothing that makes me happier than writing a song."

"I think the one that’s most personal to me is the lil’ 'Coat of Many Colors,' because it talks about my mom, my parents, and kind of gives you an insight. It also covers bullying, acceptance and all that."

"I’ve been grateful for every good thing ever happened, God has always blessed me, surrounded me with good people. I pray that every day God will bring all the right things, all the right people, into my life."

"I’ve been at this so long, I’ve worn some of the most bizarre things – my hairdos have always been so out there, At the time you think you look good, then you look back on it, like, what was I thinking?"

"I’ve always been true to myself,” she says. “That was what my mama always used to say: to thine own self be true. I put a lot of stock in that. Everything I do, whether it’s my personality, how I conduct myself and business, or whatever, if I do it my way, according to what I understand and believe, there’s a strength in that. You can think, ‘I can stand by this, I can live by this."

"I think words and titles just have such connotations, When I think about a ‘feminist’, you think about women that are anti-men, and you think of women that have been so mistreated, they have to make some sort of a statement. I’m all about women, I’m all about empowering women, but I’m all about empowering all people – love and respect and uplifting [them]."

"Even within my own family, especially the last few years since Trump and Biden, all that, it’s like we can’t even go to a family dinner any more. Especially if people are drinking – they get in a damn fight at the table."

"This is amazing to me how people look to me, that’s a big responsibility. There ain’t nobody that good. I’m not all that. I make a joke – I’m not even all there. I try to just be a decent human being, try to use love as my great tool and weapon. I try to leave my heart, my eyes, my ears open, and my mouth closed, when I know it’s not the right thing to be doing."

"I’m almost 78 years old. When you get older, you see everything, you’ve been through everything, and you can take a new spin on something that might have been right for you 10, 15 years ago."

"My joke [is that] if I have any regrets, it’s that I got caught with some of the stuff that I had no regret about."

"In January 2025, Dolly shared, "I think I'm a star to everybody but me... I always wanted to be famous, but nobody could have thought of the extent it became."

"Following the death of her husband in March 2025, Dolly released the song "If You Hadn't Been There," expressing gratitude for his unwavering support throughout their nearly 60-year marriage"

"Due to health challenges, Dolly postponed her December 2025 Las Vegas residency. She humorously referred to it as her "100,000-mile check-up," clarifying it wasn’t related to cosmetic surgery."

"In October 2025, Dolly reassured fans about her health, saying, "I don’t think God is through with me... I ain't done working." She humorously added, "I ain't ready to die yet.""

"In a 2024 interview with The Guardian, Dolly addressed speculation about her retirement, stating, "I can’t retire. I always say I’ve dreamed myself into a corner. I’ve got to keep all those dreams alive. Every dream spins off into something else.""

"Dolly’s big in Iceland. Her voice is immaculate, really powerful. Her character is so warm and human, and she has a great sense of humor. All my friends love Dolly, and most of them are people who would never listen to country music. It doesn’t happen very often when you get a character that is sort of larger than life. I don’t like rock music, but I like Kurt Cobain. He could be playing any style of music and I would have been interested. You know? And I think Dolly is like that. She is an incredible singer, an incredible songwriter."

"I met Dolly Parton in Tennessee; her titties were filled with Hennessy. That country music really drove me crazy, but I rode that ass and said, "Yes, Miss Daisy!""

"There's a lot of difference between songwriting and poetry, and I think that's what gets lost. Most lyrics do not read well. They sing well...I'll tell you who writes well, though, as I'm sure you're aware, and that's Dolly, Dolly Parton."

"it takes guts to be a woman under patriarchy. I mean, Dolly Parton is like an image of a super-femme, but she has this certain brassiness, she just has to have total guts to survive around men and to have her image be so female. She's the kind of person that a drag queen would emulate, because she is using that female, or femme facade, which is like Marlene Dietrich or Mae West or Dolly Parton or any of those gutsy women over the years who drag queens have chosen to emulate, especially the ones who do female impersonation. There's the other edge to them besides the femme facade that is totally gutsy and a real survivor of the world"

"This will sound crazy, but when I was interviewing Dolly Parton, I almost felt like she had healing powers."

"She seemed astonishingly unaffected. It was a bizarre contrast. She looks like a totally artificial creation, with the amazing blond wig and the 6-inch skyscraper heels and the bosom that makes her, no doubt, the unchallenged record holder and defending champion at Frederick's of Hollywood. Then she walks up to you and says, "Hi! I'm Dolly Parton!" The introduction is as unnecessary as if, say, John Wayne had walked up and said, "Hi! I'm John Wayne!" What is the proper response? "Yes, of course you are”? Dolly Parton spent about half an hour shaking everybody's hand and leaving behind a wake of people telling each other, "Gee, she's really nice," as if, well, as if somehow she shouldn't have been. There is a way in which we behave in public, in situations with a lot of strangers that implies a level of polite, subtle hostility. We are reserved. We check out the room for traps and hazards. We are uncomfortable, confronted with a hundred unfamiliar faces. What Dolly did was to come in with her brash, unaffected personality and sweep away all that paranoia in a rush of good will. It left everybody standing around afterward feeling a little goofy."

"For years I gave the press really ugly pictures of myself which would make me cringe...And I didn't exist!...They can't market you, so you don't appear to the public, so you don't have a voice."

"What's the matter with your life? Why you gotta mess with mine?"

"The difference between a hooker and a ho ain't nothin' but a fee So hold your tongue tightly, wish you could be like me You're poppin' all that mess only to stress and to spite me Now you can get with that or you can get with this But I don't give a shit cuz really it's none of your business."

"No, I ain't hard like the bitches on a boulevard My face ain't scarred, and I don't dance in bars. You can call me a tramp if you want to But I remember the punk who just humped and dumped you."

"So the moral of this story is: Who are you to judge? There's only one true judge, and that's God So chill, and let my Father do His job."

"Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it… it says "Chicken... by the Sea"."

"A little bit is not that much to ask to ay things right."

"The real me is a southern girl with her Levis on and an open heart. Wish I could save the world, like I was super girl."

"My idea as far as comedy goes has always been to push the limits of what's acceptable for a woman to do or say or be. My hero in that would be Lenny Bruce, who teaches us that words have no meaning. It's the intent behind them that is what's important."

"Oh please...As a standup, I tried to change the world. As an entertainer, I try to entertain. And as a lesbian, I try to pick up the prettiest girl in the room. Not necessarily in that order."

"Never point at anything beige and call it cool."

"Learn all the rules... then break them."

"He looked me right in the face and said, "You fucking bulldyke!" And I thought to myself, "Oooh, what a smart man! Why, I'll bet he took one look at me and knew I was white, too!""

"Did you read [Holly Near's book]? Let me save you the trouble. This is the most exciting sentence in the book: ..."I feel like a lesbian when I'm making love to a woman." Gooooooooood, Holly! Well, the major difference between me and Holly Near is that I feel like a lesbian when I am BREATHING!"

"What do you mean, you "don't believe in homosexuality?" It's not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn't necessary."

"They are preserving the sanctity of marriage, so that two gay men who've been together for twenty-five years can't get married, but a guy can still get drunk in Vegas and marry a hooker at the Elvis chapel! The sanctity of marriage is saved!"

"I'm at West Virginia University to do a show, right, and they've done all this fucking publicity about it...so when I get to my show, who's waiting for me but five hundred Christian protestors with great big signs. "Lea DeLaria is going to hell." Not generic "gay is not good:" "Lea DeLaria is going to hell." Which is what I need five hundred strangers to tell me, like twelve years of Catholic fuckin' school wasn't enough, right?!"

"[An anti-abortion conference goer] says, "Well, don't you believe that life begins at inception?" I say, "No. I believe that life begins when you mind your own fucking business!""

"You know the people I'm talking about, you see them at every pride rally, they get up on stage and go, "We're just like everyone else! We are like them and they are like us. Straights are like us and we are like them! We - are like - EV - eryone - else!" And then a seven-and-a-half-foot-tall drag queen walks by with three feet spangled platforms and he opens up his butterfly wings, f-f-f-f-f-f-f! Oh, we're just like everyone else, all right! We have our own culture and our own way of doing things and we should celebrate that and stop licking straight ass!"

"I mean, what the fuck is it with you guys? I thought this was supposed to be a lesbian party. Lesbian? Perhaps you'd like me to tear it off so you qualify." Guido protests. "I have a right to be here, this is the United States, you know, you can't discriminate." "I can't discriminate? Oh, that's ripe, coming from a straight white man. What's the matter, baby doesn't feel like he belongs? Well, why don't you try a place that was set up just for you? Like the world!"

"A lot of people say that my life is wasted on me because I could be a bigger asshole than I am, but I've chosen not to be."

"The only thing Madonna will ever do like a virgin is give birth in a stable."

"#ChristineMcVie has left us. What memories, what joy, and what a legacy..."

"This world is bullshit. And you shouldn't model your life — wait a second — you shouldn't model your life about what you think that we think is cool and what we're wearing and what we're saying and everything. Go with yourself. Go with yourself."

"It was because of this guy I had gone out with and had been really, really close with. I really loved him. I felt that he was my best friend. But he was a teenaged guy, and they don't think a lot of times. He mistreated me and then he came back. I couldn't even be friends with him for awhile. I cared about him, but it was just a situation where he kept trying to be friends with me, but I knew that he just wanted to be friends with me so he could have the option of making a move on me whenever he wanted to. And because I was so infatuated with him, and even in love with him, I was always available for that. It made me feel weak every time I would fall for that. And I would look forward to him making a move on me, but I knew that it was wrong. I knew that he was playing with me. And after awhile, I didn't even care anymore because I wanted him so much."

"Interviewer: I read a post on the Internet from a young girl who had been victimized by someone and her position was like, "I can talk about this now because Fiona Apple can talk about what happened to her." Do you look at yourself as a role model for women and girls who've had this experience? Fiona: That's the only reason I ever brought the whole rape thing up. It's a terrible thing, but it happens to so many people. I mean, 80 percent of the people I've told have said right back to me, "That happened to me too." It's so common, and so ridiculous that it's a hard thing to talk about. It angers me so much because something like that happens to you and you carry it around for the rest of your life. No matter how much therapy you go through, no matter how much healing you go through, it's part of you. I just feel that it's such a tragedy that so many people have to bear the extra burden of having to keep it secret from everyone else. As if it's too icky a subject to burden other people with and everyone's going to think you're a victim forever. Then you've labeled yourself a victim, and you've been taken advantage of, and you're ruined, and you're soiled, and you're not pure, you know.If I'm in a position where people are looking up to me in any way, then it's absolutely my responsibility to be open and honest about this, because if I'm not, what does that say to people? It doesn't change a person -- well, it does change a person but it doesn't take anything away from you. It can only strengthen you. It has made me so angry in the past. Like I wanted to say it to somebody. I really wanted somebody to connect with, somebody to understand me, somebody to comfort me. But I felt like I couldn't say anything about because it was taboo to talk about."

"I definitely had an eating disorder. What was really frustrating for me was that everyone thought I was anorexic, and I wasn't. I was really depressed and self-loathing. For me, it wasn't about being thin, it was about getting rid of the bait attached to my body. A lot of it came from the self-loathing that came from being raped at the point of developing my voluptuousness. I just thought that if you had a body and if you had anything on you that would be grabbed, it would be grabbed. So I did purposely get rid of it...I mean, my plan is to gain enough weight that I can really be considered voluptuous, and do my 'First Taste' video. And I am preparing myself for what is going to happen. Because soon they will be saying that I'm fat. And it will hurt me."

"My problem was that I felt ashamed of feeling sad or angry. Now, I don't hide my vulnerability in my lyrics. There's no way I was going to get raped and not get something out of it. I learned about power and hope and forgiveness. I like who I am now and I wouldn't be who I am if that hadn't happened."

"I don't have a big thing about leaving my mark or being historic."

"Don't waste your crazy!"

"You could say, more accurately, I had found my voice but I had forgotten that I found it, or I had found my voice but stopped hearing it for a while. I think that happens throughout life. That is maybe why you can write songs about yourself for ever because you cycle through the same things over and over but you’re seeing it a little more clearly every time."

"...In that moment I understood what it was for – it’s really for anybody to have those words and feel validated. Even if no one else believes you, even if you’ve not believed yourself, even if you still don’t believe yourself, let me give you these words to sing and at some point you’re gonna feel it and you’re gonna have compassion for yourself, finally, hopefully."

"I get that, but it didn’t occur to me because that was the truth – Shameika did say I had potential. It was a true sentence and I really like when true things sound pretty. I was pretty sure there was a Shameika at the school and this had happened, but I question my memories – I question my memory even about having been raped. If I had thought of that I probably wouldn’t have put it out because I would have been afraid that that was how it was coming off..."

"...That [speech] was a huge moment in my life that I will never, ever regret, and that I have never regretted, no matter how embarrassed I might have been by it at a certain point. I knew it was one of those moments where you have to be a really good parent to yourself and go: “This is a time you can get out there and just say it, you have to because if you don’t do it now you set a precedent for yourself at these things. You shut up your entire life at school, you took all this shit and you were quiet, look how it made you feel. You’re at this thing right now, this magnified high school class and now you got a chance to go up and say something? Don’t be shy. No matter how it comes out, just let it come out.” So I’m really glad that I did that and I think that that set me on a good path."

"It shouldn’t be like this but I think it’s feeling recognised and appreciated and not being trashed or misunderstood. I feel proud of myself – I’m taking care of myself, I’m taking care of my career and I’m managing things well. I know more than anybody how hard this stuff is for me. There’s been a lot of anxiety and seriously feeling like I cannot do this job but then a lot of outright joy and relief that I actually did put out the album. Something I think about is: if it hadn’t been well received, it would have been the same album, and would I still have felt joy and freedom and satisfaction? I don’t know that I would, and that troubles me. I’m happy that I feel respected in a way that I wasn’t before but it also messes with your idea of yourself."

"I got my feet on the ground and I don't go to sleep to dream; You've got your head in the clouds and you're not at all what you seem. This mind, this body and this voice cannot be stifled by your deviant ways. So don't forget what I told you, don't come around, I got my own hell to raise."

"Once my lover, now my friend; What a cruel thing to pretend. What a cunning way to condescend; Once my lover, and now my friend.Oh, you creep up like the clouds And you set my soul at ease. Then you let your love abound, And you bring me to my knees."

"Oh, it's evil babe The way you let your grace enrapture me, When well you know I'd be insane To ever let that dirty game recapture me.You made me a shadowboxer, baby. I wanna be ready for what you do. I been swinging all around me 'Cause I don't know when you're gonna make your move."

"I've been a bad, bad girl. I've been careless with a delicate man. And it's a sad, sad world When a girl will break a boy just because she can.Don't you tell me to deny it. I've done wrong and I want to suffer for my sins. I've come to you 'cause I need guidance to be true, And I just don't know where I can begin."

"What I need is a good defense 'Cause I'm feeling like a criminal And I need to be redeemed To the one I've sinned against Because he's all I ever knew of love."

"When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight And he’ll win the whole thing ‘fore he enters the ring There’s no body to batter when your mind is your might So when you go solo you hold your own hand And remember that depth is the greatest of heights And if you know where you stand then you know where to land And if you fall it won’t matter cuz you’ll know that you’re right."

"My derring-do allows me to Dance the rigadoon around you. But by the time I'm close to you, I lose my desideratum and now you."

"Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills. 'Cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up. I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold. Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love."

"Do I wanna do right, of course but do I really wanna feel I’m forced to answer you, hell no. I’ve acquired quite a taste for a well-made mistake, I wanna make a mistake."

"I may be soft in your palm, But I'll soon grow hungry for a fight, and I will not let you win. My pretty mouth will frame the phrases that will disprove your faith in man. So if you catch me trying to find my way into your heart from under your skin,Fast as you can, baby Scratch me out, free yourself."

"So keep on calling me names, keep on, keep on. And I'll keep kicking the crap till it's gone. If you keep on killing, you could get me to settle. And as soon as I settle, I bet I'll be able to move on."

"And I will pretend That I don't know of your sins Until you are ready to confess. But all the time, all the time, I'll know, I'll know.And you can use my skin To bury secrets in, And I will settle you down."

"I certainly haven't been shopping for any new shoes, And I certainly haven't been spreading myself around. I still only travel by foot, and by foot it's a slow climb. But I'm good at being uncomfortable, so I can't stop changing all the time."

"One man, he disappoint me; He give me the gouge and he take my glee. Now every other man I see Remind me of the one man who disappoint me."

"Everything good, I deem too good to be true; Everything else is just a bore. Everything I have to look forward to Has a pretty painful and very imposing before."

"I opened my eyes While you were kissing me once more than once, And you looked as sincere as a dog. Just as sincere as a dog does, When it's the food on your lips with which it's in love."

"The early cars Already are Drawing deep breaths past my door. And last night's phrases, Sick with lack of basis, Are still writhing on my floor.And it doesn't seem fair That your wicked words should work In holding me down. No, it doesn't seem right To take information Given at close range For the gag And the bind And the ammunition round."

"Conversation once colored by esteem Became dialogue as a diagram of a play for blood. Took a vacation, my palate got clean. Now I could taste your agenda While you're spitting your cud."

"If you don't have a date Celebrate Go out and sit on the lawn And do nothing 'Cause it's just what you must do Nobody does it anymore."

"Well, you ain't Fiona Apple. And if you ain't Fiona Apple, I don't give a rat's ass."

"And then I went over to the concession stand to get some tea and I ran into Fiona Apple, and I was like, "Who do you think you are, Fiona Snapple?""

"I can be. I do not normally try to be. In fact, there have been some reviews—which I’ve loved—that said I didn't try to sell my show on sex, that I sang my show. On the other hand, I know I'm cute. I can dance. I don't have a bad figure. I know exactly what I am. I'm certainly no great beauty. I know exactly how far I can go."

"I phoned Prince out of the blue, hummed a melody, and he listened," … "I hung up, and he came over within the hour. He listened again, and I said, 'Do you hate it?' He said, 'No,' and walked over to the synthesizers that were set up, was absolutely brilliant for about twenty five minutes, and then left. He was so uncanny, so wild, he spoiled me for every band I've ever had because nobody can exactly re-create—not even with two piano players-what Prince did all by his little self."

"I met Lindsey in high school in San Francisco. We had gone to some party and he was sitting in the middle of this gorgeous living room playing a song. I walked over and stood next to him, and the song was "California Dreaming," and I just started singing with him. And so I just threw in my Michelle Phillips harmony, and he was so beautiful. And then I didn't really see him again until two years later, when he called me and asked me if I wanted to be in his rock 'n' roll band, which I didn't even know existed. And within two or three months we were opening for Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, all the San Francisco bands. Two years later, we packed up and moved to Los Angeles with about 12 demos."

"…People would say to me: ‘It would be very hard to be Mr. Stevie Nicks.’ And I’m going: well, yeah, probably, unless you were just a really nice guy that was really confident in himself, not jealous of me, liked my friends, enjoyed my crazy life and had fun with it. And, of course, there are very few men like that. I’m an independent woman and am able to take care of myself, and that is not attractive to men.”."

"…If I had not had that abortion, I’m pretty sure there would have been no Fleetwood Mac. There’s just no way that I could have had a child then, working as hard as we worked constantly. And there were a lot of drugs, I was doing a lot of drugs … I would have had to walk away…And I knew that the music we were going to bring to the world was going to heal so many people’s hearts and make people so happy. And I thought: you know what? That’s really important. There’s not another band in the world that has two lead women singers, two lead women writers. That was my world’s mission."

"I sat at my piano, a feminist woman, and I wrote it, to say that nothing you or anybody else can do to me can change the fact that, as the opening line goes: ‘Every night that goes between / I feel a little less.’...Freedom…I am a totally free woman, and I am independent, and that’s exactly what I always wanted to be."

"It's just about a lady who's a goddess of steeds and a maker of birds."

"I look around at all the girl singers, and I think they're all my children... and they're all going to do this... And, yes, maybe I inspired them because I did get through a lot, and I did have the same problems that they're going to have. You do have to give up a lot for it."

"Lindsey [Buckingham] and I went up to Aspen and we went to somebody's incredible house and they had a piano and I had my guitar with me and I went in their living room, looking out over the incredible Aspen sky and I wrote 'Landslide.'"

"When I thought I was dying in rehab in 1994, 'I Won't back Down' was my mantra. It lifted my up out of the pain and made me fight through it. 'The Waiting'... summed up my life. We can't stand waiting, we rock 'n' roll men and women. Tom Petty's songs are like a great book that you revisit when you need help. His songs make me better."

"That’s the words: "So I’m back to the velvet underground"—which is a clothing store in downtown San Francisco, where Janis Joplin got her clothes, and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, it was this little hole in the wall, amazing, beautiful stuff—”back to the floor that I love, to a room with some lace and paper flowers, back to the gypsy that I was.""

"I'm going to spend my life writing poems, turning them into music that will affect people and touch their hearts. I'm going to write the songs that people can't write for themselves."

"We all did everything we could do to try and talk her out of [quitting]. But you look in someone's eyes and you can tell they're finished. As Taylor Swift would say: 'We are never ever getting back together ever!' That's what Chris was saying... But I'd beg, borrow and scrape together $5 million and give it to her in cash if she would come back. That's how much I miss her."

"…The reason I chose that kind of a platform boot was because the rest of my outfit is so filmy and floaty that I thought: If you’re going to wear that outfit, if you just wore a pair of stiletto high heels with ankle straps, it would look really pretty, but it would be way too airy-fairy. But if you put on a pair of really strong suede boots to your knee, that have got a substantial little platform and a really good heel, then if somebody tries to drag you off that stage, you can seriously kick them with that boot. And so those boots are not just a fashion statement. They are to make people understand that I’m not a ballerina. As much as I would have loved to be a ballerina, I’m not a ballerina — I’m a rock ‘n’ roll singer. And so when people get too close to me, I can just feel my foot starting to raise, you know? It’s like my karate moment. A few times I’ve said, “Let go of my hand,” and some people don’t. And my foot starts to raise, and they get it, like, “I don’t want to be kicked with that boot. So I better back off.” So they have their moments where I feel like they’re a weapon."

"…I put them in my journal. And if I have a really big, important show, I call in all my spirits, and I say, “Tom, stand behind me. Prince, stand with me.” I ask for their help, because I know they’re up there. The Prince thing started a long time ago, because sometimes even before Prince died, I would say that. I wish Prince was here and he could just walk with me out there; because of his performing ability and how good he was on stage, sometimes I’d just go, “Come with me.” And I really do feel the presence, you know. I mean, Tom and I were way, way better friends than I was friends with Prince, because I hardly ever saw Prince. When I did see Prince, we’d have some really important conversations, and we talked on the phone sometimes for a couple hours. But Tom was a different kind of friend. Tom was really my buddy friend. I spent a lot of time at Tom’s different houses, and a lot of time with his family when he was still married to Jane. And that was a very hard loss for me."

"She rings like a bell through the night And wouldn't you love to love her?"

"Dreams unwind Love's a state of mind"

"I'll begin not to love you Turn around, see me runnin' I'll say I loved you years ago Tell myself you never loved me, no And did you say she was pretty? And did you say that she loves you? Baby, I don't wanna know."

"Thunder only happens when it's raining, Players only love you when they're playing, Say, women, they will come and they will go, When the rain washes you clean you'll know."

"I don't want to know the reasons why, Love keeps right on walking down the line."

"Well, did she make you cry, Make you break down, Shatter your illusions of love?"

"The clouds, never expect it, When it rains But the sea changes color, But the sea does not change, And so with the slow graceful Flow of age, I went forth with an, Age old desire to please, On the edge of seventeen."

"Is love so fragile, And the heart so hollow, Shatter with words, Impossible to follow, You're saying I'm fragile, I try not to be, I search only, for something I can't see."

"No one knows how I feel, What I say unless you read between my lines, One man walked away from me First he took my hand, take me home."

"A wound gets worse when it's treated with neglect."

"Stevie Nicks is the high priestess of her own religion, ruling a world of prancing Gypsies, gold-dust princesses, and white-winged doves, all without going anywhere near a sensible shoe. Like David Bowie or Bryan Ferry, she has spent a career turning her private fantasies into an elaborate pop mythology."

"Witchcraft became part of the rock sensibility in the '70s, when Stevie Nicks twirled onstage swathed in scarves, bathed in incense smoke, and illuminated by hundreds of candles."

"Stevie bridges the gap between the powerful rock singers of the sixties, like Janis Joplin and Grace Slick, and what's going on today."

"She had a huge influence on everybody, whether they admit it or not."

"I tell you, when we travel with our own band and we're on the road . . . Well, I can't even believe this is work."

"It's [Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You"] been one of my favorite songs for my entire life."

"I've listened to Jazz since I was born and always knew I'd be a Jazz singer!"

"It's not so bad to live out of a suitcase. It's a really beautiful life ."

"I’ve always chosen all my own material; no one ever told me what to sing or how to sing it, but I’ve always been pressured intensely to use musicians outside of my band."

"Jane Monheit is skyrocketing up the jazz charts. By next year, we won't be able to get her."

"It [Ella Fitzgerald's "Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas"] is the happiest Christmas album I've ever heard. That album totally changed the way I look at Christmas albums. I loved what a happy, festive album it truly was . . . it's the best [[music] to have playing when you have a Christmas celebration. I wanted my album to feel just like that."

"Chons, on rhythm guitar, had long black hair and blue eyes and was the first person I ever met who said she never ate meat, and when she told me that, I never ate it again either. Best thing that ever happened to me. All it took was the mere suggestion. Nobody else was vegetarian that I knew of, but I started to think of meat-eating as a very weird practice and secretly regarded meat-eaters with distaste, almost contempt. Why would anyone kill an animal if they didn’t need to? I learned to live and associate with “the majority,” but never respected them. I got used to having this lack of regard for 97 percent of the population."

"Being vegetarian was to inform everything, the course of my destiny. I was baffled that the entire hippie nation hadn't become vegetarian en masse. It made no sense as eating meat went against the whole dialogue. Were the hippies just as hypocritical as the rest of them? I couldn't admit that but I understood why I loved songs like “The Loner” so much. I didn't want to be like the majority anyway. The majority were always wrong."

"Everything in nature lives according to some order so it seems unlikely that humans live outside this system, even if they try to resist their instincts. That's how we can be sure we're not animals, this refusal to abide by what we know is good for us. If an animal's instinct tells him to avoid something he has no trouble keeping a wide berth. We, on the other hand, run in the direction of danger if it offers a thrill or satisfies a curiosity."

"Everyone who works with me calls me "Ma." I'm the motherly type."

"I do recommend the vegan diet because you wake up and feel great!"

"I grew up and I lived in the Bronx until my mid-20s, so I understand that life…And I’ve been lucky enough to grow into something else, but at the same time, those roots stay with you. Playing these characters is a chance to tap back into the core of who I am."

"I think as women, we have to do that all the time…We’re said to be the more Toodles sensitive gender, but I think the truth is that men are much more Toodles and sensitive. And we have to be stronger and more conscious of not hurting Toodles egos at times. So it’s a line you do have to tiptoe on all the time—especially as a strong, assertive woman, which can be off-putting to men who are not confident and secure on their own."

"There are so many smart, talented women out there, in front of and behind the camera, and I think we’re at a point where our voices are not stifled as much…Because of the #MeToo movement, it’s ‘We are equal, and we want to be treated that way.’ We’ve been making our own opportunities, and as you prove your worth and value to people, they can’t put you in a box. You hustle it into happening, right?"

"I'm the best. If you have the goods, there's nothing to be afraid of. If somebody doesn’t have the goods, they're insecure. I don't have that problem. I'm not the best actress that ever lived, but I know I'm pretty good."

"(In one of your essays in the book, from 2012, you write about Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez and say they are "[d]oing no more than supporting and promoting patriarchal and capitalist goals." Do you still feel this way about them, even as they—Beyoncé especially—are often held up as feminist icons?) AC: I do, but I know that I would have a lot of women of color of younger generations argue with me about that. I come from a generation of radical feminism; we believed in not using your body for financial gain and that sexualization fed into violence against women. I know that dates me. The performances that both Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé give are highly sexually charged, and they've made a lot of money off of a lot of men by sexualizing themselves as exotic beauties. Both of them have dyed their hair blonde, straightened it, weaved it, which feeds into a fantasy about women and women of color. I come from a very different perspective, and I don't believe that anything in terms of personal gain or materialism is really helping the rest of the world. If you make that much money, instead of buying a humongous mansion, go back to your community and start community projects and talk to your legislators about changing some of the laws [that mean] young men of color who have felonies because [they dealt] drugs as teenagers can no longer integrate into society. Moving away from Beyoncé and J-Lo—I'm sure they do a lot of good deeds—I'm very lucky I have a roof over my head. I can eat healthy food, my children have coats in cold weather, they have an education. I don't think a human being needs much more beyond that."

"I can feel a something pounding in my brain Just any time that someone speaks your name Trumpets sound and I hear thunder boom Every time that you walk in the room."

"Another day goes by Still the children cry Put a little love in your heart."

"If you want the world to know We won't let hatred grow Put a little love in your heart."

"There can be a new tomorrow There can be a brighter day There can be a new tomorrow Love will find a way"

"Her hair is Harlow gold Her lips a sweet surprise Her hands are never cold She's got Bette Davis eyes"

"She'll turn her music on you You won't have to think twice She's pure as New York snow She's got Bette Davis eyes"

"Most of the time I sit down with my guitar or at the piano, and I play for awhile until I get a new riff or groove that I like a lot. Then I'll concentrate on building around that line of thought by adding words and textures. At first I'm only trying to please myself, and hopefully what I like will appeal to others."

"I've always been careful to put out the very best work I can. One of the things I value the most is the love and faith that people have given me over the years, so I try to live up to their expectations and my own standards of what I'm capable of."

"When I was writing songs or performing or producing or dabbling in movies or even putting my career on hold to go to art school, I was just following my muse. A woman who did that then was criticized for having no direction. Today they call it versatility."

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love, It's the only thing that there's just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, No not just for some but for everyone."

"Good evening. This is your Captain We are about to attempt a crash landing... Place your tray tables in their upright, locked position Your Captain says: Put your head on your knees Your Captain says: Put your head in your hands... We are going down We are all going down, together... Standby."

"Uh – this is your Captain again You know, I've got a funny feeling I've seen this all before Why? Cause, I'm a caveman Why? Cause, I've got eyes in the back of my head Why? It's the heat. Standby This is the time. And this is the record of the time"

"Golden cities. Golden towns And long cars, in long lines and great big signs And they all say: Hallelujah. Yodellayheehoo Every man for himself. Ooo coo coo Golden cities. Golden towns. Thanks for the ride Big Science. Hallelujah. Big Science. Yodellayheehoo"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... Hello? This is your mother, are you there? Are you coming home?...Hello? Is anybody home? Well, you don't know me, but I know you And I've got a message to give to you And I said: okay, who is this really? And the voice said: This is the hand, the hand that takes...Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night Shall stay these couriers from the swift completion Of their appointed rounds"

"Let X equal X You know, it could be you It's a sky-blue sky The satellites are out tonight Let X equal X...You know, I could write a book And this book would be thick enough to stun an ox 'cause I can see the future, and it's a place... Thanks for all the presents... Thanks for introducing me to the Chief"

"She said, it looks Don't you think it looks a lot like rain? He said, isn't it? Isn't it just, isn't it just like a woman? She said, it's hard It's just hard, it's just kind of hard to say"

"Paradise Is exactly like Where you are right now Only much much Better."

"And he said: Now, I'm the Soul Doctor, and you know, language is a virus from outer space, and hearing your name is better than seeing your face."

"And you know the reason I really love the stars is that we cannot hurt them. We can't burn them or melt them or make them overflow. We can't flood them or blow them up or turn them out. But we are reaching for them. We are reaching for them."

"I cruise the canyon to get some breeze With Hidden Treasures up my sleeve I like the light and hate the heat But I'll lick the blood right off your street"

"Oh I don't need an education Just a microphone's intoxication And I can't deal with concentration Give me tongues and stimulation"

"So hurting here is where I belong dreaming a song Blood on my hands to stay strong The flowers in the graveyard are all gone I don't belong There is no right to heal the wrong Soup's on hot feelin' like a do or die I can't throw up don't think i evan want to try"

"I'll go where secrets are sold Where roses unfold I'll sleep as time goes by"

"I do love gymnastics, but it's such an intense sport and you have to be so committed. It's such a commitment that it's really hard to do anything else other than gymnastics as people progress."

"I like to climb. I don't love to work out. Actually, I hate to work out. You know, I tell myself, "AnnaSophia, you have to work out. You haven't gotten any exercise in the longest time." You know, I don't have time, really, to work out or play a sport. But I love to dance. I like to run in the springtime or in the fall. I like to go outside. I don't like running on a treadmill. I get tired... I just get sick of it. But if I'm outside, I could just run for ages. Or walk, if I need a break."

"I kept all my gum from the movie... It's about as big as a softball."

"I've always wanted to go to college — I don't know what college — just to explore the world. I want to learn languages — many, multiple languages. And I love to help people, so I think it would be fun to do some nonprofit work."

"I couldn't believe this could be true in the 21st century."

"I said goodbye to a skinny boy I had made friendship bracelets with morning and asked how old he was. I was shocked when he said he was almost fourteen. We were practically the same age, but he was so malnourished that he was barely the size of my eight-year old cousin. Most of the other boys and girls were so poorly fed that they had gray hair on top of their heads. It was a reminder for me of how blessed I am, and how even the biggest of smiles can't fill up someone's stomach."

"Knowing how they were sleeping on a dirt floor at that very moment, while I had a soft pillow under my head, made me feel incredibly guilty."

"But there's no reason to wait until I'm grown up when there's so much I can do now. So many Americans take so much for granted, so it's only right to help someone who has so little. That's why I'm sponsoring a four-year-old Dalit student, so Ayisath can have a good education all the way from the start."

"A little bit goes a long way — it's true. And I sure am glad I went such a long, long way to find that out for myself."

"No, I don't have a boyfriend, [...] I don't want one."

"I'll be ready for my first kiss! When it happens, it'll happen, but I don't know. It doesn't look like that will be anytime soon."

"I don't really have time [to babysit my twin cousins]. And, well, I actually have my own babysitter sometimes."

"I'm not in the gossips that much, but something I read recently was that me and Emma Watson are having a feud. And I've never even met her."

"I don't think the music is all that different, actually. It is produced and presented in a different way. I don't favour one type of music over another. I like music that is melodic, so I like what I am doing now. I haven't abandoned guitars, I am just a little less angry than I was then. I am still proud of Eve's Plum, and I think they could be Vitamin C songs, and some Vitamin C songs could be Eve's Plum songs. I really like this one, it is the best one of all."

"It was great, I love onions!"

"It's not as if I went from hardcore punk to four-on-the-floor dance music. I always considered the songs I've written to be intelligent pop songs and perhaps just the production that varies but it's still very much the same voice."

"I'm better suited to doing this because I enjoy dancing and performing, so I can incorporate a whole bunch of different elements of my personality into the performance component of Vitamin C and it turns out, without trying, there was a certain positive spirit and strong point of view [in the songs] that fairly well represented my personality. So it all came together quite nicely."

"I decided that instead of replacing members of Eve's Plum and keeping it going against some internal and external odds, I would continue doing music, but do it by myself," explains Fitzpatrick. "But it took me a little while because I wasn't sure I was really ready emotionally and mentally to jump back into the fire immediately."

"You get treated better [laugh], Being a girl about town is different from being a girl with five guys about town."

""The Itch" was an accident. I responded to [co-writer] Billy Steinberg's lyric because I thought even though we set it in this particular story of a girl in a relationship who isn't getting what she needs, it's really a metaphor for desire. Everything just coincided without my realizing it. I was playing Lucy in Dracula 2000, and she's a character who is totally open, sexual and curious and definitely has "The Itch" on many different levels. And it was just coincidence that all this stuff kind of like came together for me. Because I get the itch all the time. And to me that really means something."

"You know that weird cat dance that cats do late at night where they go completely stir-crazy and they run around the apartment and you don't know what the hell they're doing? I often feel like that. I dye my hair constantly because I can't sit still with one hair color. That's a perfect example of trying to satisfy some hunger. I want change; I want constant stimuli. I love to fly because I love the high. All of these are like itch kind of things. Sometimes I need to completely get away. I'll get in the car and I'll drive for as long as I can drive. Sometimes it's a sexual urge. I don't need to explain that; it's pretty self-explanatory. It's a craving, a desire. Sometimes it's food. I'm just a giant, big ol' consumer. I want, I need, I crave, I can't say no. I have no control and I'm a complete control freak. It's just crazy [laughs]."

"I'm not quite sure that I know how they complement each other, because I use them for the opposite reason. I find music to be an intensely personal kind of thing, perhaps it's because I write a lot of the stuff. I use acting to escape from being me, and I use music to explore being me. I think that's the best way to put it."

"I haven't found it difficult because I find this very enjoyable. It's really challenging. And I'm really proud of the record because it's a really good record. There's nothing harder than to write a pop record with meaning. I think it's much easier to be alternative. It's much easier to be different and take a different path outside of a commercial context. To try and write a pop song that is not cliché, to try and write a pop song that has meaning and fits in under three minutes and five seconds and has a hook that people want to listen to is the most difficult thing in the world to do. So in lieu of that you have to write what you know and what you like, what you're feeling. That's all I can basically do. I don't begrudge the other people that don't write their songs. And I don't judge them. I'd like to see more people writing their own songs, because that's just personally what I like. Just for me, as an artist, so many people only care about being popular right now. Whatever happened to trying to write a song that means something? When I was growing up, artists meant something. They had opinions, they looked different than the person working at the store on your street. They opened your eyes and taught you something about life. And I would like to aspire to be that kind of artist."

"I learned I'm not the kind of artist that can just sing someone else's songs, for a lot of reasons. I have to have some sort of understanding of the song, or some sort of attachment to it."

"The genius of Jamie is NOT that she wrote the lyrics on her hands, but that she didn't think we'd notice"

"Like any great performer, Rosa pulls you in, and I found myself leaning forward, and really paying attention...but most of all, trying to figure out what the HELL she was saying"

"We have become accustomed to living our life with joy amidst pain and challenges."

"You have to celebrate the gifts because life is so hard and I think once you realize life's gonna be hard, the good stuff really comes forward."

"It’s amazing how clean your room can get when you have an assignment due. I considered the possibility of just telling a bunch of jokes and leaving the inspiring to my husband, because he’s very good at that. But, I’m not going to do that."

"My job here today, our job, is to tell you the one thing you can count on. The one thing I can guarantee you can expect in life is that you will experience the thoroughly unexpected."

"John Lennon wrote a line that I’m sure has been used in many commencement addresses. “Life is what happens to you while you’re making other plans.” … There is really no way of knowing where your life’s journey will take you. I never would have predicted the fabric of my life would have evolved into the rich, complex design I enjoy and am challenged by daily. My work, the achievements for which I am receiving such a great honor here today, my purpose in life, have been born out of a set of unplanned circumstances, in large part, but not completely, circumstances beyond my control. I never anticipated being a caregiver for my spouse at the age of 34. I don’t think I ever dreamt I would help run a foundation that raises money for biomedical research and people with disabilities."

"I was trained as an actress, but as much as I love that work when I can get it, it is not my acting work for which I’m generally known. It is not my chosen career path that ultimately defines me, but rather an unfamiliar, unexpected path that has presented itself. To quote another group from my youth, “what a long, strange trip it’s been,” and I won’t have it any other way. Life continues to surprise and delight me, even when I think I know what I want from it. I knew I wanted to be a mother, for example, but, and I’m sure your parents can relate to this, I had no idea how much fun I would have nor how much I would learn about life and myself from my child and stepchildren."

"There will be many choices before you, some of which you’ll welcome and celebrate, and then there will be some over which you will anguish. Some choices will choose you. How you face these choices, these turns in the road, with what kind of attitude, more than the choices themselves, is what will define the context of your life."

"Be brave. Be open-minded. Be kind. Be forgiving. Be generous. Be optimistic. Be grateful for the many unexpected lessons you will learn. Find the joy inside the hardship. It’s there. I assure you. And, too, be open to inspiration from unlikely sources."

"A Buddhist saying, which I think captures perfectly the idea that life is a series of opportunities arising out of unforeseen circumstances: Unceasing change turns the wheel of life, and so reality is shown in all its many forms. Now for those of you who have stayed up all night in advance of today’s activities, it may take a while for the deep wisdom of that idea to fully resonate, but once it creeps into your consciousness, and, as you continue your life’s journey from this day forth, I think the remarkable truth of this statement will surprise and amaze you and possibly even serve as a source of comfort at some point."

"I know that you’ve heard this before ad nauseam, but twenty years do go by at lightning speed, and that is my first pearl of wisdom. And, now, the others in this pocket pack of precepts to live by... Take care of yourself and be caring with others. Nurture a sense of gratitude, and be grateful for a sense of humor. Be sure to thank your parents and mentors for all they’ve given you, but give love to your future children and mentees freely without any expectation of thanks in return. Look for ways to let your light shine, but don’t be afraid occasionally to be in the dark. Strive to make your behavior above reproach, but be careful not to cast judgment on others whose behavior may reflect a different form of reality. The more you give, the richer you will become. Let your life be enhanced by the company you keep."

"Females are the most beautiful, gorgeous creatures in the whole world. And I think that we are gorgeous no matter what size we are."

"I've never met him. It was mind-blowing. I couldn't quite believe it. He's a person that's seen so many things and been a part of music for so long. For him to give a shit about me is pretty exciting. I like it."

"It feels so good to know that it’s going to go across the country and this cast, let me tell you, is out of control. They’re so good."

"I love, as an artist, bringing my energy to other artists. That’s really a fulfilling feeling. So, I’ll be fairy godmothering. You never know where you’ll see me."

"It’s strange that we don’t think of women as producers like Quincy [Jones] or Dre or [Swizz Beatz], but female producers have always powered the industry: Patrice Rushen, Missy Elliott, Linda Perry, Grimes, Solange, and so many more."

"To live fully is to recognize the beauty of the now, unburdened by the past or future."

"Can give ourselves flowers and roses at any time. The affirmation is embrace your journey. Your body is evolving with you."

"Our beliefs produce emotions that drive our actions. It's true that you get what you believe. Own your strengths and know your value!"

"Like being in the mother brain of soul music. This is absolute artistic fusion from top to bottom, and I don't think there's anyone else in the world that I could do that with right now."

"There's nothing about that girl I don't like."

"My father was a proctologist; my mother was an abstract artist. That's how I view the world."

"Love is the only shocking act left on the face of the earth."

"Madonna's got one big choice. Take a couple of years off and become a human being."

"The thing about , the thing about spirituality is that it's your responsibility as a spiritual person to be honest. Sometimes being honest is calling somebody on their bullshit and not standing there and being passive and letting somebody self-destruct. Being spiritual doesn't mean going, `Aw, honey, aw, poor baby' . That's not being spiritual. When somebody needs a kick in the pants, you say get your shit together, asshole. If that's what the situation requires, then that's being spiritual. If laying back and saying nothing is appropriate, that's being spiritual. It's really being completely conscious of each situation, whether it's friendships, whether it's with the world. Since I'm a performer, I have a bigger responsibility to be honest for each situation. It's not in any way counter to my spirituality, au contraire."

"On one side you have book burners, Congressional wives and Pat Robertson. On the other side, you have vulgar comedians, foul-mouthed rap groups and — all your choices should be so easy."

"She was my closest friend. She was the one person, other than my husband, I could turn to in a crisis. There was a lot of resentment when I first came to town. But Patsy was strong-willed and always taking up for me. If it hadn't been for her, I don't think I would have lasted."

"Well, I was born a coal miner's daughter In a cabin, on a hill in Butcher Holler We were poor but we had love That's the one thing that daddy made sure of He shoveled coal to make a poor man's dollar."

"Yeah, I'm proud to be a coal miner's daughter I remember well, the well where I drew water The work we done was hard At night we'd sleep 'cause we were tired I never thought of ever leaving Butcher Holler."

"Well a lot of things have changed since a way back then And it's so good to be back home again Not much left but the floor, nothing lives here anymore Except the memory of a coal miner's daughter."

"I come from Butcher Holler, Kentucky, and I ain't never forgot it. I'm always making Butcher Holler sound like the most backward part of the United States — and I think maybe it is. I've traveled all over this country, down South and out West, and I ain't never seen anything like it. And I ain't making fun of it, because I'm the most backward person you ever saw. I never knew where babies came from until it happened to me."

"This might give you an idea of how backward we are, but first, to appreciate this story, you've got to know that in eastern Kentucky we say the word "press" instead of "closet." Anyway, one of my best friends is Dr. John Turner, who took care of me when I was younger. Doc swears he saw this patient standing in front of the hospital elevator, looking confused. Doc asked him what was the matter, and the patient said, "Doc, I just seen a nurse get into that press — and when the door opened she was gone!" See, that patient lived in a holler all his life and never saw an elevator before. Myself, I never rode in an automobile until I was twelve."

"Sure, I wanted men to like me, but the women were something special. They'd come around the bus after the show and they'd ask to talk to me. They felt I had the answers to their problems because my life was just like theirs. Of course, it was impossible to find time to talk to each one or to answer every letter that came along. I ain't Dear Abby with nine secretaries answering the mail. Besides, I had a few problems maybe they could have solved for me. Sometimes I think some people were disappointed when they met me and found out I wasn't any smarter or happier than they were. I'm proud and I've got my own ideas, but I ain't no better than nobody else. I've often wondered why I became so popular, and maybe that's the reason. I think I reach people because I'm with 'em, not apart from 'em. It's not the fancy clothes I wear, or the way I fix my hair, and it sure ain't my looks because I don't think I'm anything special. It's the way I talk to people. You can tell when you meet somebody — in their eyes, or the way they stand — if they think they're above you or below you. After I was performing for a while, I got to like being with a crowd. I loved to get right down with 'em, with a long cord on my microphone, if I could. And if I was at a state fair or something, where they put you too far from the audience, I'd say, "This ain't the way I like it.""

"It's not easy, though, singing upside down in a headstand on a raised platform with your unfettered breasts hitting you in the chin."

"I'm a short woman with a pretty good body and large breasts — that's not what I think of as sexy."

"That's hot!."

"I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute. It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me. I know now that I can make a difference, that I have the power to do that. I have been thinking that I want to do different things when I am out of here. I have become much more spiritual. God has given me this new chance."

"You're a fucking bitch. I'm going to destroy you."

"To me, anything goes. But that's me."

"You need to look like a lady at the Oscars. Otherwise, Joan Rivers will tear you apart. Then again, you aren't really anyone till Joan Rivers tears you apart."

"The only rule is don't be boring and dress cute wherever you go. Life is too short to blend in."

"What's Wal-mart? Do they sell Walls and stuff?"

"I don't want to go to another roller-coaster ride of a movie. If I want that, I'll go to Magic Mountain. I'm really interested in the young directors that are doing different things in cinema. I think the movies people will hold onto are the Rushmores and the Being John Malkoviches. Those are the kind of films I want to do; that's what I'm passionate about."

"I don't think I'm very much like anyone else, really. I'm sure there are aspects of other actors that I share, but I don't see anybody else and go, "Damn, they stole my thing." I'm me, and I like that there are people who have an appreciation for that."

"I have trouble actually describing myself because I’m always suspicious of people who start describing themselves. I’m like, “OK, why are you trying to tell me what you are?”"

"I think a lot of what motivates me songwriting-wise is — this might sound silly — but, when I listen to a song that I love, it kind of makes me feel better. I think that’s the impetus behind everything I write; I want to make people feel better, whether it’s myself, or a friend, or whoever. I don’t know how to say this without sounding corny or banal, but I know a lot of people who are very hard on themselves. So this is sort of a cheerleading lullaby."

"My goal as an actor is always to be as truthful as possible, and to find the truth in the material I am representing. So I think that it’s the same with performing music. But in a way, performing your own music, it’s easier to find the truth in it, because it’s coming from yourself. There’s no translation needed."

"I would watch Wizard of Oz, like every day, when I was two. I had a hard time understanding that I couldn't go into the film, because it felt so real to me."

"O-o-old habits die hard when you got, when you got a sentimental heart Piece of the puzzle, you're my missing part Oh what can you do with a sentimental heart?"

"Why don't you sit right down and stay awhile? We like the same things and I like your style Its not a secret; why do you keep it? I'm just sitting on the shelf"

"I got to get your presence Let's make it known I think you're just so pleasant I would like you for my own"

"For those of you who tried, but didn't make it, Settle down — it's never what you think. The summit doesn't differ from the deep, dark valley, And the valley doesn't differ from the kitchen sink."

"For those of you who thought you'd be forgotten, The friends you've made will try their best, to make it so. Think of all the beauty that you left behind you. You can take it if you want it, and then let it go."

"For those of us who try to keep remembering, Try to do our better than our best. Think of all the children in the drifts of snow. Winners never quit, but winters never rest."

"I was never no, never no, never enough, But I can try, I can try to toughen up."

"Change is hard, I should know. I should know."

"I somehow see what's beautiful In things that are ephemeral I'm my only friend of mine And love is just a piece of time in the world in the world. And I couldn't help but fall in love again."

"Take it back Oh, take it back I don't want your lovin', anymore Let me live Oh, let me live It's not you who I sing for"

"I don't wanna' wonder whether you love me I don't wanna' wonder whether you care"

"When I saw you smile I saw a dream come true"

"I won't be waitin' any more cause I know Baby, baby I was made for you"

"My eyes are so bleary I guess I'm young but I feel so weary I've tried to express it But I think its all a bore Its at the heart of me, A very part of me"

"It's nowhere in here And its everywhere else that I don't wanna be, But I'm stuck here getting misty over you I'm alone on a bicycle for two."

"Saw your face, My hand you took Just like in a story book, And you got me Yeah, you‘ve got me"

"I can feel your heartbeat, Where I lay my head ‘Cause you’ve got me Yeah you’ve got me"

"When I was a little bit younger The strain I was under could make me cry. Now I’m a little bit older, A little bit bolder, Never so shy"

"Sweet darlin’, come hold me, Just a little bit longer now"

"There's thieves among us Painting the walls All kinds of lies, and lies I never told it all"

"What's in my pocket? You never knew You didn't know me well So well, as I knew you"

"And I know, and you know too That a love, like ours Is terrible news But that wont stop me crying No, that wont stop me crying over you"

"It’s hard to be ignored When I look at you, you look so bored My baby, my darling, I’ve been taking a beating… Well alright (well alright) It’s okay (it’s okay) We all get the slip sometimes every day I’ll just keep it to myself in the sun In the sun"

"Orpheus melted the heart of Persephone, but I never had yours I followed you back to the end of the path, but I never found the door"

"Don't look back all you'll ever get is the dust from the steps before I don't have to see you every day, but I just want to know youre there"

"I like to learn things slow I like learning alot I like to get it all again and in the end You know you get what you got"

"And the world's like a science And I'm like a secret And I saw you lingering still, still I saw you lingering still"

"He was different at first But then he won't understand Because he's never gonna know me If he doesn't want to just shake my hand"

"Well I’m back in your good graces again Remember when you told me that I was your only friend?"

"Well I know that you worry a lot about Things you cant control There are so many things wed like to have But we just cannot hold, You've got to be kind to yourself You've got to be kind to yourself"

"California is a great big nation of one They never knew what they wanted ’til it was already gone"

"Why don’t we just sit and stare and do nothing? Nothing at all for a while I like the way you smile I could be your state and I could be your nation It doesn’t get better than home, now does it?"

"I want to be where your heart is home I want to see you with the light in the morning There’s never been such a beautiful warning to me, to me"

"You never tried facing the sting Walking all in circles, take it all in stride Faces are not what they seem, I always dream lost in the tide"

"The world’s been waiting, they’ve been waiting for years And they’ve just gotta hear it The kids are waiting, they’ve been shedding tears So open your arms and sing for us"

"Why do I always want to sock it to you hard? Let you know what love is like when I’m keeping all my cards up on the shelf Where you can’t see them Why do I always want to keep it to myself?"

"I had some brand new shoes They were all red but they gave me the blues And they're runnin' away, they left me a letter It's just like you told me it'd be It's nothin' nothin' nothin' nothin' at all"

"We are all made of air There's stars in my eyes and there's sun in my hair And I'm runnin' away, it makes me feel better"

"If you can't sleep, I'll be there in your dreams. I'll be there in your dreams if you can't sleep at all. And in your dreams, I'll touch your cheek And lay my head on your shoulder. Goodbye shadows"

"Shut your eyes, there are bluer skies For you're embraced in my heart"

"Hair got caught in the sunlight darling But I just wasted the day. I knew it would happen this way."

"Can't get up in the morning lately and I'm just sunk in a dream I'm always the ship in the stream"

"All I know is that I'm tired of being clever Everybody's clever these days Take a win Take a fall I never wanted your love But I needed it all…"

"As you celebrate this special occasion with your family and friends, please know I am grateful for all you have done to encourage and support young women who are making a difference across our country. I hope your day is filled with love and laughter, and I wish you all the best for good health and happiness in the year ahead."

"Zooey Deschanel is one of those rare artists to transcend the pitfalls of being an actor/musician. Together with the talented M. Ward, the other half of She & Him, she crafts beautiful songs that sound like vintage radio hits. Their debut album, Volume 1, wowed the critics. Volume 2 is even better."

"I think that one of Zooey's skills in songwriting is the storytelling, and I hope that the production doesn't get in the way of that, and I hope that the era that we're living in doesn't get in the way of that, if that makes any sense."

"Smiles come naturally to me, but I started thinking of them as an art form at my command. I studied all the time. I looked at magazines, I'd practice in front of the mirror and I'd ask photographers about the best angles. I can now pull out a smile at will."

"And I do know about body image. About worrying about it. I made my living being 20 or 30 pounds heavier than the average model. And that's where I got famous. Victoria's Secret said I sold more bras and panties than anybody else, and I was traipsing down that runway with 30 pounds more booty than the other girls. So it had a lot to do with my success, my weight, but it's also always been an issue for me, so I can relate."

"I get so much mail from young girls who say, 'I look up to you, you're not as skinny as everyone else, I think you're beautiful' … So when they say that my body is 'ugly' and 'disgusting,' what does that make those girls feel like?"

"Journalists told me that a talk show wouldn't work. Some told me I was going to get canceled before my first season was up. Before I did one show, they were, like 'Why do you want to do this? Do you know that 90 percent of talk shows don't get a second season? You're a model. People just see you as a model.'"

"I was embarrassed when a businessman friend asked, 'What's the yearly budget of your talk show? What's the per-episode budget?' And I looked at him with these blank, typical-model eyes and said, 'I don't know.' I call myself a businesswoman and I don't know that? So that is my goal next year--to really dissect the budget."

"I've been singing for six years. I've been in and out of the studios with top producers, but it wasn't something I was ready to express to the public or to the press. I wasn't ready to come out. I wanted to perfect my voice and be 100 percent positive that I could come out right."

"Only a smart model is a good model."

"I never in a million years thought that I would be back on the runway, but I am so beyond excited and so ready for this"

"It’s a little bit of an out-of-body experience. I walked off that runway and I [had] this big retirement and it was such a spectacle. I felt like that athlete that’s like, “I’m hanging up my cleats … I’m retiring the basketball.” And then, now I’m back!"

"You know, it’s interesting, because in terms of diversity, I was diverse. I was considered curvier, and I was a Black girl, and I think it’s important to still acknowledge that at that time … 19 years ago, [it] was"

"I can’t really reveal that much, but I can tell you that I have been walking around in heels."

"I was a fan of Victoria’s Secret before I was a model for Victoria’s Secret. I got that catalog in the mail … my parents even got me a Victoria’s Secret robe when I turned 16 that I still have to this day."

"I feel so bad. My band started playing the wrong song and I didn't know what to do so I thought I'd do a hoedown. I'm sorry."

"As long as there are girls, we need guy bands. However, in this day, it is not good enough to just sing great. You have to write, sing and play. We want it all."

"I can make $4 million somewhere else. My body is for me and for whoever my love interest is at that moment, and that's the only person who gets to see it."

"I write a lot, but it's not all fantastic. There's plenty of terrible crap. We work on a few things at a time, let some things fall away, make changes. We certainly have enough for the next album, which could take at least another year to come out."

"Interviewer Barb H: Your sound is quite refreshing, did it come naturally? AP: As natural as the day you were born, my love."

"It makes me very sad when I find out that people who never hear our music think that we are really about image and not about substance. … I can understand why you might get that impression if you've never heard the band's music and see a photo of a guy and a girl dressed up in crazy costumes and think, "I don't need to pay attention to that — why do they need to wear those crazy clothes?" I think that's why we've constantly toured. Our live show is so intense and so substantive and emotional that it's sort of the price we have to pay for being so flamboyant — we have to prove ourselves as a rock band."

"I'm bisexual, but it's not the sort of thing I spent a lot of time thinking about … I've slept with girls; I've slept with guys, so I guess that's what they call it! I'm not anti trying to use language to simplify our lives."

"Rock needs theater, rock is theater. We just go through different eras of guilty admission about this. Having risen with The Dresden Dolls in the heyday of The Strokes and The White Stripes, everyone was looking at us as completely misfit theater dorks. But it’s really encouraging to see a more theater-dork wave of bands like The Scissor Sisters, Antony & The Johnsons, CocoRosie, Patrick Wolf and even Arcade Fire and Decembrists becoming popular. The dress-up freaks are coming back, and it’s wonderful to watch."

"I really like Neil a whole, whole, whole lot, and I really do not want to marry Kevin Smith, even a little. Do you remember the Trojan War, dude? I’m just saying. Can you imagine what a world war between a Neil Gaiman army and a Kevin Smith army would actually look like? Their fans are serious. I predict there would be lots of very high-fallutin’, toilet-based name-calling, confusing many. And possibly foam swords swinging at hockey sticks. Actually, that’s bullshit. There’s no way anybody would leave their Twitter feeds for long enough to pull out a foam sword or a hockey stick. Maybe it’ll be the world’s first full-on digital war and people will just head over to Second Life to duke it out. I hope Neil’s army wins."

"i am a herd of cats and a drunk shepherd with alzheimer’s all at once. i am the walrus."

"Nothing is crueller than children who come from good homes."

"A turn, a screw, a pull, a twist, the drug that makes you prettiest."

"I'm not gonna live my life on one side of an ampersand."

"you're rich in love you're great bed you'll see the world you'll knock 'em dead and all the thick books that you've read will count for nothing in the end"

"I still get laughed at but it doesn't bother me, I'm just so glad to hear laughter around me."

"Rachel Trachtenburg: I really like the food at that place (Sidewalk Cafe). They have salads and pastas and stuff like that. What's your favorite food? Kimya Dawson: I like cherries. Rachel: That's a fruit. I said food. Kimya: Fruit's food. Rachel: You don't sit down and eat it. You don't eat it at a restaurant, like, "Oh, I'd like a fruit, please." You say, "I'd like a pizza please, or the pasta." Do you like Indian food? Mexican food? Italian food? Kimya: Japanese food. Rachel: Okay."

"Christy Davis: Who do you look up to? Rachel: You mean, like a hero? Christy: Yeah, I guess. Someone you admire a lot. Rachel: A drummer? Christy: It can be anyone. Rachel: My mom."

"I like lots of color and mix-and-match."

"No. I don't think so. I hope not."

"I like New York better than Seattle. It's bigger. I was really sad when I left, because I miss my friends, but I call them almost every day, and I have friends here now."

"I like ABBA and the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. And E.L.O., and Funkadelic. Wait. Mommy, are they the same thing?"

"Dad, this time you need to order smalls. You're always wrong about ordering. You always say we need mediums and larges, but girls like smalls."

"Stoosh over, daddy!"

"They should call it the Low Quality Inn."

"I'm learning to play piano. And also the musical saw."

"On learning to play new instruments (Teen Vogue)"

"Hi. I'm Rachel Trachtenburg. I'm the daughter and the drummer for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players."

"My dad played in different clubs and open mic nights. But he mostly walked dogs. A lot of dogs."

"My dad wrote a song about the people in the slides. I started playing harmonica. I was only six."

"We won 1st place and $500."

"Interviewer: Rachel, do you think performing is natural? Rachel: Mmmm. Tina: See, it's natural for Rachel because she's done it her whole life. Rachel: I know how to do it."

"Some parents just work at...I don't know...Microscoft (She mispronounced the word. She meant Microsoft) and just sit there at a desk and their kids have to sit at a desk, too and...I don't know!"

"Interviewer: How long do your parents usually let you stay up? Rachel: I probably get home at 1:00 (am) and I go to bed at 1:30. [shrugs] I don't know. Tina: She's usually in bed at- Rachel: 1? Tina: 1. Interviewer: 1 am? [laughing] Tina: [laughing] 1 am. She's performing. She's- Rachel: Maybe on a school night, I go to bed at 10! Maybe. Tina: Yeah. Maybe. When you went to public school. Now she does homeschool, so she doesn't go to bed until 1."

"It's fun hitting on the drums and singing songs."

"It's really fun and just to be with a friend while you're working really hard. It can sometimes be really stressful. Also it's just fun to have someone to laugh with and have a good time with."

"I like The Beatles and I like The Kinks and I like The Rolling Stones and I like Led Zeppelin and I like Black Sabbath."

"As an adult, I think I wanna be living in New York City and help a lot of homeless people and try to become vegan and maybe be a band with some good friends and be making a living and be happy with how much money I have."

"I think bootlegging is kinda cool."

"I hope our DVD comes out better than this!"

"If I walk down the street in jeans and a plain t-shirt, I don’t feel like the world sees me as I want to be seen or as what I am."

"I have a lot of interest in interior rhyming; not just rhyming at the end of the lines, but playing around with rhymes within the lines, playing with where the syllabic emphases in the sentences are, lining those up at strange moments in the line of the song. I’m not sure if that comes across or not."

"I'm not terribly interested in playing harp on other people's music right now. Partly because I feel like many people view the harp as this kind of gimmick. You know, like they have songs that are fully realized, complete songs, and then they think "How do we make this special? - Ooh, let's bring the harp in!" and they kind of want a harpist to play a glissando and play some heavenly noise in the background. I'm really interested in the harp as a fully actualized, self-contained way of presenting songs. That there is a bass in the harp - there is a way to create a rhythmic sense without drums - there's a way to have all sorts of textural variations and expressive variations. I also don't want to feel bound to the harp, I'd be interested in bringing other instruments in at some time. But I think the harp has been viewed in one particular way for so long, and has been limited for so long, that I feel like I am really interested in stretching the boundaries of what it's capable of doing and how it's perceived."

"My voice in combination with the harp - which, by the way, I use because I've played it my entire life, not to make some statement about the harp - somehow has … coloured people's interpretations of the music and projected an idea of childlike or fairytale quality or innocence. Which sometimes prevents people from listening to the songs the way I would like them to be listened to."

"Well, Nabokov is definitely my favorite author, though I feel strange calling him an "influence," since I can't trace the ways in which his writing may or may not have seeped into my own. But I also love William Faulkner, Thomas Pynchon, Kenneth Patchen, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, Mark Helprin (who wrote a beautiful book called Winter's Tale), and Kurt Vonnegut. My favorite book of all time is The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle."

"[The title] was the last thing that I chose, after all the songs and the cover art were finished. So none of the songs directly allude to that myth. But the main themes that emerge out of that myth are really close to the themes on the record -- mortality, decadence, an excess of water, isolation, rebirth. The myth is also significant to me because of the way that I encountered it, which relates to one of the huge events the record is about. I also liked the power of the word itself. I liked how violent and cryptic it felt; it's such a daunting word to encounter. I like how it contrasted this finely rendered, carefully composed front cover -- the painting is information-dense, formal, and stylized; it looks the way something looks when a painter spends a year on it, which is what Benjamin [Vierling] did. So it has all this detail and carefulness to it, which was really important to me and relates very closely to the record. But I also felt like it needed some sort of ballast, or balance, next to it, to reflect the other elements of the record; its innate violence. I wanted a word that was like throwing a brick at the visual on the front cover; I liked that whenever someone looked at that cover they also had to encounter this short, weird word."

"I don't necessarily see the elements that I invoke on the cover and in the songs as being in binary opposition. I know certain binary tensions emerge between these elements, but a lot of times they're more like archetypal elements; these free-standing, huge forces. Mortality, standing alone, as a thing; as opposed to, "Over here's life; over here's death. Here's bad luck, but here's blessing and redemption. Here's water; here's fire." Certainly those things come up again and again in the songs, but it's not intentional, and probably has more to do with the fact that those things emerge in real life, without any effort on our part whatsoever, than they are derived from any classical tradition. I think classicism in general might reflect more closely the natural order of human life, while postmodernism is somehow removed from the natural order, more cerebral and sterile, removed from real life on some level. So what seems like classicism in some of these songs might be just what I view as an accurate reflection of real life on this planet."

"I can't call them linear narratives, and I can't call them chronological in a traditional, classical sense; I'm sure there's plenty of stuff I borrow more from William Faulkner than William Shakespeare. I just find it funny that at this point, we see a collection of highly charged, highly potent symbols as referring back to a classical aesthetic, because to me they seem deeply connected to the pedestrian actuality of real life."

"We sailed away on a winter's day With fate as malleable as clay But ships are fallible, I say And the nautical, as all things, fades."

"And a thimble's worth of milky moon Can touch hearts larger than a thimble."

"I killed my dinner with karate kicked him in the face,taste the body, shallow work is the work that I do."

"And all that we built, and all that we breathed And all that we spilled or pulled up like weeds Is piled up in back and it burns irrevocably And we spoke up in turns 'til the silence crept over me."

"And the love we hold, and the love we spurn, Will never grow cold, only taciturn"

"Go to sleep, you stunning sky, gently creep, cunning by A quiet hum is amplified by your thumb that you suck dry A hundred raging waters snare the lonely sigh Hold your breath and clasp at Cassiopeia."

"While yonder, wild and blue, the wild blue yonder looms. 'Till we are wracked with rheum, by roads, by songs entombed."

"I do as I please. Now I'm on my knees. Your skin is something that I stir into my tea. And I am watching you and you are starry, starry, starry..."

"Emily, I saw you last night by the river I dreamed you were skipping little stones across the surface of the water Frowning at the angle where they were lost, and slipped under forever In a mud cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky'd been breathing on a mirror."

"And everything with wings is restless, aimless, drunk and dour; butterflies and birds collide, at hot ungodly hours. And my clay-coloured motherlessness rangily reclines; come on home now! All my bones are dolorous with vines!"

"We could stand for a century Staring, with our heads cocked In the broad daylight at this thing Joy Landlocked In bodies that don't keep Dumbstruck with the sweetness of being Until we don't be"

"Now her coat drags through the water, Bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless minnows In the magnetic embrace, Balletic and glacial, of Bear's insatiable shadow."

"Then the slow lip of fire moves across the prairie with precision While, somewhere, with your pliers and glue, you make your first incision And, in a moment of almost-unbearable vision, doubled over with the hunger of lions 'Hold me close', cooed the dove, who was stuffed now with sawdust and diamonds."

"And though our bones, they may break And our souls separate, why the long face? And though our bodies recoil From the grip of the soil, why the long face?"

"Picking through your pocket lining, well what is this? Scrap of sassafras, eh Sisyphus?"

"Well I'm starvin' and freezin' In this measly old bed (Then I'll crawl across the salt flats To stroke your sweet head) Come across the desert, with no shoes on? (I love you truly, or I love no-one)"

"Water were your limbs And the fire was your hair And then the moon caught your eye, and you rose through the air. Well if you've seen true light, then this is my prayer: Will you call me When you get there?"

"Have you come, then, to rescue me?" He laughed and said, "from what, 'Colleen'?" You dried and dressed most willingly. You corseted, and caught the dread disease by which one comes to know such peace."

"We are blessed and sustained by what is not said"

"By the time you read this I will be so far away Daddy longlegs, how in the world Am I to be expected to stay?"

"We broke our hearts, in the war between St. George and the dragon, but both, in equal part, are welcome to come along. I'm inviting everyone."

"But it can make you feel over, and old (Lord, you know it's a shame), when I only want for you to pull over, and hold me, till I can't remember my own name."

"This is the song for Baby Birch. I will never know you. And at the back of what we've done, there is that knowledge of you."

"held her there, kicking and mewling, upended, unspooling, unsung and blue; told her "wherever you go, little runaway bunny, I will find you." And then she ran, as they're liable to do."

"And if you come and see me, you will upset the order. You cannot come and see me, for I set myself apart. But when you come and see me, in California, you cross the border of my heart."

"A feather of a hawk was bound Bound around my neck A poultice made of fig The eager little vultures pecked"

"Wolf-spider, crouch in your funnel nest. If I knew you, once, now I know you less. In the sinking sand, where we've come to rest, have I had a hand in your loneliness?"

"With the loneliness of you mighty men, with your mighty kiss that might never, never end, while, so far away, in the seat of the West, burns the fount of the heat of that loneliness."

"And, when the bulbs do flash, as bright as morning, the crowd keeps on gathering like an electric storm."

"Driven through by her own sword, summer died last night, alone."

"I may have changed, it's hard to gauge Time won't account for how I've aged Would that I could tie your lying tongue Who says that leaving keeps you young."

"In this life, who did you love, beneath the drifting ashes, beneath the sheeting banks of air that barrenly bore our rations?"

"And, for the sake of that pit of snakes, for whom did you allay your shyness, and spend all your mercy, and madness, and grace, in a day, beneath the bending cypress?"

"Hung from the underbelly of the Earth While the stars skid away below Gormless and brakeless; gravel-loose Falling silent as gavels in the snow."

"It is too short — the day we are born, we commence with our dying."

"Coats of bouclé, jacquard and cashmere; cartouche and tweed, all silver shot — and everything that could remind you of how easy I was not."

"It does not suffice for you to say I am a sweet girl, or to say you hate to see me sad because of you. It does not suffice, to merely lie beside each other, as those who love each other do."

"The tap of hangers, swaying in the closet — unburdened hooks and empty drawers — and everywhere I tried to love you is yours again, and only yours."

"But inasmuch as that light is loaned, insofar as we’ve borrowed bones, must every debt now be repaid in star-spotted, sickle-winged night raids"

"In the folds and the branches, somewhere, out there, I was only just born into open air. Now hush, little babe. You don’t want to be down in the trenches, remembering with me, where you will not mark my leaving, and you will not hear my parting song. Nor is there cause for grieving. Nor is there cause for carrying on."

"Above them, parades mark the passing of days through parks where pale colonnades arch in marble and steel, where all of the Twenty Thousand attending your foot fall (and the Cause that they died for) are lost in the idling birdcalls, and the records they left are cryptic at best, lost in obsolescence"

"In December of that year, the word came down that she was here. The days grew shorter. I was sure, if she came 'round, I’d hold my ground. I'd endure. But they'd alluded to a change that came to pass, and Spring, deranged, weeping grass and sleepless, broke herself upon my windowglass. And I could barely breathe, for seeing all the splintered light that leaked her fissures, fleeing, launched in flight: unstaunched daylight, brightly bleeding, bleached the night with dawn, deleting, in that high sun, after our good run, when the spirit bends beneath knowing it must end."

"What’s redacted will repeat, and you cannot learn that you burn when you touch the heat, so we touch the heat, and we cut facsimiles of love and death (just separate holes in sheets where you cannot breathe, and you cannot see)."

"As the day is long, so the well runs dry, and we came to see Time is taller than Space is wide. And we bade goodbye to the Great Divide: found unlimited simulacreage to colonize!"

"All we saw was that Time is taller than Space is wide. That's why we got bound to a round desert island, 'neath the sky where our sailors have gone. Have they drowned, in those windy highlands? Highlands away, my John."

"lists of sins and solemn vows don't make you any friends."

"And in an infinite regress: Tell me, why is the pain of birth lighter borne than the pain of death?"

"I know we must abide each by the rules that bind us here: the divers, and the sailors, and the women on the pier."

"Recall the word you gave: to count your way across the depths of this arid world, where you would yoke the waves, and lay a bed of shining pearls! I dream it every night: the ringing of the pail, the motes of sand dislodged, the shucking, quick and bright; the twinned and cast-off shells reveal a single heart of white."

"And never will I wed. I'll hunt the pearl of death to the bottom of my life, and ever hold my breath, till I may be the diver's wife."

"Hey little leaf, lying on the ground— now you're turning slightly brown! Why don't you come back on the tree, turn the color green the way you ought to be?"

"In martial wind, and in clarion rain, we minced into battle, wincing in pain; not meant for walking, backs bound in twine: not angel or devil, but level, in time."

"Now the towns and forests, highways and plains, fall back in circles like an emptying drain. And I won't come round this way again, where the lonely wind abides, and you will not take my heart, alive."

"So it would seem to be true: when cruel birth debases, we forget. When cruel death debases, we believe it erases all the rest that precedes. But stand brave, life-liver, bleeding out your days in the river of time. Stand brave: time moves both ways"

"Love is not a symptom of time. Time is just a symptom of love"

"Joy! Again, around—a pause, a sound—a song: a way a lone a last a loved a long. A cave, a grave, a day: arise, ascend. (Areion, Rharian; go free and graze. Amen.) A shore, a tide, unmoored—a sight, abroad: A dawn, unmarked, undone, undarked (a god). No time. No flock. No chime, no clock. No end. White star, white ship—Nightjar, transmit: transcend!"

"Sail through the sea of sad faces with love. Love. Love for everyone. Drift like a little boat on a wave."

"I really thought I could give it up... But I really love music, and having a creative outlet is really the best thing you can do for yourself."

"He made me mess the song up when I looked at him... We can show the kids the tape and say, "Look, that's when we first laid eyes on each other.""

"In a world religion class, everyone was complicating life and existence by over-thinking. I had this sense it's right here, right now. It's who we are and what we feel. It's not this tangled web of psychology and philosophy. I was driving to band practice and started singing that song. I wanted to be real, not adopt some philosophy or role. Instinct is our driving force."

"I'm not aware of too many things. I know what I know if you know what I mean."

"Philosophy, is the talk on a cereal box. Religion, is a smile on a dog."

"Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep."

"What I am is what I am. Are you what you are — or what?"

"The village idiots in her bed Never cared that her eyes were red Never cared that her brain was dead. In the hours that her face was alive It was a thing just to be by her side."

"Wheels keep on turning and turning and turning And nothing's disturbing the way they go around."

"All your thoughts are in another head. Your dreams are sleepin' in a different bed. The force that moves you is a circular breath of life and death going round and round and round."

"Maybe you ride a different wave. Maybe you catch another ray of the sun That I've just begun to feel."

"I don't believe in hatred anymore. I hate to think of how it felt before When anger overwhelms your very soul It's hard to realize you'll ever knowLove like we do."

"When I'm all alone it's the best way to be. When I'm by myself nobody else can say goodbye.Everything is temporary anyway. When the streets are wet — the colors slip into the sky. But I don't know why that means you and I are — that means you and... I quit, I give up. Nothin's good enough for anybody else, it seems."

"I notice me. I notice you too. And there are simple things that we don't even try anymore. There's a way out of this. Beat the time. And every time I turn around we got some clever way to put each other down."

"I'm usually barefoot. That's how I'm most comfortable. I like my feet to be on the ground. I like to jump around, I like to fly across the stage."

"This sad story always ends the same Me standing in the pouring rain."

"She looked in the mirror and thought today 'What happened to miss no-longer-afraid?'"

"Here I am, once again, I'm torn into pieces. Can't deny it, can't pretend; Just thought you were the one. Broken up, deep inside, But you won't get to see the tears I cry Behind these hazel eyes."

"Because of you I never stray too far from the sidewalk. Because of you I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt. Because of you I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me. Because of you, I am afraid."

"I've always dreamed that love would be effortless Like a petal falling to the ground; a dreamer following his dream."

"I'm looking for attention, not another question. Should you stay or should you go? Well, if you don't have the answer, Why are you still standin' here? Hey, hey, hey, hey, Just walk away."

"I'm restless and wild I fall, but I try I need someone to understand."

"I hope the ring you gave to her turns her finger green. I hope when you're in bed with her, you think of me. I would never wish bad things, but I don't wish you well. Could you tell, by the flames that burned your words?"

"A trophy wife how cute? Ignorance is bliss."

"Remember all the things we wanted? Now all our memories, they're haunted. We were always meant to say goodbye, Even with our fists held high. It never would've worked out right, yeah. We were never meant for do or die."

"But piece by piece, he collected me Up off the ground, where you abandoned things, yeah. Piece by piece, he filled the holes that you burned in me At six years old. And you know, he never walks away, He never asks for money. He takes care of me, he loves me. Piece by piece, he restored my faith That a man can be kind and a father could stay."

"Now I am invincible No, I ain't a scared little girl no more Yeah, I am invincible What was I running for? (oh-oh-oh) I was hiding from the world I was so afraid, I felt so unsure But now I am invincible And I'm a perfect storm (oh-oh-oh)"

"The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you'll grow out of it."

"I’ve been through everything. I always said I was like those round-bottomed circus dolls — you know, those dolls you could push down and they’d come back up? I’ve always been like that. I’ve always said, "No matter what happens, if I get pushed down, I’m going to come right back up.""

"Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty."

"Liza Minelli said she can't sing well enough those "special songs" of her late mother, Judy Garland, so she doesn't sing them at all. The award-winning entertainer said she'd "rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama.""

"I couldn't sing Mama's special songs. I couldn't do them as well. I would rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama."

"I don't sing them because I couldn't sing them as well as she did. I'd rather be a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of anybody."

"I'm carrying on a tradition. But I'd rather be a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of somebody else. I'm proud of my parents, and the only way that I can prove it to them is to take what they gave me and work my head off."

"It really scared me to do what Mom did because I never did anything that she did. I promised her that I would never sing her songs, and I kept my promise. "You sing them better than anybody. I don't want to be a second-rate example of you. I want to be a first-rate example of myself.""

"My mother once told me never be a second-rate version of somebody else when you can be a first-rate version of yourself."

"You don’t know how to handle anything today, because you have to go to jail to get some press or fall down drunk."

"They used to have clauses and contracts where you can't get bad publicity or you'd get fired. But now bad publicity is good publicity. I just keep working and don't think about it much."

"If I give you romantic advice, don't take it. Look what's happening to me. I have the best taste in friends and the worst taste in husbands. I'm never getting married again. That's just stupid. There's no reason on Earth to do that."

"Some people think reality must be constantly depressing, but I think reality is something you rise above."

"Tommy: I just wanna see more of you!"

"I read a lot of things about myself that aren't true … I've read that I've been with people I've never met. It's nice not to have any attachment, but, likewise, it's nice to have a boyfriend. I'm open to that. But it's hard, when you're working constantly, to spend enough time with someone."

"Well you know, I don’t think I have never really seen a film of this genre, where the female characters' sex appeal sort of came second. I mean of course they’re sexy characters. When you have a sexy secretary, or a girl swinging around by her ankles in a cat suit, you know that’s innately sexy, but the fact is that these characters are intelligent. They’re ambitious. They’re motivated and calculated to some degree."

"I am very independent. I can look after myself but I still need a lot of love and care."

"If you love something, you have to set it free!"

"It's important not to lose who you are in a relationship just because it's nice to cuddle with somebody."

"When we live our lives every day, we're met by opportunities, and most of us don't even recognize them."

"Everything you do is different, and you find different chords in every character that you play that strike true with you."

"A great woman needs a man who will love her and treat her with dignity, but she is so impatient that she gives in to the first man who knocks on her door without caring so much about his attitude towards her."

"I believe that luck is opportunity meeting preparation."

"Just because you're in the spotlight, or just because you're an actor or making films or whatever, doesn't mean that you're not entitled to your own personal privacy. I think no matter what the context, if that is besieged in some way, it feels unjust. It feels wrong."

"It's important to figure out your own life before involving someone else."

"It is important to remind young people that peace is the only victory."

"Powerful women often get concerned with this idea that they’re going to be seen in this unforgiving light. Screw that. It’s so old-fashioned… It’s so uninspired and actually really cowardly."

"I always come back to the fact that my own instinct is better than something I build in my mind."

"Fitness is such an important part of my mental wellness."

"I think Scarlett Johansson is going to become our new alien overlord — of Earth, and life as we know it — based on Her, in which she plays a sentient computer system that ends up expanding to fill the universe, based on Under the Skin in which she plays an extraterrestrial creature attached to some sort of hive-mind, and definitely based on Lucy, Luc Besson's new movie. … She plays the sort of average American dimwitted student in Taiwan who accidentally ingests a new drug that allows her to access a hundred percent of her brain — which turns her into, by the end of the movie — I don't want to give too much away, but basically — she's God, by the end of the movie."

"I don’t know any other movie star going where Johansson has gone lately — certainly among the crop that sells magazine covers — and it’s probably beside the point asking whether she’s tired of the standard roles offered to pillow-lipped young actresses or is actively engaged in exploring the outer limits of power and perception. Of classic stars it was said “They had faces then.” Well, Johansson has a brain, and it appears to be expanding at an alarming rate. Somebody call the professor."

"Scarlett Johansson thought she had the fame game sussed. On the eve of what was to be her breakout role in Lost In Translation, the actress had a solution to control her expected burgeoning stardom. "I'll just walk around with a big pair of sunglasses and continue to eat at McDonald's," she quipped the first time we met. At the time, the then 18-year-old probably didn't fully appreciate what was in store for her. … Robert Redford declared, when he directed her seven years ago in The Horse Whisperer, that she was "13 going on 30". Despite her undoubted intelligence and level-headiness (she worked on the jury at last year's Venice Film Festival), you wouldn't blame her for getting swept away with such exposure. The young actress, though, insists she has a grip on the situation. "I don't know if I've got swept up," she said. "It's so shocking when you hear that Calvin Klein wants you for their new campaign. You're like, 'Who? Me?' I guess you have to decide where you draw the line between you saying, this is fun, pretty and fabulous, and being overexposed.""

"I’m a huge book fanatic, and I shoot. I’m very comfortable around guns. I’ve been shooting since I was 9. I usually shoot a .22 Magnum, but I prefer a shotgun because the feeling is incredible."

"I have platonic relationships with my guy friends. There’s some friends that I’ve kissed or whatever, but it was always just once."

"I try to say goodbye and I choke Try to walk away and I stumble Though I try to hide it, it's clear My world crumbles when you are not here"

"I saw a rainbow earlier today Lately those rainbows be comin' round like everyday Deep in the struggle I have found the beauty of me God is watchin' and the Devil finally let me be Here in this moment to myself"

"I still Light up like a candle burnin when he calls me up I still Melt down like a candle burnin everytime we touch Oh say what you will He does me wrong and I should be gone I still Be lovin you baby and it's much too much"

"And baby, when I see ya I'm gonna love you all over the place And baby, when I see ya I'm gonna kiss you all over your face"

"Run the creature has come, there's no cover for you no prize When you've won."

"Be. If I could be Jesus for just a day and have it my way, if I Could be perfect, like the light — Jesus for a night and have It my way — if I could be Atop my mountain a phenomenon — when I walk on water I am Complete, at peace and I'd make it so you'd be just like me."

"We don't have a problem. I don't think about her. I don't care about her, because I don't deal with the devil."

"Hi, new people — there's a lot of new people. Welcome to the family. We're a little weird here, but we're all very nice — so you'll fit in here. We're kind of intense — but you'll figure it out."

"I appreciate that you have your own tastes, but — give me a break!"

"I went, and I was rejected immediately — like that. First chance I got to sing, they said "you have a very excellent voice, it's amazing, blah, blah, blah — not what we're looking for." And that was it. And you know, thinking about it later: I don't think it's really for me — you know what I mean? That's all we're going to say about that. Let's move on."

"Don't you think that it's amazing that I'm singing into this silly camera with the desk lamp, and it's going through all these wires and everything else, and these computers, and you still feel what I'm feeling, and you still get what I'm trying to do? Yeah. I think its amazing. And I think it's so nice in a period when we're very isolated people, and kind of emotionless people, I think it's great that we can still touch one another and we can still feel what we're feeling, and we can still have fun, and we can be sad, and we can be happy, and to know that someone cares about you — because I really do. I really do. And I can't believe that I have over 10,000 subscribers. What is wrong with you people?"

"Many people have said since the beginning — actually, all my life — "don't you suppose you were born in the wrong era — the wrong time?" Well, I don't think so at all! Because, don't you see, I can come into your home, in your office, and wherever you are, and sing to you these silly songs. And I'm just a simple lady, and I can show you how much I love you very much, and share these feelings with you. And I don't know that could have been done really this way at any other time. So I think that I was born at just the right time — wouldn't you say?"

"I've been told I sound like I'm out of an old movie; that perhaps I'm faking my voice, that it's nice, that it's not nice — all kinds of things. Well it's my voice. The only thing I can think of is sometimes you're in one mood or another mood, and so maybe it sounds a little different, but I've always spoken this way — and I'm trying to sound pleasant — I hope it does sound pleasant, but that's about it."

"'There is always hope, we can always love, we can always be kind; we have neither excuse or loss by degree of suffering.'"

"There is a big difference you see between privately letting someone know that you're displeased, whether they've done something they may not be aware of, and just rudeness — and you do not have to tolerate rudeness, by any means."

"I had no idea how much music and singing really means to people, and in my own tiny way to be a part of that is very humbling and very sweet, and and I feel very honored. ... I have a great appreciation for this, in every ways and a new understanding, and I'm just as amazed as anyone else."

"I look at the lyrics, and if that's something honest for me at the moment, I'll sing it."

"You know you're already brave. You don't get very far in life without having to be brave an awful lot. Because we all have our frightening moments and difficult trials and we don't have much of a choice but to get through 'em, and it takes a lot of bravery to do that. The most important thing about bravery is this — It's not about not being scared — it's about being scared and doing it anyway — that's bravery."

"You need to laugh more. Life is filled with too many problems, to not laugh every day. ... We need to have a sense of humor going into this because it's too tough without it."

"So, it's just no hope. I cant be cool. I tried with the giant sunglasses — no dice. Sorry. I remain dorky forever. So — it's okay."

"I believe in a God, who, whether we understand it now or ever will, does the thing for us, which is the best thing for us — out of Love — even if it’s painful. And I think that’s the truth. So, if you’re in a great pain, and if you’re suffering, remember that this is… in the middle… and that you’re on your way… some place…, and it’s beneficial to you… and even better than that, it might be beneficial to others… so, that what I have to say to that tonight… I know it’s… short… I hope it’s sweet, and… I’ll see you next time… so, good night."

"Hears the music under the rock One of these days he'll stop Don't stop when the music stops."

"I've been asked by a lot of new YouTube people or other singers — all kinds of professions, frankly, as to whether I feel very successful and very loved now that I've got bup-up-up-up subscribers and however many nice comments and sweetness, and I really, really do! I was thinking going into this that the odds were against me — you're online, there's this anonymity, people are mean sometimes, and still considering all that, it's overwhelming the sweetness and the affection that I am getting — I'm every day impressed by this — every day! And there are a lot of horrible, horrible people on here, just like there is in the rest of the world. But remember, "don't be overcome with evil — overcome evil with good.""

"I didn't enter into this to get any kind of affirmation or confirmation. I entered into this to see what I could do for other people — to give them my sincerity, to give them my love and my care, to take a load off, to have a smile, to have a memory or two. Singing the blues has always been about alleviating the blues, and that's apparent when you listen to them. Sure is nice to hear that someone else is, or has been where you are, or have been. Because we forget sometimes, that we're all in this together, and we have many, many similar experiences — all the time, all across the world, in every age."

"If you're coming into this YouTube thing, do it because of what you can do for other people... Don't worry so much about yourself, and if you're doing ok, and if you love yourself — you do, trust me. Think of what you can do for other people... Not some kind of self review, not some kind of day or week or however long to make sure you feel good about yourself — but thinking about the other people all around you, all the time, who could always — always use a hand, one way or another, even if it's kindness. Think of that instead. And maybe you are starting to notice my quote on the page "Look without, and you will be fulfilled within — without a doubt." I really mean that — look without, without of yourself — not within."

"You're doing OK. You're always doing OK — however bad you think you are doing — this is another page of the book. But remember the responsibility you can have, or the power you can have, to make the sun shine a little brighter for the person next to you. Even if you never see them again — it will mean the world to them, what you can do."

"I'm really proud of you for having come this far — every single one of you, wherever you are, you're on your way — you are getting there! And — don't worry so much! Just — that's what we need to stop doing — stop worrying so much, and start observing a little bit more."

"I want to share with you a couple of the kinds of letters I've been getting ... Dear Ysabella, My friend is hurting themselves. I'd like to know if I should tell someone about this, because I don't want my friend to be mad at me. Ok, I don't care if your friend is mad at you — I don't want them to be dead! You need to spread the word — they've let you know — you need to talk to a family member you can trust of theirs, someone at school, someone at work — you need to talk to somebody that can get them some help. Because I'd rather they be mad at me and not want to be my friend — and alive — than anything else, ok? ... The second letter: My boyfriend is hitting me ... how can I break up with him without being mean? ... Now, when someone's looking for a doormat, they don't care whether it's mean or nice — they just want to know 'can they wipe their feet on it?' ... The next time you see a little girl ... imagine if she was in the situation you are in. What would want for her, really? If that breaks your heart, remember in that moment that you are as valuable, and as cherished, and as loved, and as important as any woman on this planet. ... Stand up for yourself — don't be afraid to expect to be treated like a human being."

"James — it's about your sister I wonder if you missed her I'm on my way to see you but I don't know what to bring Almost gave up the ghost, now you have what she wants most a little piece of heaven and a lovely song to sing."

"I am speaking of something that is no longer happening — that is not currently going on. If someone is abusing you, or doing something illegal, or even something you refuse to tolerate, and it's still continuing, that is not an issue of forgiveness, that is an issue of making sure that stops — even if you have to get away from that situation — that's very important."

"If that is not the case, then we are talking about something that happened in the past, even if it was today, this morning, but it's over. You know, there are people dead and buried in their graves still affecting people, because no one ever forgave them for what they did — that's what not forgiving does — it lets an event live and live with bitterness and hurt, when it needs to be let go."

"When you forgive someone, you're not justifying what they've done — you're not saying it was ok, you're letting it go, to stay in the past, where it happened, and moving away from it, so it doesn't sink its teeth into you, and follow you wherever you go. And of course, we don't know what events are going on in that person's life that perhaps led them to do what they were doing, or inspired them, or what kind of person they are sometimes. We never will know everything about what is going on with the whole situation - we only know what has happened to us. And the truth is - there's no point in hanging on to it."

"Now do we have to forgive and forget? No! In fact sometimes it's important to remember, so that you can prevent something like that from happening again, or know that it's not ok with you, even with that person or anyone else. But forgiving — why not? Do it so that you can be free. And I guarantee you, you will be free of this thing. And even if you don't tell this person you've forgiven them, because sometimes you can't, it's amazing what will happen in your life, what will happen with that person, what will happen with you and other people, if you have a forgiving spirit and let it go."

"What's in my veins makes me free Oh what you have done for me! Two who made a work of art Mama brought the armor, Daddy engineered the heart."

"It is easy to consider advice when it is brought forth with care, and consideration, and gentleness. Sometimes people are offended or feel manipulated if you are so blustering, you see. And it's an opportunity to be kind — you know — usually if you're giving advice, it's because you care about people and you love them. So you ought to act that way. ... If you find yourself to be a — sort of an abrasive type of person, perhaps you might try to be gentle, because the truth is that gentleness and kindness are a lot more powerful than we are led to believe. And if you are like this, and people are telling you it doesn't work, don't listen to them — do what you know is right."

"I tried to be what you wanted me to be But you didn't want a girl you wanted MACHINE ... I can't be part of this machine I got too much heart to keep it in I can't be part of your machine I promise this is not the end"

"Sometimes you sit around Don't know what to do, don't know where you're going to All you have to be is you What else can you do"

"We can be so afraid lost inside in search of a mother And yet we go about shouting "justice" and hurting one another"

"Let there be peace At least so blood will not flow forever Stop segregating yourselves and see that we should come together"

"Control yourself and no one else And you will see the Truth my brother"

"If I had been asked this about a year/year-and-a-half ago, I would have said "You can't trust everybody!" But now that I've been in the music industry, and famous, and on YouTube and stuff: "You can't trust everybody, at all.""

"Be careful what you say if you wouldn't want it broadcast everywhere — because you never know. My basic advice would be — for trust — is: Live the way you ought to live — all the time — as much as you can help it."

"There's a reason that we don't go into people's homes and tell them how to live. We may not know their problem, and what it's like, so how can we know the solution? We don't say to someone who is hurting 'I know what's wrong, and it's nothing, so you shouldn't complain or be bitter.' ... And finally, for those who are angry at people who are sad from suffering, and racism, and stereotypes and prejudices — this is their pain. It is ok that they have pain, and that they are dealing with it the way they need to, and the way we need to. If you are thinking of yourself, it won't make much sense, because it doesn't have anything to do with you. Think of them instead. And if you really want to see someone smile, and not suffer, think of a way that you can bring them joy."

"Now I don't know where you come from if you think that you deserve a trophy, or a parade or are even guaranteed a thank-you for doing what's good and what's right to others, and being kind to them and respectful — but in life, you probably will not get these things. But that's not why we ought to do good — we ought to do good, not because it's special or extra, but because it's the minimum of what we owe to one another."

"We should not, certainly, punish other people in general because of an apparent lack of gratitude on the part of some. It could be that people are so busy they seem ungrateful — or they actually are thankless! But this is OK — I'd rather be nice to someone spoiled than mean to someone who really could use a hand."

"So remember, if you're feeling bitter — or sorry for yourself about what you've done, and how much good you've accomplished — or if you find yourself more than anyone else talking about the good you've done, you're doing it for the wrong reasons, because it should be the default."

"My favorite thing on this topic is what God has to say about it — so I'm going to look up a Bible verse. So everyone who's "scared of the Bible" — now is the time to run away! ... "Beware practicing you righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. ... But when you give to the poor — do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." I really like that! It's not karma so much, but justice, which is a little bit different, because there is a definite consciousness behind justice."

"So let God know what you're doing just by doing it — or feel good about yourself. But don't rely on men and women to inspire you to do good — because we will probably often fail you with our own imperfections! We all should be trying to improve ourselves, regardless of how much better off or worse off we are than the person next to us, because we can all get better."

"I've missed you too! A lot of people have been wondering where I have been, and it's not very exciting news, and it's not very good news, it's just that I've been very ill. I've been very sick for a while and still trying to get better, slowly but surely. ... Anyway, I was so overwhelmed — Overwhelmed, by all the nice things you folks said to me! It was so nice to read everything that everyone was saying, and very, very sweet. I appreciate all the — oh, it made me cry, and — and it was just so nice, and I wanted to say a big 'Thank you!' to everyone for being so supportive and so nice to me. ... I will be back in full swing, as much as I can, when I can, and in the mean time, I miss you all very, very much."

"So rare that we are told that we are doing just great, and good enough. So if you are doing all you can, I want you to know I'm proud of you! And I wanted to pass that along. And I hope you feel it, and that you know you're doing ok, 'cause you know. Despite what everyone else is saying, you'll know, and I hope you do!"

"What's left of me is just for you to see in your heart Even though we may be far apart Never fear if I should disappear You will see there are still stars that shine after me"

"No one can tell the mountain what it's missing, or that it's lacking, or that it's something that it's not. ... You know, you can shout all night long at the stars to stop twinkling — but they won't! ... And it's quite a compliment, really, that you can be what you are, and that you can do the right thing, regardless of how popular it is, or if you have anyone helping you — or if you don't get anything for it. ... All those people out there, looking up at you, screaming "stop twinkling!" — they have no power, at all. And what else could you do, being a star?"

"What greater thing can you do — besides for God — than good for other people? That goes for you mean people, too — I mean, really, what is your problem?"

"First I'd like to address the hecklers (cause I know you're out there!) ... There are people who contribute, people who create, and people who destroy. ... Nobody likes hecklers — nobody likes heckling — it's not interesting, it's not funny, it's certainly not appreciated, and it's of no use and no good. And it just hurts people. And I'm not sure if the intention is to hurt people, in which case you are evil — and if not, that's what you are doing, so it is not constructive, at all. The whole idea of 'I must be honest, so here is what I think' is complete baloney. If there is information you must transmit to another, you must do it empathically, or it is worthless. ... Essentially, what I have for you heckler victims is this: If you do what you must, and you do what is right, you are bulletproof! Don't bother changing — don't listen to any of that garbage — because it's garbage!"

"They might try to remind me That Such Tragedy surrounds me But this suffering created art I never found it scary... I was all undercover"

"People have asked me to speak on being sick, and even specifically on chronic pain diseases. ... And I don't know what to tell you, except this — this is something I have discovered. Your body is fighting to live. This is in your very blood, in your heart, in your bones — your body is trying to live, it's fighting to live — and don't give up without a fight, you know? Do what you can do. Figure something out. If you have to, fight with people to get help — whatever it is, but don't give up without a fight. You remember — mark my words — you are here — you should be here — stay."

"And I wanted to say something before I go — I told you guys it's been a bad year — when you have these kind of moments when you are in despair, I just want to remind you that God does not take a break — he does not clock out, he doesn't get caught off-guard — there is nothing that goes on that he is not allowing. So everything is as it should be, no matter how wrong, or scary, or sad, or angry, or afraid, or any of it — everything is as it should be. And we need to remember that, and that we love Him and He loves us. Whatever we're feeling, we need to remember the truth."

"Thank you for praying for me, and wishing me well, and all the support, because I need it a lot. And inside me there is a warrior, but right now, I am a 'Golden Girl'... But I wanted to let you guys know that I have not died, and I am here, and I am going to fight with all I have got to stay — and to help. And I have never been in this bad a condition, but I am determined."

"This morning, when I got my mail — there's concrete all over the ground — cement, you know — and these little clovers — the little green clovers, like from St. Patrick's Day — the plant — were growing up out of the cement — no dirt and no nothing and no rain — and there they were, growing up out of the cement, and I was thinking — "that's like me.""

"It's justice that He's bringing. It's hidden inside a song. No one's stuck in the middle... the battle is already won."

"Those of you who have been so kind, so loyal, so wonderful, so friendly, so generous — I appreciate it more than I can tell you! And though I am very sick, my spirit is strong. And it is the love I get that keeps me this way — from God and from you."

"He came to love, He came to warn Why do you weep on the day He's born? He draws the path I walk upon I died to live just for the Son Find love, find peace If you let Him increase"

"I suppose I want to leave a word with you tonight, that seems to have been applicable and important to everyone lately. And that is — remember Mercy, Love and Forgiveness, because this seems to be lacking, and causing and creating a lot of problems for people because it is so lacking. So remember that, first and foremost. And if you're already doing a good job at that, you think — good for you! Step it up a bit! That's your challenge. As for me, I must work on these things always too!"

"There's a cat that's a stray that's been coming around my house for the last couple of years. ... I noticed upon petting her for the very first time that beneath her fur, almost beneath my hand, was ripples and ripples of wounds — amazing — wounds upon wounds and scars upon scars — old, of course, but she had been through it a lot! Anyway, I named her "Has Wounds But Still Lives" ... Well a few days ago, she came by, and dry food that I'd put out there was falling from her mouth. And upon closer inspection, it was because this side of her face was practically gone! ... And it looked to me as if she could survive it, but it was grisly, it really was — and it brought you to tears, and made you nervous and afraid, and all kinds of things."

"The other day, there was a man outside, beckoning to what I though was Has Wounds. ... He came back with an older man ... he was crying and sobbing, and — he's Has Wounds' owner! ... I told him about what I had done ... He said that he's been praying for her all of this time too. He'd been crying, he'd been singing — and he thought he was alone in alll this. The nights when I'd wondered ... where she was, corresponded with days where he'd wondered where she'd gone. ... And this man had cared for her for 16 years! ... I said how I had named her, and he said that in 16 years he had never come up with a name for her, because nothing seemed to suit her, and he was amazed to reveal that that was very much her, and he's going to call her that from now on! He begged to repay me somehow ... I said listen, the best thing you can do is what you have already done — love her, take care of her, be her owner! ..."

"But it was amazing to see this man crying, and grateful to God for this, and to love this animal as if it was his child. Well, events took a turn for the bittersweet when he let me know last night that he's moving, out of town, even, and he's taking Has Wounds with him (and yes, he called her that.) And he wanted to thank me again. And my only reply was "what else could I have done, but more?" So — I should not ever see her again, I think — but had I not gotten the Grace to happen to come across this man, thanks to God, at my door, I would have assumed that she had died. So I'm very grateful that I got to see him, and we got to pray together and embrace each other, and know what really was going on, all this time we were afraid. Well, she was right next door for either one of us. And it was very funny too, that this man's name was Francisco, because it's very much a St. Francis story, with an animal, you know?"

"So I wanted to say she's safe and sound. And for those of you who are still concerned, I saw her this morning for the last time — and her whole face here, which was ravaged and gone, seemingly, was not only healed — there was fur growing back on it. So, that is the end of the story of Has Wounds But Still Lives, and she's in earthly kitty heaven, which is having an owner that loves you to pieces and takes care of you. So — with that in mind, I wanted to thank everyone again. And so many wonderful things are happening all around me — and they don't need to happen to me. But to be given the grace to be a part of it, or to see it — especially to help — is the best thing I could ever have."

"He was perfect except for the fact that he was an engineer And mothers prefer doctors And lawyers Yet despite this imperfection He was clean-looking and respectable-looking And you'll never find a mother Who doesn't appreciate a natural man"

"Pavlov's Daughter, woke up in the morning, hear the bell ring, and something deep inside of her, makes her want to salivate, so she lays there drooling on her pillow..."

"I'm the king's thirty-second son There's thirty-one others just like me There's thirty-one others on the way There's thirty-one others after that..."

"Thirty-two's still a goddamn number Thirty-two's still counts Gonna make it count"

"Pickle jars are just pickle jars, and pickles are just pickles."

"Ingredients:"

"Water, salt, cucumbers, garlic and"

"Pickling spices"

"Love is the answer to a question I have forgotten, but I know I've been asked. And the answer has got to be love."

"The world's got a nosebleed, it said And we're flooding, but we keep on cutting the trees and the forests! And we keep on paying those freaks on the TV Who claim they will save us, but want to enslave us, and Sweating like demons, they scream through our speakers But we leave the sound on 'cause silence is harder, and No one's the killer and no one's the martyr The world that has made us can no longer contain us And prophets are silent and rotting away."

"On the day that Daniel Cowman stopped existing The world should have ended right then and there At precisely four-fifteen when he stopped existing The world should have ended How could it go on?"

"How could it go on when I don't exist? I don't exist... So now that we've got that straight Doesn't mean that I can fly Doesn't mean I that I can go do whatever I want."

"A man destined to hang Can never drown, A man destined to hang Can never ever drown. A man destined to drown Can never burn..."

"A man destined to fry Can never ever ever die... In any other way but frying. Lucky that I'm dying By hanging and not drowning."

"The flowers you gave me are rotting And still I refuse to throw them away"

"They'll name a city after us And later say it's all our fault…"

"Imagine you go away On a business trip one day And when you come back home Your children have grown And you never made your wife moan"

"People are just people They shouldn't make you nervous The world is everlasting, it's coming and it's going If you don't toss your plastic The streets won't be so plastic And if you kiss somebody then both of you get practice"

"I never loved nobody fully Always one foot on the ground And by protecting my heart truly I got lost in the sounds I hear in my mind All these voices I hear in my mind all these words I hear in my mind all this music And it breaks my heart It breaks my heart..."

"On the radio We heard November Rain That solo's awful long But it's a good refrain"

"This is how it works — You're young until you're not You love until you don't You try until you can't You laugh until you cry You cry until you laugh And everyone must breathe Until their dying breath."

"No, this is how it works — You peer inside yourself You take the things you like And try to love the things you took And then you take that love you made And stick it into some Someone else's heart Pumping someone else's blood And walking arm in arm You hope it don't get harmed But even if it does You'll just do it all again."

"Power to the people We don't want it We want pleasure And the TVs try to rape us And I guess that they're succeeding And we're going to these meetings But we're not doing any meeting And we're trying to be faithful, but we're Cheating, cheating, cheating"

"It's like forgetting the words to your favorite song You can't believe it; you were always singing along It was so easy and the words so sweet You can't remember; you try to move your feet."

"I've got a perfect body But sometimes I forget I've got a perfect body, because my eyelashes catch my sweat Yes they do, they do."

"No one laughs at God in a hospital, No one laughs at God in a war, No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor..."

"No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door And they say "We've got some bad news, sir." No one's laughing at God when there's a famine, fire or flood But God can be funny At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke Or when the crazies say He hates us And they get so red in the head you think they're 'bout to choke God can be funny When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus God can be so hilarious..."

"No one's laughing at God — We're all laughing with God."

"Living in your pre-war apartment Soon to be your post-war apartment"

"Two birds on a wire One tries to fly away And the other watches him close from that wire He says he wants to as well But he is a liar"

"Try it again, breathing's just a rhythm"

"Leaves become most beautiful when they're about to die When they're about to fall from trees When they're about to dry"

"I wear glasses because I need them; I don't wear them to be the fashion victim, I have to have them because I have a stigma in one eye and I'm blind in another. But I make it fun, I make it acceptable to fit in society; I've always worn crazy, goofy glasses, it's just what I do. This is who I am. Love me or leave me."

"I'm not that deep, I'm not that mysterious. Don't try to figure me out. I'm a very open book. What you see is what you get."

"I'm a fighter by nature and nothing will ever change that."

"My will, my faith and my body have been challenged, but make no mistake, my heart is strong and my resolve to fight will never be broken."

"I don't fear death. But I don't like being dangled out there like a piece of meat on a fishing rod to it either. If I'm going to die, take me out now. Don't let me suffer. That's not exactly the way I wanted to go. I don't want to be in limbo, I don't want to know that I might die. The mights don't work with me. I'm too literal."

"I'm a singer who touches millions of people and my words and my knowledge of what I'm learning from cancer can help millions. And if I can help millions, even if I help one person, that's one person more than none."

"At the end of the day I'm maybe clean of cancer right now, but that doesn't mean it won't come back at 100%. So I'm not leaving here going: "Oh my God my life is over, cuz I don't know..." I'm sitting here, I'm happy I'm at Rove, I'm happy I'm in Australia, I'm pleased I finished an album, I'm just grateful. If it comes back I will kick it in the butt as much as I could. But it's not about winning, it's just about fighting, and that's all you got to on this earth. It's just fight for what your right is, and that's to live. (from an interview at The Rove Live, Australia, 2004)"

"I don't have a deep desire to know my father. My brother and sister and I got forgotten about by him, and we haven't spoken to him in a ridiculous amount of years. He never contacted us after he and my mother broke up. [...] I never felt rejected as a kid. We had a fulfilling life with my mum. She was so strong."

"All I can say is we are not promised tomorrow, I know that, you know that. So we gonna make every moment last and just blessed it and appreciate it. (form her speech at Rock in Rio, 2006)"

"When I'm asked where I want to be in five or 10 years time, I say I just want to be alive and healthy."

"I had to perform in Béziers, In France, in a huge arena where they normally hold bullfights. There where a bunch of important people there, I was not that famous yet, so alot was riding on this performance, but the vibe was amazing. So a few songs into the set I yelled very enthusiastically ‘J’adore Béziers” Unfortunatly my French speech is not perfect so it sounded as J'adore baiser! The public did not respond, so I thought, with the wind they probably did not understand it clearly, so alot louder I yelled J'ADORE BAISER!!!! And then a deadly silence. Afterwords someone asked me, ‘doe joe know vot you ave just told all of France?’ Sure, I told’em I love’em….euh not really...man I was dying! But the boss from the French record label said, don’t worry about it, they thought u where amazing, we will sell alot of records here."

"(About Prince) I recently met him, he's a Jehovah's witness, right? The first thing i said to him was "omigaaawdifuckinloveyourmusic". He looked at me with that look of his and said very softly 'uh, you have to pray that you can ban swearing out of your live, otherwise you can never please the lord" Me : I'll fuckin' try!, followed with 'did i fuckin' curse?' in which he responded "yeah, you fuckin' did".(laughs) Okay that last part I made up, but he was very serious about it. So i thought, my god, this is the guy from "Head" and from "Darling Nikki" who is mastrubating in the lobby from a hotel. In his studio he even has a curseing jar, everybody that swear has to put a $50 into it. I was speechless, and let me tell you, that does not happen to me alot. But, he is and stays a genius."

"One time I woke up on the day of a concert with a stiff neck, and not just a regular stiff neck, I was standing croocked, like the hunchback of Notre Dame. I got some shots then, which did not work. They could have easily put the stage croocked that day so it at least would have looked like I was walking normally. I did perform that night, but I remember nothing from it, was so high from the shots. Later I heared from my manager that I was doin never ending talks between songs. The guy’s at the mix table where trying via the monitor to get me to start singing the next song, but I just kept talking ‘wait wait wait, just one more fun thing I want to say…” I was the stand up comic from hell."

"I was walking tru Amsterdam when I heared I’m Outta Love blasting out of an open window. In that moment I rang their doorbell and when those people opened the door I said ‘Roomservice!’ Never I saw people dropping their jaws that much (laughs) I saw their eyes goin from me to their tv that had mtv on, back to me and back to the tv again, you saw they where thinking, how can this woman be in both places in the same time? But once they got over that shock they did not wanna let me go anymore, ‘come in, there is plenty to drink, there is plenty of everything (winks), what do you wanna eat, are u staying over…?’ Sweet people, real cute, only later I realized, oh my god, what if they were just making love to my music, they would have opend the door naked!"

"You don't have to be blond or blue eyes or taller or smaller...just have to be who you need to be, and that's help people become who they are."

"Early detection has saved my life twice. I will continue to battle and lend my voice in any way I can."

"Sometimes I wonder if my purpose on this earth is to be a role model. Look at my challenges as a gift, and my voice as tool."

"(About Elton John) He's my fairy Godfather; literally that's what I call him. [...] Hopefully while I'm in town there'll be a moment I can share my new boobs with him. I have to show him, because he gets to see. Not that he's really caring, but I flashed him my other ones so he has to see these ones too. He has to see the new set."

"You're the soldier girl who tells the other troops who haven't fought the battle what it's like so they can fight it better."

"I'm just as fragile and broken as anyone else at times. We all have to get through our stuff as best we can. Some of us have strong armour, some of us don't. Sometimes my armour has been very strong and sometimes it's been very fragile."

"I think there will always be challenges for women and men. There are always going to be male chauvenists but it's just a matter of women continuing to stand up for their rights and prove their worth. The world would end if women didn't start families, carry children, but that is no reason for them not to work, have careers, exist as a person rather than just a mother."

"I felt very awkward as a teenager. I wanted blue eyes, I wanted to be taller, I wore glasses, I got my chest early and I was very embarrassed about it. I just wasn’t the kind of girl I thought guys would want to date. Though in some ways I was okay with that because I didn’t want to date any boys anyway. I just wanted to be friends with boys, boys were cool with me. Until we were doing a show in school where we all had to wear these catsuits for a dance routine. I walked into the room, all boobs and bum, and the boys never looked at me the same way again. I was mortified. That’s probably when I started wearing my stepfather’s shirts, big and baggy, to cover up. I just wanted to stay a kid."

"There is no rose without a thorn No rain without the storm There is no laughter without tears No wisdom without years In a world gone crazy Torn between the roads that we must choose Win or lose."

"Each day another boy and girl sets foot into this world One reaches out to touch the sky One never learns to fly."

"How many rivers must we cross before we learn that the flood is rising high And the bridges all have burned Each time another dream is washed into the sea It's another piece of you It's another piece of me."

"If every soul should lose its way If every face should lose its name If no one tries to end this game Or find a way to ease the pain Who's gonna stop the rain?"

"Yo trippin' There ain't nothing wrong with the way I sing my song Yo trippin' Why you feel that to be cruel is to be real."

"I'm a freak of nature Freaky, geeky, lucky and weekly, sassefras, so, honey drink me finger licking."

"You can say what you want about me Try to do what you want to me But you can not stop me."

"I paid my dues."

"Now I'm still trusted every day People try to mess with Anastacia Gotta nothing in common cause I handle mine."

"Anytime or only for a while Don't worry Make a wish I'll be there to see your smile."

"Nothing's fair when we lose without a moment to say goodbye."

"Cradle the weight of your life You can survive what lies before you."

"Time keeps running away no matter what's left behind, it keeps on moving Tomorrow is not today and all of your yesterdays are only a matter of time."

"I'm sick and tired of always being sick and tired."

"I've had my share of pleasure and I've tasted pain I never thought that I would touch an angel's wing There's a journey in my eyes It's getting hard for me to hide Like the ocean at the sunrise."

"Who wants a love without anger and rage? I Do Who wants a world where a kid can be safe? I Do Who wants to pray for the end of the pain? For the calm at the end of the day? Where there's not always more of the same? I Do."

"Wanna live in a place where the truth still finds a way to rise and advise."

"The pages I've turned are the lessons I've learned."

"Sometimes the things you want are hard to take Sometimes the ones you love are risks that you don't make."

"Freedom lies beneath reality."

"The love that lonely people crave Follows them into their grave Oh…we should never leave them lonely."

"The faded photographs The frames of broken glass The shattered memories Time will soon erase all these souvenirs Falls from a thousand tears But when I wake up you are never there."

"You can tear me apart You can rip me to pieces Try breaking me down But I'll never be beated You can say that you won But I'll never believe it cos I can't be defeated."

"Silence is a deadly poison when you have no words."

"Pieces of a dream unfolding what happened to the fairy tale Words of love are never spoken Things in life aren't always fair I'll protect you and I'll guide you and I'll give you all the love that is mine Just know in time You'll be fine."

"Show me some hope Show me some light Cause I got nothing left in me tonight If I don’t go If I say no Is it the end?"

"If there's no redemption I'll see you in hell."

"Now I know what love is worth In a broken world But I can't get past the hurt Till I give up on these Stupid little things."

"I'd rather be blind if I have to watch us fade."

"I barely recognize myself Sometimes I feel like someone else Don't always have to be perfect And if I stumble on the way I don't know I'm gonna be okay It's alright to get myself dirty."

"They say that time heals the pain Till only love remains."

"Somewhere there's an angel saying stay I need someone to tell me, I'm too hard to break I'm not ready to go just yet."

"Got a message from a wise man No one gets to choose But it's still a secret No one tells us how easily we bruise And while we try to understend Life is making other plans."

"I'm pop-corn I'm a hell storm Yeah, I'm in the hands of faith I’m so bad words Now what you heard?"

"And I've been to darker places That I never thought I'd go And I've learned lots of lessons I can say I'm finally home."

"I can see the light of day Even through the rainy haze."

"I'm dark dark white girl."

"No matter if I'm laughing or crying It ain't gonna stop me from trying The truth is what I have to uncover In this only life."

"The truest words are never wasted I'm letting go just show me how I'm getting closer I can taste it This time, our time."

"Wings of an angel Replace my beautiful scars Well hidden in the dark Time seems to stand still The world is falling apart So heavy on my heart."

"Even with broken wings Even with shattered dreams I'm still gonna try I'm still gonna fly Even with broken wings I can do anything I found a strength I never knew I had in me With these broken wings."

"Is this the light at the end of the tunnel Is this the end, the end of all my trouble Is this the light at the end of the tunnel Or just the light of another oncoming train."

"There's a new sun rising From a lost horizon And the heat that it brings Melts away all the things That has made me stand still Been a long time coming So tired of running I believe there's a reason I came through the season again It's my resurrection."

"All that I've gone through Is what brought me here So I can't regret a single thing, yeah I've had my heart broken I know what it takes to let go and move on I see myself coming And I've never been this strong."

"I'm alright with living on the edge Everything I ever got I got the hard way Wouldn't think of wishing on the shooting star I'm the underdog."

"I thought she was black when I heard her singing. [...] This is so like Tina Turner. Who is this woman sings? And even when I found out she was call Anastacia, I didn't even think she was white. She had the most amazing voice, just the most soulful voice I've heard in so long [...] She is a great live performer [...] I'm Outta Love is one of the greatest dance records of all time."

"Anastacia is someone the world will understand."

"The first time I heard Anastacia's voice I was kind of blown by, because she is kind a little and her voice was so big so powerful, so much power coming from her. It was amazing."

"She rocks, I have to tell you, she rocks."

"She's probably one of the strongest women I've ever met. Through my illness she was there for me as I hope I have been to her through her treatment. She's a really great girl."

"Some performers would stand in a spot light like Edith Piaf, darkness around and a spot light and she would sing... and she would sing very vulnerable. Than you realize "I don't know how this woman has more powerful". And some performers, well, leave out of the box and grab the audience by the throw, you know. What's amazing about Anastacia is she can kind do both."

"I think Anastacia is gonna be a big star, I really do. And she has that distinct voice where, you know, one time you hear it you never forget it."

"She has a lot of what I call star quality and that's something truly hard to describe in words. At top of all that she is just an amazing singer and an amazing performer. She is not just a singer that can only do one style."

"We'll play jacks and Uno cards I'll be your best friend And you'll be mine"

"I hope you know that this has nothing to do with you."

"To me, fearless is not the absence of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. Fearless is falling madly in love again, even though you've been hurt before. Fearless is walking into your freshman year of high school at fifteen. Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again...even though every time you've tried before, you've lost. It's fearless to have faith that someday things will change. Fearless is having the courage to say goodbye to someone who only hurts you, even if you can't breathe without them. I think it's fearless to fall in love with your best friend, even though he's in love with someone else. And when someone apologizes to you enough times for things they'll never stop doing, i think it's fearless to stop believing them. It's fearless to say "you're NOT sorry", and walk away. I think loving someone despite what people think is fearless. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is fearless. Letting go is fearless. Then, moving on and being alright...that's fearless too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and prince temu charmings and happily ever afters. Because I think love is fearless."

"If you listen to my albums, it's like reading my diary."

"I want to say to all the young women out there: there will people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame, but if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going you'll look around and you'll know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world."

"What does it mean to be the woman of this decade? Well, it means I've seen a lot. […] I saw that people love to explain away a woman's success in the music industry, and I saw something in me change due to this realization. This was the decade when I became a mirror for my detractors. Whatever they decided I couldn't do is exactly what I did. Whatever they criticized about me became material for musical satires or inspirational anthems. […] In 10 years I've seen forward steps in our industry, in our awareness, our inclusion, our ability to start calling out unfairness and misconduct. I've seen the advent of social media, the way it can boost the breakthrough of emerging artists and I've seen fans become more engaged and supportive than ever before. […] Thank you for a magnificent, happy-free, confused, sometimes lonely but mostly golden decade."

"No one should have to go to school in fear of gun violence. Or to a nightclub. Or to a concert. Or to a movie theater. Or to their place of worship. I’ve made a donation to show my support for the students, for the March For Our Lives campaign, for everyone affected by these tragedies, and to support gun reform. I’m so moved by the Parkland High School students, faculty, by all families and friends of victims who have spoken out, trying to prevent this from happening again."

"I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of."

"Let go of the people who bring you down, and surround yourself with those who bring out the best in you."

"No matter what happens in life, be good to people."

"This is the proudest and happiest I've ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I've ever been."

"Like many of you, I watched the [September 9, 2024 presidential candidate] debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country. Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth. I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades. I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story. With love and hope, Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady"

"I’m not going anywhere. I’m not retiring. I’m not stopping. I’m just evolving."

"I’m not the art police. I welcome the chaos."

"You should think of your energy as if it’s expensive, as if it’s like a luxury item. Not everyone can afford it."

"What you spend your energy on, that’s the day."

"This is a dream come true. I now own all my music, my videos, my photos, and my unreleased tracks."

"He'll never fall in love He swears, as he runs his fingers through his hair. I'm laughing 'cause I hope he's wrong. And I don't think it ever crossed his mind. He tells a joke, I fake a smile That I know all his favorite songs."

"Wish I had concentrated; they said love was complicated. But it was something I just fell into. And it was overrated, but just look what I created!"

"You lift my feet off the ground, You spin me around. You make me crazier, crazier. Feels like I'm fallin' and I Am lost in your eyes. You make me crazier, crazier, crazier."

"Every time you smile, I smile And every time you shine, I'll shine for you."

"I don't wanna lose your face And I don't wanna wake up one day and not remember what time erased. I don't wanna turn around 'Cause I'm not scared of what love gave me and took away. And I don't wanna lose your face."

"But when you think: Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song. The one we danced to all night long: The moon like a spotlight on the lake. When you think happiness, I hope you think: "That little black dress." Think of my head on your chest, An' my old faded blue jeans. When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think of me."

"I hate that stupid old pickup truck You never let me drive. You're a redneck heartbreak Who's really bad at lying. So watch me strike a match On all my wasted time. As far as I'm concerned you're Just another picture to burn."

"He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar, The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star. He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do."

"You should've said no, you should've gone home. You should've thought twice before you let it all go. You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her Would get back to me...And I should've been there, in the back of your mind. I shouldn't be asking myself why. You shouldn't be begging for forgiveness at my feet... You should've said no, baby and you might still have me."

"I was sixteen when suddenly I wasn't that little girl you used to see. But your eyes still shined like pretty lights, And our daddies used to joke about the two of us. They never believed we'd really fall in love. And our mamas smiled and rolled their eyes And said oh my my my..."

"Our song is the slamming screen door, Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window. When we're on the phone and you talk real slow 'Cause it's late and your mama don't know. Our song is the way you laugh, The first date "man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have." And when I got home, before I said amen Asking God if he could play it again."

"We're drivin' down the road, I wonder if you know. I'm tryin' so hard Not to get caught up now. But you're just so cool. Run your hands through your hair, Absent mindedly makin' me want you."

"Cause when you're fifteen And somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them. And when you're fifteen, Feeling like there's nothing to figure out, Well count to ten, take it in. This is life before you know Who you're gonna be, You're fifteen."

"Romeo take me somewhere, we can be alone. I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run. You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess, It's a love story, baby, just say yes."

"'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel; Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain, so... Come feel this magic I've been feelin' since I met you, Can't help it if there's no one else."

"I'm not a princess, This ain't a fairytale. I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet, Lead her up the stairwell. This ain't Hollywood, This is a small town. I was a dreamer before You went and let me down. Now it's too late for you and your white horse To come around."

"But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts. She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers, Dreaming 'bout the day when you wake up and find That what you're lookin' for has been here the whole time.If you could see that I'm the one who understands you, Been here all along so why can't you see? You belong with me; You belong with me."

"Music starts playing like the end of a sad movie. It's the kind of ending you don't really wanna see. 'Cause it's tragedy and it'll only bring you down. Now I don't know what to be without you around."

"Lookin' so innocent, I might believe you if I didn't know. Could'a loved you all my life, If you hadn't left me waiting in the cold. And you got your share of secrets, And I'm tired of being last to know. And now you're asking me to listen 'Cause it's worked each time before."

"And I stare at the phone, he still hasn't called. And then you feel so low you can't feel nothing at all. And you flash back to when he said forever and always. Oh, and it rains in your bedroom, Everything is wrong. It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone. 'Cause I was there when you said forever and always."

"Because these things Will change. We can see it now. These walls That they put up, To hold us back Will fall down. It's a revolution, It's how we'll become. Who we're Supposed to be. We'll sing hallelujah; We'll sing hallelujah. Oh."

"You remember, we were sittin' there, by the water, You put your arm around me for the first time. You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter. You are the best thing that's ever been mine."

"And you stood there in front of me just Close enough to touch, Close enough to hope you couldn't see What I was thinking of.Drop everything now, Meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk, Take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

"So this is me swallowing my pride, Standing in front of you Saying I'm sorry for that night. And I go back to December all the time. Turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you, Wishing that I realized what I had when you were mine. I go back to December, turn around and make it all right. I go back to December all the time."

"I am not the kind of girl Who should be rudely bargin' in on a white veil occasion. But you are not the kind of boy Who should be marrying the wrong girl."

"Someday I'll be livin' in a big old city And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Why you gotta be so mean?"

"Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room And we're not speaking. And I'm dyin' to know: Is it killing you Like it's killing me? Yeah. I don't know what to say since a twist of fate, when it all broke down And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now."

"This is me praying that This was the very first page Not where the story line ends My thoughts will echo your name Until I see you again These are the words I held back As I was leaving too soon I was enchanted to meet youPlease don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you Please don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you"

"The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and... I had it all, I had him right there where I wanted him She came along, got him alone and let's hear the applause She took him faster than you could say "sabotage"I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it I underestimated just who I was dealing with She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum She underestimated just who she was stealing from"

"Come on, come on Don't leave me like this. I thought I had you figured out. Something's gone terribly wrong, You're all I wanted.Come on, come on Don't leave me like this. I thought I had you figured out. Can't breathe whenever your gone, Can't turn back Now I'm haunted."

"Long live the walls we crashed through, All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you. I was screaming, "Long live all the magic we made," And bring on all the pretenders. One day we will be remembered."

"So don't you worry your pretty little mind, People throw rocks at things that shine, And life makes love look hard. The stakes are high, The water's rough, But this love is ours."

"This is a state of grace This is the worthwhile fight Love is a ruthless game Unless you play it good and right"

"Losing him was blue like I’d never known; Missing him was dark grey all alone. Forgetting him was like trying to know Somebody you've never met. But loving him was red; Loving him was red."

"I can't decide if it's a choice Getting swept away. I hear the sound of my own voice Asking you to stay. And all we are is skin and bone trained to get along, Forever going with the flow but you friction."

"Two headlights shine through the sleepless night and I will get you, get you alone Your name has echoed through my mind And I just think you should, think you should know That nothing safe is worth the drive And I will follow you follow you home I'll follow you follow you home"

"'Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in, So shame on me now. Flew me to places I'd never been, So you put me down oh."

"Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it. I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it. After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own, Now you mail back my things and I walk home alone.But you keep my old scarf from that very first week, 'Cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me. You can't get rid of it 'cause you remember it all too well, yeah."

"I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22. Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you. You don't know about me but I bet you want to. Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22, 22."

"We are never ever ever... getting back together. We are never ever ever... getting back together. You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me. But we are never ever ever ever... getting back together. Like, ever."

"This is the last time I'm asking you this, Put my name at the top of your lips. This is the last time I'm asking you why You break my heart in the blink of an eye, eye, eye."

"Words, how little they mean when you're a little too late."

"Cause all I know is we said hello And your eyes look like coming home. All I know is a simple name, everything has changed. All I know is we held the door, You'll be mine and I'll be yours. All I know since yesterday is everything has changed."

"And you throw your head back laughing Like a little kid. I think it's strange that you think I’m funny cause He never did. I've been spending the last 8 months Thinking all love ever does Is break and burn and end. But on a Wednesday in a cafe, I watched it begin again."

"And they tell you that you're lucky, but you're so confused 'Cause you don't feel pretty, you just feel used."

"Nice to meet you, where you been? I could show you incredible things. Magic, madness, heaven, sin. Saw you there and I thought. Oh my God, look at that face. You look like my next mistake. Love's a game, wanna play?."

"So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain. Got a long list of ex-lovers, They'll tell you I'm insane. 'Cause you know I love the players, And you love the game."

"You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye, And I got that red lip, classic thing that you like. And when we go crashing down, we come back every time, 'Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style. You've got that long hair slick back, white t-shirt And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt. And when we go crashing down, we come back every time. 'Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style"

"Looking at it now. It all seems so simple. We were lying on your couch. I remember. You took a Polaroid of us. Then discovered (then discovered) The rest of the world was black and white. But we were in screaming color. And I remember thinking…"

"But I keep cruising, can't stop, won't stop moving. It's like I got this music in my body and it's gonna be alright.'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, I shake it off, I shake it off. Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake. Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, I shake it off, I shake it off."

"'Cause baby now we got bad blood. You know it used to be mad love. So take a look at what you've done. 'Cause baby now we got bad blood."

"Your kiss, my cheek I watched you leave Your smile, my ghost I fell to my knees When you're young you just run, but you come back to what you need"

"We need love, But all we want is danger. We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer. The rumors are terrible and cruel, But honey, most of them are true."

"If a man talks shit then I owe him nothing. And if spends my change than he had it coming. They said I did something bad But why it feels so good."

"Oh Lord save me my drug is my baby I'll be using for the rest of my life. Using for the rest of my life (ooh) Don't blame me your made me crazy if it doesn't you ain't doing it right."

"This ain't for the best. My reputation's never been worse, so You must like me for me. We can't make any promises Now can we, babe. But you can make me a drink."

"I'm sorry, But the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now Why? Oh, 'cause she's dead (oh)"

"I'm drunk in the back of the car And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar (oh) Said, "I'm fine, " but it wasn't true I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you And I snuck in through the garden gate Every night that summer just to seal my fate (oh) And I screamed for whatever it's worth 'I love you', ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"

"We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January. And this is our place, we make the rules. And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear. Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?"

"I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man. And I'm so sick of them coming at me again, 'Cause if I was a man, Then I'd be the man. I'd be the man. I'd be the man."

"I've been the archer. I've been the prey. Who could ever leave me, darling, But who could stay?"

"American stories, burning before me I'm feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men? Darling, I'm scared."

"Windows swung right open, autumn air Jacket 'round my shoulders is yours We bless the rains on Cornelia Street Memorize the creaks in the floor"

"Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts Flashbacks waking me up. I get drunk, but it's not enough, 'Cause the morning comes and you're not my baby. I look through the windows of this love, Even though we boarded them up. Chandelier's still flickering here, 'Cause I can't pretend it's ok when it's not. It's death by a thousand cuts."

"You said it was a great love, One for the ages. But if the story's over, why am I still writing pages?"

"Spelling is fun!"

"But I knew you Dancin' in your Levi's Drunk under a streetlight, I I knew you Hand under my sweatshirt Baby, kiss it better, IAnd when I felt like I was an old cardigan Under someone's bed You put me on and said I was your favorite"

"I think I've seen this film before And I didn't like the ending You're not my homeland anymore So what am I defending now? You were my town Now I'm in exile, seein' you out I think I've seen this film before So I'm leavin' out the side door"

"But I can see us lost in the memory August slipped away into a moment in time 'Cause it was never mine And I can see us twisted in bedsheets August sipped away like a bottle of wine 'Cause you were never mine"

"But if I just showed up at your party, Would you have me? Would you want me? Would you tell me to go fuck myself? Or lead me to the garden? In the garden would you trust me, If I told you it was just a summer thing? I'm only 17, I don't know anything, But I know I miss you"

"The more that you say The less I know Wherever you stray I follow Begging for you to take my hand Wreck my plans That's my man You know that my train could take you home Anywhere else is hollow Begging for you to take my hand Wreck my plans That's my man"

"While you were out building other worlds, where was I? Where’s that man who’d threw blankets over my barbed wire I made you my temple, my mural, my sky Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life"

"It's me Hi I'm the problem, it's me At teatime Everybody agrees I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero"

"I could see you in your suit and your necktie Passed me a note saying, "Meet me tonight" Then we kiss, and you know I won't ever tell, yeah And I could see you being my addiction You can see me as a secret mission Hide away and I will start behaving myself"

"And for a fortnight there, we were forever Run into you sometimes, ask about the weather Now you're in my backyard, turned into good neighbors Your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her"

"'Cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit They said, "Babe, you gotta fake it till you make it" and I did Lights, camera, bitch smile, even when you wanna die He said he'd love me all his life But that life was too short Breaking down, I hit the floor All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting "More" I was grinning like I'm winning, I was hitting my marks 'Cause I can do it with a broken heart"

"All that time I sat alone in my tower You were just honing your powers Now I can see it all Late one night You dug me out of my grave and Saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia"

"I had a bad habit Of missing lovers past My brother used to call it 'Eating out of the trash' It's never gonna last"

"How could you not [fancy Taylor Swift]?! I’ve met Taylor once, with Sarah Hyland, and there’s just nothing not to like about her. She’s beautiful, talented, hardworking, and she’s very genuine. It’s a terrible thing, I was actually very surprised! I had read all these nightmare stories, and when I met her I was very pleasantly surprised that she seemed like one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. As for having a thing for Taylor? That’s for me to know and for you to wonder about."

"Taylor Swift is so flawless, and so unattainable, and I don't think it's breeding anything good in young girls."

"I was in this coffee shop in Nashville when I looked up and saw this really tall, pretty girl who looked kind of familiar to me. It couldn't be. Only, yeah, it was: Taylor Swift. I had to go say hi to her. I walked up to her table, feeling kind of shy and dorky, but she looked up and gave me a big smile. "Are you Taylor?" I said. "Yeah," she said. "Hey, my name's Austin Mahone," I said. "I'm a singer on YouTube." Her smile got even bigger. "That's really cute," she said. "Keep up the hard work and never stop believing." "Thanks," I said. "Do you mind if I get a picture with you?" "Of course not," she said. We posed together and my mom took the picture. Little did I know at the time that we'd meet again a year later, under circumstances I couldn't have imagined then. Life is too crazy sometimes."

"I was excited to be achieving one of my goals of reaching a wider audience. I got some help reaching that goal during the summer of 2013 when I was asked to be the opening act for a huge artist I really admired, which was exactly the kind of opportunity I'd been hoping for. I have to tell you, though, when my managers told me who I'd be opening for, I couldn't believe it: Taylor Swift- who I'd always felt a real respect for, especially since she'd been so nice to me back in Nashville. Plus, I admire how she's grown her career and respect her talent. The first time we met backstage, I had to tell her where and how we'd met before. Of course, this time she knew I was a singer because I was her opener, and she smiled at me even bigger than before. "Hey, Taylor, we actually met once in Nashville a couple years ago," I said. "I came up to you in a coffee shop and told you I was a singer on YouTube." "I totally remember you," she said, laughing. "No way," I said. "No, I totally do." I wasn't sure I believed her. But it didn't matter. I was her support act on a lot of her dates that summer, and we always got along well. Plus, I got to meet and hang a little with Ed Sheeran, who was also on the tour. He's a cool guy and very talented. That tour was fun and amazing, and I learned so much from watching Taylor. She's always such a pro."

"I don't give Taylor advice about being famous. She doesn't need it."

"She’s giving a sum of money that is life-changing for these people."

"Sometimes, that mountain you've been climbing, is just a grain of sand."

"God put us here on this carnival ride, we close our eyes never knowing where it will take us next."

"I'm flat on the floor, with my head down low, where the sky can't rain on me anymore."

"It's the wheel of the world - turning around."

"I want to be inside your heaven."

"But when you're standing at a crossroad, there's a choice you've got to make."

"Jesus, take the wheel."

"The more boys I meet, the more I love my dog."

"Baby why'd you leave me, why'd you have to go; I was counting on forever, now I'll never know."

"I don't really have any big plans for 2008."

"We mutually agreed that "we" weren't working out."

"Is "Cowboy Casanova" about the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys? No. I would never immortalize a guy that did me wrong. I would never give him that much credit."

"When people think of what it's like to be famous, they think of the Ritz. But I've been in hotels where I will not take my shoes off. I will wear flip-flops in the shower. I've seen more basements of venues than I've seen of the United States. People think, Oh, you travel, you get to see the country. I've seen basements, I've seen concrete, I've seen pillars."

"Simon's obviously very smart. But he's not the smartest person I know."

"I love musical theatre and my dream is to do Once On This Island."

"I had too many bad comments from the judges. Too many, too late, at this point in time"

"We're at that kind of moment where we really have to understand that everyone is totally connected and everyone is important."

"Comedy doesn't really have any meaning without sadness … The most meaningful comedy comes from some really serious pathos."

"The whole world was gathered At the shore of the earth Holding hands and celebrating The little girl’s birth."

"Emptiness is a conductor A conductor of heat A conductor of Anything."

"Why do I hear what I can't see? Why do I fear what I can be? I feel the field of battle within my life!I hear the calvalry of light! I see the sound of endless sight! I feel the field of battle within my life!It was a life that had no end A time of love with you, my friend Begin the age of love you know about!"

"In sorrow there is no rhyme. Dream the kind of a life that you will find The kind of love that lasts forever. Dream the kind of a life that you will find The kind of love that lasts forever. In heaven there is no time."

"I'll never stop a bullet but a bullet might stop me. I'll never drink the ocean but the ocean might drink me. And I'll never raise a portrait to a gentle man in blue And I'll never sing a love song for a love that isn't true.I love how the garden grows And I love the garden rose."

"Open your heart. Tear it apart."

"Well then you thought that the end was in sight And then you thought there was nothing to fight But you had opened your heart with your mind Oooh here comes one."

"On a winter's day we were children all the while ringing one by one All though the day All through the night time And we fell so hard, looking out of the window And we fell so far, into the night When you wake for certain Will you still be hurting?"

"Picture Lucille Ball and Tinkerbell engaged in a duet and you have an apt metaphor for the neo-folk singer Becky Stark, who suggests an impish fairy from a faraway land. Her eyes are wide, and her madcap stories full of exclamation points. She seems perpetually atwitter, at once ditzy and all knowing. She’s the voice and the creative force behind the Los Angeles-based band Lavender Diamond, which just released its quixotic debut album, “Imagine Our Love.”"

"When I was little, I saw the play Les Misérables on Broadway, I thought it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. So I went to my manager and told him I wanted to be in it. He asked me if I could sing, and I said no. I took one lesson and landed the role of Cosette in a national tour of the musical"

"I want people to know that I’m a real person, and that I’ve been through normal situations, like crushes and heartbreaks."

"...often see the glamorous side of this career. ...It's really saying it's not like that and I'm just the girl next door. There's always somebody who either loves you or hates you, and you just have to have a thick skin."

"I'm actually recording my second album now.... so I've just been recording and co-writing. The single should be coming out soon, but I feel it's pretty much 80 percent done. And, yeah, I'm excited about it. It's a lot more rock and edgier.."

"There can be a hundred people in the room and ninety nine don't believe in you and just one person believes in you and it can change everything."

"She’s a nice girl – I just feel very honoured that she wanted to sing my song. I used to scream for her in Times Square and now I work for her. When I was 13 she was the most provocative performer of my time. I love her so much! Britney certainly doesn’t need any freakin’ tips from me! Britney Spears is the queen of pop. I was learning from her."

"Take My Picture, Hollywood! I Wanna Be a Star!"

"I'm not real. I'm theatre."

"God bless pop music and God bless MTV."

"Lake Como? One of my favorite places."

"Lake Como is like Saint-Tropez and Capri."

"Prejudice is a disease. So is fashion. But I will not wear prejudice."

"I think that fashion and music go hand-in-hand, and they always should. It's the artist's job to create imagery that matches the music... I think they're very intertwined."

"In my show I announce, ‘People say Lady Gaga is a lie, and they are right. I am a lie. And every day I kill to make it true.’"

"You listeners, the ones who found me first are, I believe, the future of great art thinkers. Because anyone that's found me now I really think is grabbing on to the ideas that I have, more than anything. It's about the music but it's also about the story. So thank you guys for loving and reading the story and being as into it and as passionate as I am."

"I operate from a place of delusion-that’s what the Fame is all about... I want people to walk around delusional about how great they can be - and then to fight so hard for it every day that the lie becomes the truth."

"I've gone bankrupt about four times now. Every dollar I earn goes on the show."

"You see, if I was a guy, and I was sitting here with a cigarette in my hand, grabbing my crotch and talking about how I make music because I like fast cars and fucking girls, you'd call me a rockstar. But when I do it in my music and in my videos, because I'm a female, because I make pop music, you're judgmental and you say that it is distracting... I'm just a rockstar."

"Grace Jones said this to me when I met her. I washed her feet, and I looked up at her and she said, "No matter what you do in your life, don’t you ever let anybody take your creative people away from you." And what my creative friends always remind me of is they say, "Only value the opinion of those that you respect. And anyone that you don’t respect, pay no mind to their opinion about you or anything else." And that’s how I live my life. If I worried about everything that everyone said, I would not be a good artist."

"That’s the most Warholian thing about what I do... I embrace pop culture. The very thing that everybody says is poisonous and ostentatious and shallow, it’s like my chemistry book... and I make what I believe to be art out of it."

"I don’t consider my own clothing to be outrageous... The truth is that people just don’t have the same references that I do. To me it’s very beautiful and it’s art, and to them it’s outrageous and crazy."

"They bring my music to life."

"Creativity for me is religious."

"Fame for me is not external, it’s internal. So I’ve been famous for a long time."

"I don't care what people think about me, I care what they think about themselves."

"It's always wrong to hate, but it's never wrong to love."

"The whole point of what I do-the Monster Ball, the music, the performance art aspect of it-I want to create a space for my fans where they can feel free and where they can celebrate because I didn't fit in in high school and I felt like a freak. So I like to create this atmosphere for my fans where they feel like they have a freak in me to hang with and they don't feel alone."

"Amidst all of these flashing lights I pray The Fame wont take my life."

"I am a feminist. I reject wholeheartedly the way we are taught to perceive women. The beauty of women, how a woman should act or behave. Women are strong and fragile. Women are beautiful and ugly. We are soft-spoken and loud, all at once. There is something mind-controlling about the way we're taught to view women. My work, both visually and musically, is a rejection of all those things. And most importantly a quest."

"Everybody wants me to show my vagina to the world. And the truth is, I don’t have to."

"It takes time to become myself every morning."

"She reinvents herself from album to album. I reinvent myself week to week. I get quite bored with things and I don't want to let down my fans."

"People think I'm unusual but it's just that we haven't had anyone like this since the Seventies."

"I've learned love is like a brick, you can build a house or sink a dead body."

"'Judas' is a metaphor and an analogy about forgiveness and betrayal and things that haunt you in your life, and how I believe that it's the darkness in your life that ultimately shines and illuminates the greater light that you have upon you. … Someone once said to me, 'If you have no shadows then you're not standing in the light.' So the song is about washing the feet of both good and evil, and understanding and forgiving the demons from your past in order to move into the greatness of your future … I just like really aggressive metaphors — harder, thicker, darker — and my fans do as well. So it is a very challenging and aggressive metaphor, but it is a metaphor.""

"Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore."

"I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song and that he hoped I’d fail,[...] I said to him, ‘Someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the f—ing deli without hearing or seeing me."

"I refused to compromise and allow my talents to be monetized to the point that I don't want to be here anymore. I will quit if I am ever not allowed to be myself. I will be myself until they f—ing close the coffin, so that you can all be yourselves too."

"Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it."

"My real fans understand what it is I do, but on another level I have fans who just love my music and don’t know I write it and enjoy it shallowly — and that’s OK too. I think art and music should be just as powerful if you drink it shallow as if you drink it deep."

"You know, I have such an appreciation for where I am in my life because I've struggled and because I couldn't get signed, and because I couldn't get played on the radio, … There are times when it can be a lot to deal with but always when I get up in the morning I try to find that very joyful place that reminds me that I would die if someone took it all away. If someone did that I wouldn't be a person anymore."

"Right now the only thing that I am concerned with in my life is being an artist … I had to suppress it for so many years in high school because I was made fun of but now I'm completely insulated in my box of insanity and I can do whatever I like."

"My ideas about fame and art are not brand new … We could watch Paris is Burning, we could read The Warhol Diaries, we could go to a party in New York in 1973 and these same things would be being talked about. I guess you could say that I'm a bit of a Warholian copycat. Some people say everything has been done before, and to an extent they are right. I think the trick is to honour your vision and reference and put together things that have never been put together before. I like to be unpredictable, and I think it's very unpredictable to promote pop music as a highbrow medium."

"I don't want to see Bowie in a tracksuit. He never let anyone see him that way. The outlet for my work is not just the music and the videos, it's every breathing moment of my life. I'm always saying something about art and music and fame. That's why you don't ever catch me in sweatpants."

"I have found that my work has to be both deep and shallow … All of my songs have meaning, all of my clothing has iconography buried into it. But by the same token, it's just as special if you look at it in its shallowest form. A quick moment of melody, a beautiful dress. People think, "Gaga's so sweet", or "Gaga sucks". The point is that it's memorable. For commercial art to be taken seriously as fine art is a very unusual and difficult task. I think that a lot of people don't get it and a lot of people don't know what to make of me. And, you know what? I'm OK with that."

"I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be. A little gambling is fun when you're with me (I love it). Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun. And baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun."

"I want your love and I want your revenge You and me could write a bad romance"

"And I know that it's complicated But I'm a loser in love. So baby raise a glass to mend All the broken hearts Of all my wrecked up friends.I'll never talk again. Oh boy you've left me speechless. You've left me speechless, so speechless."

"Just a second, It's my favorite song they're gonna play. And I cannot text you with A drink in my hand, eh. You shoulda made some plans with me, You knew that I was free. And now you won't stop calling me; I'm kinda busy."

"I'm gonna marry the night. I won't give up on my life. I'm a warrior queen, Live passionately tonight.I'm gonna marry the dark, Gonna make love to the stark. I'm a soldier to my own emptiness. I am a winner."

"I'm beautiful in my way 'cause god makes no mistakes. I'm on the right track baby, I was born this way. Don't hide yourself in regret, Just love yourself and you're set. I'm on the right track baby, I was born this way."

"When he comes to me, I am ready. I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs, Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain. Even after three times, he betrays me. I’ll bring him down, bring him down, down, A king with no crown, king with no crown."

"I've had enough, this is my prayer. That I'll die living just as free as my hair."

"When I'm on a mission, I rebuke my condition. If you're a strong female you don't need permission."

"(Something), something about this place (Something), something, ‘bout lonely nights And my lipstick on your face Something, something about My cool Nebraska guy. Yeah, there's something about Baby, you and I."

"It's hard to feel the rush, To push the dangerous. I'm gonna run right to, to the edge with you, Where we can both fall over in love.I'm on the edge of glory, And I'm hanging on a moment of truth. Out on the edge of glory, And I'm hanging on a moment with you."

"I wanna be the girl under you (oh yeah) I wanna be your G.U.Y (yeah) I wanna be the grave and unearth you (oh yeah) Our sexes tell us no lies."

"I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong, to crash the critic saying Is it right or is it wrong? If only fame had an IV, Baby could I bear being away from you? I found the vein, put it in here."

"Tryin' to get control, Pressure's takin' its toll. Stuck in the middle zone, I just want you alone. My guessing game is strong, Way too real to be wrong. Caught up in your show, Yeah, at least now I know.It wasn't love, it wasn't love, It was a perfect illusion (Perfect illusion). Mistaken for love, it wasn't love, It was a perfect illusion (Perfect illusion). You were a perfect illusion."

"You're giving me a million reasons to let you go. You're giving me a million reasons to quit the show. You're givin' me a million reasons, Give me a million reasons, Givin' me a million reasons, About a million reasons.If I had a highway, I would run for the hills. If you could find a dry way, I'd forever be still. But you're giving me a million reasons, Give me a million reasons, Givin' me a million reasons, About a million reasons."

"I've got a hundred million reasons to walk away, But baby, I just need one good one to stay."

"I was born in Staten Island, New York. But I call my hometown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, because that's basically where I ended up from age eight on. But right after Staten Island... I've lived everywhere from Texas, to Japan for three years, to New Jersey. I'm this traveling girl. My father was in the Army, so I guess I'm an Army brat."

"I think an artist can fit under a few different categories depending on how much you explore your creativity. It can vary from artist to artist from musician to performer to vocalist. I thrive on creativity. So in the long run I want to be an all around entertainer."

"Even when I was little, I knew I was meant to perform. I would watch specials on TV or videos of Janet or Whitney, and I would start crying because I was like 'I want that so bad'."

"We are coming slowly but surely around a corner, not taking the things that we used to."

"I think that whatever size or shape body you have, it's important to embrace it and get down! The female body is something that's so beautiful. I wish women would be proud of their bodies and not dis other women for being proud of theirs!"

""You need to find the power within to make things happen for yourself. When you realize this, you are unstoppable.”"

"It was heartbreaking because I found out he played for your team, not mine."

"To be given the opportunity to help shape new artists' careers and mentor them to see their dreams come to fruition is a task I welcome with open arms."

"You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream, you've got to get out there and make it happen yourself."

"A reporter once asked me if I ever cried. I wonder if people think I'm just as hard as a rock and have no emotions at all."

"You know, you do need mentors; but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself."

"“I really, deeply believe that dreams do come true. Often, they might not come when you want them. They come in their own time.”"

"“My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities.”"

"So I'm not worried about the emotions I carry with me, because I'm happy that I have them I think it's good for the work I do. The emotions that are not healthy are the ones you hold inside, like anger."

"Diana Ross is a big inspiration to all of us. We all grew up watching everything about her - her mike placement, her grace, her style and her class."

"To have ego means to believe in your own strength. And to also be open to other people's views. It is to be open, not closed. So, yes, my ego is big, but it's also very small in some areas. My ego is responsible for my doing what I do — bad or good."

"A person who's a bitch would seem to be mean for no reason. I'm not a mean person. Maybe I'm rude without being aware of it — that's possible."

"Secretary Madeleine Albright was a good friend of mine for the last 28 years. I am so sad about losing a good friend and a great woman in this fragile world of ours. May you rest in peace dear one..."

"The world needs more people like Madeleine, whose instinct was to connect with others and build on what we share, rather than destroy lives and cities, like what’s happening in Ukraine today. Madeleine became very close to Colin Powell, her successor as secretary of state, who died last October"

"“Doubt can motivate you, so don’t be afraid of it. Confidence and doubt are at two ends of the scale, and you need both. They balance each other out.”"

"I arrived in Hollywood without having my nose fixed, my teeth capped, or my name changed. That is very gratifying to me."

"While I was waiting for them I made a few more phone calls, one to Barbra Streisand, whom I haven't seen since my election. I met her in a restaurant during the campaign when she came up to me and said she had a young son and wanted to do something for peace. She gave a fund-raising event for me in her new house in Manhattan, did a show and radio spots for me, and even came out on the streets and campaigned with me. “Ya betta win,” she used to say. She was great, and I really feel indebted to her."

"In the heyday of Barbra Streisand, it's hard to remember that every Jewish teenage girl of my generation whose nose "looked Jewish" longed for another chance."

"Why the fuck don't you shut up and just sing?"

"Women are the real architects of society."

"You don't have to be smart to act — look at the outgoing president of the United States."

"I love men! I think men are the coolest, but you don't really need them to live. My mom said to me, 'You know, sweetheart, one day you should settle down and marry a rich man. I said, "Mom, I am a rich man.""

"Follow this you bitches."

"Try to be in as many relationships as you can."

"I love having boyfriends. A girl can wait for the right man to come along – but in the meantime that doesn’t mean she can’t have a wonderful time with all the wrong ones."

"Don’t buy into the idea that women aren’t strong enough to do anything they want on their own."

""WTF is MDNA?"

"You don’t pay bucks to stand and look at someone. They’ve got to deliver something...And I’ve worked my whole life to keep my strength in my body. There are 20-year-old girls who can’t do what I do."

"You know, we had such a strange relationship. The day we got our divorce, he grabbed me, bent me backwards and kissed me, and we were hysterical. I couldn’t keep angry with him for some reason. I had a lot of anger, but I couldn’t stay angry."

"I love standing on the stage and singing. The feeling you have in your body when you sing."

"A lot of the biggest entertainers are shy. I’ve always been shy. But once I’m on stage and get hold of an audience, I know I can bring the room together as one. No matter how many thousands of people, I can bring it to where they are all friends. If you have a heartbreak or a sickness, for 90 minutes I can make you forget."

"Beyoncé: "I love that in the seventies Cher and Diana Ross looked like superstars and never played it safe. When they were onstage, they gave you drama—and I love drama.""

"Christina Aguilera:"

"Debbie Harry: "[On meeting Cher in the corridor of the BBC] She just walked past me and said, 'You go, girl!' All I could say was, 'Wow.' It was like a blessing from the pope!""

"Gregg Allman, ex-husband: "I was really glad that she never asked me what I thought of her singing, because I'm sorry, but she's not a very good singer. When she talks, she has the sexiest-sounding voice, and I tried to tell her that that's the way she ought to let it out when she sings. If she sang like she talked, good God. I guess Bono must have been on her every move, because he saw the gold mine in her. Without her, he would have been nothing[.]""

"Gwen Stefani: "[Cher] proved there's nothing she cannot do. She's a role model for showing us how to be strong and true to ourselves [and] a woman who is truly the definition of the word Icon.""

"Lady Gaga: "[On the outfit Cher wears in the music video for the song "If I Could Turn Back Time"] I dress like that! That's my everyday look. Maybe just sort of subliminally when I was younger, without even realizing it, one day I knew that [Cher] was the kind of woman I would become.""

"Pink: "[On writing for Cher's Closer to the Truth album] It's such an honor. I finally feel like a songwriter. And I'm such a fan.""

"Rob Halford of Judas Priest: "She has the most beautiful voice with a unique, rich texture that sets her apart. There's only one Cher—in her voice, her image, her humanitarianism, and her philanthropy. Her incredible longevity in music, coupled with the staying power she’s demonstrated, is truly remarkable. To remain an icon with such influence and respect is no small feat. She’s an extraordinary woman. I've always wanted to sit down with her, share a cup of tea or a meal, and just talk about life. She's so sincere, sweet, and genuine in everything she does.""

"Shania Twain: "She is the most diverse artist ever. I loved watching her go through all these evolutions in her life. She's funny. She's great at everything she does.""

"Tori Amos: "Cher has been able to show people that as she ages, she’s still sexy and sensual.""

"Drew Barrymore: "She's strong and comedic and incredibly brave, but shows vulnerability. I think she's the epitome of rock & roll.""

"Meryl Streep:"

"Nicolas Cage:"

"Olympia Dukakis: "I think she's been through so much, and she’s been very aware of people controlling her, so that she's really on guard. I think that’s what working in this business taught her.""

"Peter Bogdanovich: "[Cher] doesn't like men. That's why she's named Cher: She dropped her father's name ... She can't act. She won Best Actress at Cannes because I shot her very well. And she can't sustain a scene ... So I shot a lot of close-ups of her because she's very good in close-ups. Her eyes have the sadness of the world. You get to know her, you find out it's self-pity, but still, it translates well in movies. I shot more close-ups of her than I think in any picture I ever made ... Cher doesn't like me ... because I didn't like her. She was always looking like someone was cheating her ... But finally, after about seven weeks of this, we started getting to like each other ... and then when I sued the studio, she sided with the studio, of course. That was that.""

"Sarah Paulson: "I smelt Cher. I smelt the back of Cher's head ... Because I really love Cher; I think a lot of people love her for her music which I do, but I think she's one of the great actresses, I really do. So I was in her presence and I really wanted to go up to her but I was too nervous, so instead I went to the back of her and sort of pushed my nose between her hairs, parted it, and just hung out there for the count of, 'One-one thousand, two-one thousand'. She was about to turn around so I jumped and went back.""

"Whoopi Goldberg: "Elvis. Sinatra. Cher. There have been a handful of entertainers who are instantly recognizable by just one name. She not only marches to the beat of her own drum honey, she is a one woman band. In a word—she's Cher.""

"Zendaya: "Thank you, Cher. Thank you for being an advocate, for being an ally, for painting the way for so many humans of all kinds to live in and speak their truth and to have the courage to be as daring and as open-hearted as you. Cher once said, 'You should never be inhibited by what people expect you to do.' And those are words I hope we can all learn to live by.""

"Bob Mackie:"

"Marc Jacobs: "[Working with Cher] has been a dream of mine for a very, very long time. [Growing up,] other boys were out fascinated by other things, [but] I was like, no, I'd really much rather see what Cher's wearing this week.""

"Music is therapy for me. It's my outlet for every negative thing I've ever been through. It lets me turn something bad into something beautiful."

"I saw Amadeus when I was nine years old and fell in love with Mozart. The part of Mozart's Requiem called "Lacrymosa" is my favorite piece of music ever. I always wished we could cover it, but with programming and guitars and make it cool. It's our moment to try all the things I wanted to and couldn't, so I started messing with it in Protools. Terry wrote some riffs and turned it into this awesome metal epic."

"Don’t count, feel! The only count I know, is Count Basie!"

"This is sad. I just think it’s a little ridiculous we are still only looking at the surface of one another. Red hair? Blue hair? Pink? Blonde? Short? Long? Whatever. We might as well shave our heads. Hair has nothing to do with the reason we playing music. It’s a style. Something that will never last as long as the songs we play and the words we sing. Listen up ladies in bands, I’m so proud to be one of you and I don’t care if we all look exactly alike or if we are all carbon copies of each other. We have things to say and it’s up to us to get people to not just look but to LISTEN!"

"Love that so many of you are saying your 2 fav bands are Green Day & Paramore. Do you even realize how cool that is for us to hear!?"

"No boy is worth your teenage years!." "For me to be in love with someone means that I have to accept who I am, and not allow another person to define me. And if someone loves me in spite of all that, then that's a start."

"i have the ability to build myself up or break myself down. i stay positive. strength comes from within."

"This is what I've learned, in my life: is crucial. Growing up is hard to do. There's nothing wrong with wearing a dress."

""Boys! Hey boys out there: NEVER kiss a girl unless she says she... wants you to! Alright?!" "Never kiss a girl again. Unless she tells you she wants you to." (To the crowd, about a fan who just kissed her, and then to that boy)"

"“It’s odd to look out there and see a bunch of Mini-Mes,” says Williams. “You’re wondering what possessed them to do such a thing . . . It sort of does a reverse psychology on you. You’d think you’d be like `Hey, all these people want to look like me. I feel pretty cool.’ But actually it makes you feel more self aware and I’m not really fond of that.”"

"“I wake up in the morning and sometimes I just want to wear a T-shirt and blue jeans and now I have to force myself to do that, because I can’t care what people think, you know? . . ."

"stay as strong as you can and during the times you can't, let other people be strong for you."

"I'm always wrong But you're never right"

"Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change, once a whore you're nothing more, I'm sorry that'll never change. And about forgiveness we're both supposed to have exchanged. I'm sorry honey but I pass it up now look this way: There's a million other girls who do it just like you; looking as innocent as possible to get to who they want, and what they like it's easy if you do it right. Well I REFUSE, I REFUSE, I REFUSE!"

"If you wanna play it like a game, well, come one, come on, let's play. Cause I'd rather waste my life pretending; than have to forget you for one whole minute ..."

"We all learn to make mistakes and run from them."

"I'm only human. I've got a skeleton in me. But I'm not the villian, despite what you're always preaching."

"Why do you care what people think? Are you hooked up to their leash? You know anklebiters ate up your personality Try to remember how it felt To just make up your own steps And let anklebiters chew up and spit out someone else"

"I'm delighted to say I know Hayley and that she is an awesome girl. She's always up for being supportive and helping people out so it comes as no surprise that she decided to help me out with Jamie Murphy's competition. I have two passions in life - Motherwell FC and Paramore. I attend every Motherwell home match and I've seen Paramore nine times - six of those on the last tour they did here."

"First off, Paramore is the shit,I've always been a Hayley fan, and to work with her, that's another thing I didn't think would happen to me as soon as it did."

"Williams is one of the few who was unafraid to call out the mistreatment within emo, reminding people that it wasn’t always a safe space and refusing to become a “nostalgia band” by transcending the genre instead. The mark of a truly gifted frontperson is also their ability to speak out, and Williams has that in spades."

"Paramore wouldn’t be the band they are today without the vocal talent and creativity of lead singer Hayley Williams. From the moment their debut album, All We Know Is Falling, released in 2005, her name has been synonymous with women who defined alternative music. With over 15 years of making her mark on the scene, Williams has continued to support other women by providing them a platform and showcasing their artistry on Instagram. She’s a force in the music industry and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon."

"While sexism hurts women most intimately, it also damages men severely."

"My mom was a housewife, and wasn't somebody that people would think of as a feminist, and when Ms. magazine came out we were incredibly inspired by it. I used to cut pictures out of it and make posters that said "Girls can do anything", and stuff like that, and my mom was inspired to work at a basement of a church doing anti-domestic violence work. Then she took me to the Solidarity Day thing, and it was the first time I had ever been in a big crowd of women yelling, and it really made me want to do it forever."

"I realized that was a pretty radical thing to do, because if you're present, you're going to be different every time. You're not going to give everybody what they want, which is the cardboard character. But you will give those five people there who get it what they want, because they'll be like, "I could totally do that." Whatever crazy shit they have in their heads. Maybe they'll realize, if she's getting away with it, maybe I can totally get away with this thing that I think is better."

"Interview Index (2000)."

"You don't necessarily have to have talent, you can just get up and do something and see where it takes you. I always tell girls who say they want to start a band but don't have any talent, well, neither do I. I mean, I can carry a tune, but anyone who picks up a bass can figure it out. You don't have to have magic unicorn powers."

"So many women have experienced horrific forms of male violence throughout their lives, and why isn't there a song about how you get depressed because of it? And you don't know what to do, and you don't know how to talk to your friends and how weird it is to be a feminist in that situation, where there's sort of the expectation that you're super-strong superwoman but you're just, like, eating pizza in your house avoiding talking about it."

"People have always had these weird things about how you have to be really good looking to be a singer. I mean, it's not like Stevie Nicks or Linda Ronstadt were dogs. It's not like this is some new thing. But there was at one point a larger variety, but now the catchphrase is "the whole package," the "American Idol" reality that you're a model first and a singer second."

"We wanted to start a magazine, and Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman from the band Bratmobile had started a little fanzine called Riot Grrrl and we were writing little things for it. I'd always wanted to start a big magazine with really cool, smart writing in it, and I wanted to see if the other punk girls in D.C. that I was meeting were interested in that. So I called a meeting and found a space for it, and it just turned into this sort of consciousness-raising thing. I realized really quickly that a magazine wasn't the way to go. People wanted to be having shows, and teaching each other how to play music, and writing fanzines, so that started happening. It got some press attention, and girls in other places would be like "I wanna do that. I wanna start one of those.""

"Because we don't wanna assimilate to someone else's (boy) standards of what is or isn't."

"I feel like when I work that is my time to express myself and to be creative and to really delve into somebody else’s mind, heart and psyche. That is my thing."

"I would do anything for Giancarlo and Valentino, When we were on a road trip in Italy for my 30th birthday, my father got pneumonia and…he just kind of died on me. It was horrible. But Giancarlo and Valentino were godsends. They came to my rescue. When somebody does a thing like that for you, well, you just love them beyond words."

"I thought being invisible would be great. Then I started thinking about it. It would be a bit creepy standing around and watching people. Don't you think? Then I thought a power that allowed you to light fires would be handy. I would be dangerous if you couldn't handle it, but I always have trouble at home finding matches to light candles. So if I could just walk around and light the candles with my finger, that would be kind of cool."

"He (Tony Stark) is flawed, but he’s a great man. He goes through this whole incredible resurrection. He really takes adversity and uses it as an opportunity and that’s a sign of greatness."

"You can’t be prejudiced just because it’s big budget."

"I was so bad with the food and alcohol in Nashville. If you saw me naked compared to what I looked like when I did Iron Man 2, when I was exercising every day — I'll get it back together, but I've never eaten so much fried food and white flour in my life, ever."

"I think that it’s a very smart decision actually to have women that are capable and intelligent because it appeals to women. You know, so it’s not only a film for fifteen-year-old boys. It’s a film that can relate to a lot of people on a lot of levels. A lot of my girlfriends like it because of the romance or like Scarlett is in the trailer and it is appealing. 'Ooh who is she?' and it doesn’t look gratuitous. It looks like there are interesting women in the movie."

"I've learned so much from being a mom about the kind of person I want to be, the kind of woman I want to be. Motherhood has taught me mindfulness. If you just parent on instinct, you'll screw your kid up for life. You have to be so mindful.""

"I can do short jobs. If I was still starring in three movies every year, there’s no way that I’d be the person my kids want when they fall down."

"I feel my most beautiful when I am truly myself. Meaning, when I accept exactly where I am in time and space, and I’m not judging myself in any way, and I feel that I have the peace that comes with loving yourself and all of your flaws, I see so much now how beauty really does, as cliché as it sounds, emanate from within."

"I kind of had a disaster, I was doing a show, and I changed there, and I couldn’t wear underwear — I don’t think I can tell this story on TV … Let’s just say everyone went scrambling for a razor, so I went from being the most beautiful to the most humiliated in one day."

"I asked my Dad once, "How did you and Mum stay married for 33 years?" He said. "Well, we never wanted to get divorced at the same time.""

"I don't want to do anything to change my face, I like the fact that I'm 41, that I've been through everything I've been through. And I like my lines, but at the same time you want to look the best version of yourself as you age. You want to age gracefully. And I think it's beautiful to get older, and to embrace the life that you've lived, but I also think part of that is wanting to look after your skin a little bit more, and just be a little more proactive."

"It's nice to be recognized for your work with an Oscar, but I don't let it define me, ... [but] when I’m home with my kids, I’m still just Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow."

"You don’t have to always fight. Be a girl. Show him that he’s a man, and it’s a good thing energetically to do. … [Their insecurity] depends on how many blow jobs you give them."

"My perspective has been forever altered by how difficult it was to eat wholesome, nutritious food on that budget, even for just a few days -- a challenge that 47 million Americans face every day, week, and year, I'm not suggesting everyone eat organic food from some high horse in the sky. I'm saying everyone should be able to afford fresh, real food. And if women were paid an equal wage, families might have more of a choice in the grocery aisles, not to mention in the rest of their lives."

"It's an exciting time to be a woman. When I was a kid the "power of women" or "women power" was a phrase that seemed to carry on it a call of action. I dream of what could be in the future. The women that I grew up around they they seem to feel their power but they also seem to shy away from the full expression of it, or they expressed in unthreatening ways that were not disruptive. When I was a young women in Hollywood if you were a woman focused on building your career you were labeled "ambitious", and it was a bad word. So I was decidedly not. And adopted a kind of an, 'Ooh, how did this happen to me?' approach. I believed that wanting my success was somehow a bad thing."

"Today, the power of women rings a bit differently and you can feel the shift."

"There no longer seems to be the fear of retribution, we are empowering each other. We are encouraging each other to change business models, to try new ventures. We are banding together to support each other, to give each other advice, to change our existing culture. I believe that we are on the verge of creating a new antitype."

"It is possible to be a woman who is intelligent, thoughtful, articulate, ambitious while being a woman who is maternal, nurturing, sexual and for other women."

"First of all I was like, ‘I’m the most hated celebrity?’ More than, like, ? What did I do? All I can do is be my authentic self, but I think there are things about me that make people draw conclusions. For example, there is the perception that I grew up very wealthy and that I was given, you know, that I was sort of raised with a silver spoon in my mouth, which inspires a lot of resentment. He [my father] said, ‘You are completely on your own. So he never gave me anything. I never had any supplementation, he never helped me with my rent, I never had a trust fund. So the idea that I am spoiled or that I didn’t work for what I have, that’s just not accurate. But I can see how somebody might have that perception."

"We have a bit of fun now and we’ll affiliate link to a $15,000 gold dildo just to troll people, we look for products that will create that kind of reaction."

"I don’t hold on to fear as much as I used to, because I’ve learned a lot about genuinely not caring what strangers think about me. It’s very liberating. It’s very empowering, and I’ve learned a lot of that from Jay—Shawn Carter—Z, because his approach to life is very internal. It’s a very good lesson to learn. source"

"When you go to Paris and your concierge sends you to some restaurant because they get a kickback, it’s like, ‘No. Where should I really be? Where is the great bar with organic wine? Where do I get a bikini wax in Paris?’ source"

"We’re human beings and the sun is the sun — how can it be bad for you? I think we should all get sun and fresh air. I don’t think anything that is natural can be bad for you — it’s really good to have at least 15 minutes of sun a day. source"

"Well, I lost half-a-day of skiing"

"At the time, by her own admission Gwyneth had been in a bad place, devastated by the tragic death, just three weeks earlier, of her beloved father, the producer/director Bruce Paltrow. Yet with Martin’s help, she slowly gained the strength to overcome her grief, prompting her to tell the Sun newspaper that it was ‘heaven sent’ that she met him because he (Chris) ‘really saved’ her. source"

"Gwyneth Paltrow is attempting to eat for a week on a $29 budget to draw attention to what it’s like to live on food stamps as part of the Food Bank for New York City’s #FoodBankNYCChallenge. It’s a well-intentioned idea. It’s also a horrible one."

"What she is inadvertently doing is making a mockery of those for whom poverty is not a choice and does not last for a just few days. It’s poverty tourism, plain and simple, and it needs to stop."

"It is absolutely absurd that someone with so much to give would choose to play-act poor for awareness."

"I have everything I want. I really can't think of any ambitions or things to strive for. I don't want to leave the house, I'm happy at home, I really am. I am."

"I've been living in New York for about seven years and a lot of the people that I started singing with don't sing any more, don't write any more. So the fact that I can still do that that's kind of a gift, that's what I sort of stay focused on."

"If you consider the definition of authenticity, it's saying something and actually doing it. I write my own songs. I made my own videos. I pick my producers. Nothing goes out without my permission. It's all authentic."

"Being human is difficult. Some people make it more difficult than others. I was one of those people."

"When I found somebody who I fell in love with, it made me feel different than I felt the rest of the day. It was electrifying. That's what inspired the 'Off to the Races' melodies. That's one of the times when you're feeling electrified by someone else and they make you happy to be alive."

"I have a personal ambition to live my life honestly and honor the true love that I’ve had and also the people I’ve had around me. I want to stay hopeful, even though I get scared about why we’re even alive at all."

"I wanted to be part of a high-class scene of musicians. It was half-inspired because I didn't have many friends, and I was hoping that I would meet people and fall in love and start a community around me, the way they used to do in the '60s."

"If all that I was actually going to be allowed to have by the media was money, loads of money, then fuck it … What I actually wanted was something quiet and simple: a writer's community and respect."

"There is a high fantasy element in the music, but I’m incredibly plugged into what’s going on politically, socially and pretty much in every way except pop-culturally. I’ve had a very real life, and there have been a lot of things that took a lot of strength and wherewithal to figure out… things I’m still figuring out. That’s probably why the music has such an element of escapism to it"

"When you’re an introvert like me and you’ve been lonely for a while, and then you find someone who understands you, you become really attached to them. It’s a real release."

"My best friends are rappers my boyfriends have been rappers. My dearest friends have been from all over the place, so before you make comments again about a WOC/POC issue, I’m not the one storming the capital, I’m literally changing the world by putting my life and thoughts and love out there on the table 24 seven. Respect it."

"Herbert von Karajan always rolled out a magic carpet for us, the singers. With him, our musical work took on another dimension."

"The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends."

"[About George McGovern] He is a spiritually evolved political leader."

"Quite often I feel forced to write against the stereotype. As much as you would like to ignore the stereotype, saying it's totally irrelevant, actually you can't. It impinges on your life a lot, it impacts on your work, and I know that quite often I write against the stereotype and I react against the stereotype. One stereotype of Asian Americans is that we're really serious, and we never have any fun, and we have no sense of humor. When Shirley MacLaine made an early trip to China and then she came back with a documentary, one of the things she said on the documentary was that "they have no sense of humor," and "we told all these jokes and they didn't laugh." I think I might overemphasize showing how Chinese and Chinese Americans are the most raucous people: they laugh so much, they're telling jokes, and they're always standing up and performing for one another. They're so outgoing. And so in China Men and in Tripmaster Monkey I really go overboard to emphasize that part of the character. I also think that being able to laugh and to be funny-those are really important human characteristics, and when we say that people don't have those characteristics, then we deny them their humanity."

"People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing."

"Mrs. Jenkins could dream if she could not sing."

"Critics have long wondered whether Coloratura Jenkins' art can be described as singing at all. But she will intrepidly attack any aria, scale its altitudes in great swoops and hoots, assaying its descending trills with the vigor of a maudlin cuckoo."

"She never knew how bad she was."

"It's so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance."

"Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it's just death."

"I am not alone. I am free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody, I don't have to be a first to anybody. I don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I'd become. I'm me, and I'm like nobody else."

""Always be smarter than the people who hire you.“"

"I made a promise to myself to be kinder to other people."

"My friend, Miss Lena Horne"

"One of my fondest personal memories was Lena Horne and Mike Douglas. We were booked to do "Here's to My Lady" and a prolonged medley together on a Kraft Music Hall Special. I was so thrilled, I kept making mistakes in rehearsal just so we'd have to do it over again."

"As the first Black woman to fill a football stadium. That is a wish of mine. It hasn't been done. Janis Joplin did it for the White girls. I want to do it for the Blacks."

"I didn't have anybody, really, no foundation in life, so I had to make my own way. Always. From the start. I had to go out in the world and become strong, to discover my mission in life."

"If you are unhappy with anything — your mother, your father, your husband, your wife, your job, your boss, your car — whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out."

"I will never give in to old age until I become old. And I am not old yet!"

"Well, it was a church person in the early days, Mahalia Jackson. And Rosetta Tharpe. These spiritual, very strong voices. I only knew that they were figures in the black race, recognizable and respected. But I must admit, I've always covered the songs of males. I haven't followed up on women or listened to that much women's music."

"My work is noisy, but my life is quiet. I need nature and solitude — they nurture me. My idea of a vacation is reading a book on the terrace while my boyfriend cooks us dinner."

"I like me very much. When I look in the mirror and my skin glows back at me, I think, "Wow, that sure is pretty." I have a simple, childlike view of life, and I want to keep it. That's why I never got into that Beverly Hills world. So many pretentious people. They just aren't real."

"I am strong, I lived through a divorce, separation from my family, all kinds of hell. I never let it break me down. I'm not an alcoholic, I've never smoked, I've never done drugs. I've floated through the disaster of my past clean."

"My greatest beauty secret is being happy with myself. I don't use special creams or treatments – I'll use a little bit of everything. It's a mistake to think you are what you put on yourself. I believe that a lot of how you look is to do with how you feel about yourself and your life."

"People think my life has been tough but I think it's been a wonderful journey. The older you get, the more you realise it's not what happens, it's how you deal with it."

"I was never glamorous. I was always a little rock 'n' roll and a little funky and all of that. I didn't care about being glamorous and all of that. I just loved the freedom that I had and I enjoyed the work and the band and all of that. That was the love. That truly was the love at the time."

"There's always been an emotion in my voice because it reached back to the life I was living. Where there were tears on stage, it wasn't Hollywood, it was real."

"Someone once asked me about the relationship between singing and chanting. I explained that chanting is not necessarily like singing a song, rather it's that moment when you find yourself making sounds from within – from your heart, from your spirit. Each person has a song inside. That is something I learned over time. You can find the hum inside of you that can give you peace when you are really down."

"I never said, "Well, I don't have this and I don't have that." I said, "I don't have this yet, but I'm going to get it." The way I was thinking, I was choreographing my own life, figuring out which steps to take and, more importantly, picking the right time to take them."

"You have to be someone large on stage, not who you are in your everyday life. When I was performing, I believed that every song told a story, which I expressed through singing and movement. My audience wanted theater, and that's what we gave them. You start out not knowing who they are, or how active they will be, but you want to impress them. If they were quiet and they didn't move, then we had to work together, me, the girls, and the band, to pull them in and show them how to have a good time."

"My wildest dream was to have this kind of success – to pack a stadium, to walk out on a stage and look at the crowd, knowing that they came to see me. What a wonderful turn my life had taken. After so much unhappiness, after thinking that love of any kind would never be a part of my story, love was all around me."

"Let me say this carefully, because I don't want anyone to take it the wrong way, but after working so hard for so many years, I was ready to stop. This was the moment to do it because I wanted to finish with my fans remembering me at my best."

"My longest love affair has been with my audience."

"Buddhism teaches equality — the empowering principle that everyone has the potential to attain enlightenment and become absolutely, indestructibly happy. When we come to see this potential in ourselves, we can see and respect it in everyone else, too. As the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) president Daisaku Ikeda says: "When we realize that our lives are one with the great and eternal life of the universe, we are the Buddha. The purpose of Buddhism is to enable all people to come to this realization." This is so important because it’s open to everyone, regardless of culture, language, even religion. It’s a reminder that everyone equally has the potential for Buddhahood, for enlightenment, and that our salvation is up to us."

"Even on the saddest days, one thing helps: treasuring happy memories and looking forward."

"It hurts to have to remember those times, but at a certain stage forgiveness takes over. Forgiving means not to hold on. You let it go, because it only hurts you. Not forgiving, you suffer, 'cause you think about it over and over again. And for what? I had an abusive life, there's no other way to tell the story, it's a reality, it's a truth. That's what you've got. So you have to accept it."

"Spirituality isn’t tied to any one religion or philosophy. It isn’t the property of a priesthood or clergy. Spirituality is a personal awakening and relationship with our Mother Earth and the universe that increases openness and positivity. My awakening began five decades ago through my practice and study of Buddhist teachings. Sharing the story of this most precious part of my life with you is a long-cherished dream. This book carries my personal guidance on how to create lasting happiness. It explains spiritual truths I’ve learned on my unlikely path to joy, from childhood to today."

"Each of us is born, I believe, with a unique mission, a purpose in life that only we can fulfill. We are linked by a shared responsibility: to help our human family grow kinder and happier. I first learned about the workings of the universe from my daily experiences growing up in Nutbush, Tennessee, a small rural town. I loved spending time outside, running through the fields, looking up at the heavenly bodies in the sky, spending time with animals—domestic and wild ones—and listening to the sounds of nature. Even as a little girl, I sensed an unseen universal force as I walked through the wide-open pastures each day. Communing with nature taught me to trust my intuition, which always seemed to know the way home when I was lost, the best branch on a tree for swinging, or where a treacherous rock was hidden in a stream. I learned to listen to my heart, which taught me that you and I are connected to each other and everything else on this planet. We are joined together by the mysterious nature of life itself, the fundamental creative energy of the universe. In this complicated world of ours, where contradictions abound, we find breathtaking beauty in the most unlikely places. The brightest rainbows appear after the heaviest of storm clouds. Magnificent butterflies emerge from the drabbest cocoons. And the most beautiful lotus flowers bloom from the deepest and thickest mud. Why do you suppose life works this way? Perhaps those rainbows, butterflies, and lotus flowers are meant to remind us that our world is a mystical work of art—a universal canvas upon which we all paint our stories, day by day, through the brushstrokes of our thoughts, words, and deeds."

"No matter where you’re born or who your parents are, it seems to me that we all start out with a mixture of circumstances, with both darkness and light. Some of us experience more of one than the other. And I believe there is an inextricable link between us and our ancestors, that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it’s that encountering adversity, as I have, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s what we make of it, how we use it to shape ourselves and our futures, that ultimately determines our success and happiness."

"I had witnessed the circle of life and death in nature, where plants and animals came and went in their own time. And I had heard about deaths in our community, young and old people, dying in all sorts of circumstances. But this time it was very personal. After Margaret died, there was a lot of talk about God's will. Our community was deeply Baptist, after all, and that was a natural response to the sudden tragedy that killed her and a few other young people, including my half sister Evelyn (my mother's child from a previous relationship). Thinking about the mysteries of life and death, I didn’t have a problem with the concept of an underlying universal force. But the idea of a bearded old white man in space, monitoring activities here on Earth, felt unrelatable and just plain unreal. I couldn't verbalize my own vision of God then, as the vocabulary hadn't come to me yet. But from the youngest age I can recall, I knew I could experience "Godliness" in Mother Nature. Something told me I had a piece of God in my heart, even if the traditional beliefs of my family and the way they practiced religion weren't right for me. I wished they practiced what they preached and lived more positive lives."

"The challenges we face in life can come from outside ourselves, or they can come from within. I know from personal experience that there are sometimes negative voices in your head, and they can be dangerous. These voices may say you’re too old, too young, too gay, too straight, too thin, too fat, too this, too that. The voices may tell you it’s too late for your dreams, or that no one will love you. They may tell you all sorts of lies to keep you trapped in unhealthy cycles of self-doubt. Maybe you've allowed your negative voices to undermine your self-esteem, to hinder your work, or to keep you locked in unhealthy relationships. If so, it's time to tell those voices you've heard their propaganda, and you're not going to take it anymore. Dismiss them, and you will be the only one holding the pen as you write the story of your life."

"Imagination, visualizing, and dreaming big, combined with hard work, determination, and faith, are what got me where I wanted to go, and they can do the same for you. If you ever find your resolve melting away, tell yourself, “This time I’ll do it! This time I’ll win!” As long as you keep moving forward, despite any disappointments and setbacks, you will be on the path to victory. I’ve observed people who veered from the path of self-improvement, having been swayed by short-term outlooks, failures, or by the opinions of others. In every case, their life condition suffered. Thankfully, I’ve known many more people who strived to improve themselves and work for the greater good. Invariably, their lives became more fulfilling. It boils down to a matter of choices—making thoughtful decisions toward improvement, for yourself and for others—and the intention behind those choices. At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought. Remember that cultivating the deepest dimension of yourself, your inward journey, is always the most direct path to happiness. So, let’s rev up our humanity, and rev up our lives. Think of the rev in the word revolution as meaning you have the opportunity to accelerate the speed of your human revolution and rev it up. I know you’ll be happy you did."

"My Buddhist faith has been the foundation of my personal path toward revolution. But you don’t have to be a Buddhist to benefit from these principles. In fact, you don’t have to be a Buddhist to be a Buddha. As Daisaku Ikeda says, "When we realize that our lives are one with the great and eternal life of the universe, we are the Buddha. The purpose of Buddhism is to enable all people to come to this realization." This mind-set is open to everyone, regardless of religion or cultural background. The Lotus Sutra’s ancient wisdom belongs to all humanity, proclaiming that each person equally possesses the Buddha nature, with infinite potential and inherent dignity, lighting the way to true independence and absolute happiness for everyone."

"I like reading the comments on my online accounts as much as anyone. But I also know there is a lot of toxicity online, and many people aren’t as kind to others in the virtual world as my fans are to me. Commonplace distortions in the online world — with manipulated images and selective sharing that shows people enjoying a seemingly carefree, “perfect” life — are an unhealthy influence on the mind, especially young minds. From the priorities I see being valued online today, and in the media in general, it’s no wonder that many people think that aspiring to be a billionaire is the most important thing in the world. It’s no wonder people feel increasingly divided and lonely. In reality, what we need most right now are legions of billionaires of the heart, multitudes of masters of the mind, and models of peace, equality, and unity in diversity. That, in my opinion, is what upcoming generations need to see. I hope that, somehow, in the near future, the various technological poisons that society is facing can be turned into healing medicine. At the moment, the best solution is to simply spend less time on our phones, tablets, and computers and more time with each other, with real human beings, face-to-face, heart-to-heart. When I’m at home with Erwin, we make it a point not to get distracted by phones at mealtimes. Not that screens and devices are the only culprits. I often find it hard to tear myself away from the book I’m reading — I know you can relate if you love to read as much as I do. But I resist, because no novel can compare to sharing time with my dear partner. I know that the last thing anyone ever wants to do is think about death, but as someone who has faced my own mortality time and again, I am all too aware that life is short and can end at any moment. Being always aware of the limited time we have here on Earth, and making the most of it, for the good of all, is also a part of my spiritual practice."

"We must do our part to prevent barriers from rising between one human heart and another. We must curb the trend of neighbors no longer knowing each other, while they seek a sense of shared identity with people elsewhere, perhaps even in other countries, separating themselves along racial, religious, or national lines. This fracturing of society is unsustainable. We all have a number of aspects to our identities. My identity has included many ingredients in this lifetime, including: daughter, sister, Baptist, singer, American, mother, Buddhist, actress, Swiss, spouse, and more. But the most important, core identity that I share with you and every other person on the planet is this: human. I believe that only by awakening to this shared identity can we save ourselves, individually and collectively, from the problems we face around the world. We must urgently work together to find solutions that can transform the global poisons of systemic racism and homophobia, climate crisis, pandemics, loss of the Amazon jungle, factory farming of animals, fossil fuel consumption, nuclear weapons, plastic pollution, and more. The universal solution to all of the problems confronting humanity is for us to unite as one global team, honoring our truest roots as members of the same circle of life. Uniting in this spirit is my hope and prayer for future generations."

"The good, the bad, the ugly, and the pretty, it all adds up to me. I honor my journey, all of it. Changing the past would mean changing me. And I like me, just the way I am. Why would I want to change anything? Depending on who asks the question, I occasionally throw a curveball with a deeper, more philosophical answer, along these lines: I’ve already changed my past, by turning poison into medicine, and by raising my life condition, which transforms my perception of the past. Our perception determines the way events affect us. So, when we change the way a past event affects us, we effectively change the past. In other words, since past, present, and future are seamlessly connected, a change in the present moment has the power to affect a change in everything throughout all directions of space and time. Every now and then, when I share this answer, I’m told that I sound like a Jedi master from Star Wars, so I don’t share it often. But I hope you enjoy hearing it."

"On an even deeper level, the reason I happily and gratefully accept everything I went through in the past is because I believe every detail of my life is both my karma and my mission. We are all born with a mission, a purpose, that only we can fulfill. When you live with a joyful sense of purpose, when you infuse your life with a greater purpose beyond your individual self, every aspect of your karma can become a brilliant facet of your mission. You can transform sorrow and adversity of any sort into joy, stability, health, and prosperity. By changing poison into medicine and accomplishing your inner revolution, you can use every experience of karma to encourage others who suffer from the same problems that you overcame. You can become an ambassador of hope, an essential and radiant treasure of humanity, in which you recognize that all who have ever lived are members of your extended family. As you continue to spread light in this way, actively doing good in the world, that energy will come back to you in abundant positivity. When you refuse to perpetuate any bad that has been done to you, you can free yourself from the chains of negativity."

"Use your life for peace and goodwill. Keep on going until you climb the summit of your happiest dreams. I hope that what I’ve offered in this little book will be of service to you in your ascent to new heights of fulfillment. Thank you for letting me share my life with you. Thank you for opening your heart and mind to my words. I wish you well on your journey to joy, and I leave you with this final thought, my greatest wish and prayer for you:"

"When I think of soul, I think of grease 'cause ain't nothin' no good without the grease."

"Sometimes I'm tossed and driven, Lord, Sometimes I don't know where to go. My mother and father won't own me, So I'll try to make heaven my home."

"We never, ever, do nothin' nice and easy. We always do it nice and rough."

"There are two sides to everybody, A good side and a bad, A side to make you happy, A side to make you mad."

"A church house, gin house, A school house, outhouse On highway number nineteen, The people keep the city clean."

"Some of us are livin' in an earthly heaven, Lord, some of us are livin' in hell. Yeah, we're livin' in hell, Right here."

"King of the jungle, The lion he roars, But the lioness calmly Soothes his soul."

"People often ask me when am I gonna slow down. You know what I tell 'em? I'm just gettin' started."

"What is life without a dream to hold? Take my hand and never let me go!"

"Beyond the power – you find the flower. Beyond the bound – you find new ground."

"In the beginning, we all depend on attention and affection of our mother or other caring people. Without love and care, we cannot survive. Without loving action, we miss the meaning of life."

"She's a good-hearted woman in love with a good-timin' man. She loves him in spite of his ways she don't understand. With teardrops and laughter they pass through this world hand in hand, A good-hearted woman, lovin' a good-timin' man."

"Standing up there next to her was the hottest place in the universe."

"Ike was often unpredictable in his actions and reactions, while Tina Turner only very rarely lost her composure even in her hardest times. For the band and all the other employees, she was always something like a haven of tranquility in the big thunderstorm."

"I have to admit, I learned a lot from her and the way she saw music. She would say something like, "Oh, don't play that chord that sounds like running water." Or, "That is too blue. Give me more green." My first thought as a music snob was, "Oh come on! I have to figure out what green or water means? Take some time and learn what a chord is!" That was my big mistake! It took me a few years to realize that if I could realize what she was saying by learning to speak her language, she was always right! She was always right and in a way taught me so much. Her musical instincts are absolutely impeccable. People like to say, "Oh yeah, she's got the great legs. She's got a great voice. She's a great singer and dancer. She is a great personality." They talk about the hair and everything else. Those are all true but the thing I have the most respect for is as a band leader and a record producer. Very rarely did she take a credit as a record producer but, I swear, she knew everything everybody was playing and she knew how to make it better! [...] I was so lucky to be around one of the major musical forces of the late 20th century! She truly is amazing!"

"Success doesn't change you; fame does."

"You've got to know who you are before you step into this business, because if you're trying to find it, you'll probably wind up being somebody else, that you probably don't even like."

"You can fool people. You can fool anybody any time of the day, but you can't fool yourself. At night, when you go home, you've got to be straight up with you."

"“I broke my heart for every gain, to taste the sweet I faced the pain.”"

""I finally faced the fact that it isn’t a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems.”"

"I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow; if I fail, or if I succeed at least I did as I believe."

"Nobody makes me do anything I don't want to do. It's my decision. So the biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy. And that's how I have to deal with it."

"I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside."

"It’s an increasingly rare case for a solo artist to see exponential success from back to back decades, and Whitney Houston was certainly that exception."

"I've never had any other loving heartfelt desire. From the minute I heard music I knew why I was born. To make music to play to listen to music, and for some reason I have been lucky enough to llive this beautiful life as a musicisan. I don't know. I love all things "nature". I'm an animal lover, but I don't have the smarts to be a vet, or the heart to have been a vet cause I cry over any wounded animal. … I might have been maybe a zoo keeper helping feed the animals. Feeding or petting the big cats or whatever. I don't know what else I would have done, because I love music too much. For anyone who has that calling and is trying also to make a living at it, it is really hard. Getting gigs and getting listened to. Getting respect, it's hard. Its what bonds us all because we have been so rejected and dejected. Yet we know in our hearts why we are here."

"From a distance, there is harmony And it echoes through the land It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace It's the voice of every man."

"From a distance we are instruments Marching in a common band Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace They're the songs of every man."

"From a distance you look like my friend Even though we are at war From a distance I just cannot comprehend What all this war is for."

"From a distance there is harmony And it echoes through the land And it's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves It's the heart of every man (Every man). It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves This is the song of every man."

"Believing in the one thing That has gotten us this far — That's what love is for To help us through it That's what love is for Nothing else can do it Melt our defenses Bring us back to our senses Give us strength to try once more Baby, that's what love is for."

"Sometimes I see you And you don't know why I'm there And I'm washed away by emotions I hold deep down inside Getting stronger with time It's living through the fire And holding on we find That's what love is for …"

"Round off the edges Talk us down from the ledges Give us strength to try once more Baby, that's what love is for That's what love is for"

"True love is frozen in time I'll be your champion and you'll be mine I will remember you So please remember I will remember you"

"I realize everybody wants what they don't have. But at the end of the day, what you have inside is much more beautiful than what's on the outside!"

"I have my moments of insecurity and figuring out what's going on and what I'm supposed to do, but if you don't push yourself, you're not growing, so where do you go?"

"In 2014 this stage was actually the first time that I was authentically, 100 percent honest with all of you. I think it’s safe to say that all of you know my life whether I like it or not. I had to stop because I had everything and I was absolutely broken inside. I kept it all together enough to where I would never let you down but I kept it too much together to where I let myself down. I don’t want to see your bodies on Instagram. I want to see what’s in here [holds chest]. I’m not trying to get validation nor do I need it anymore. All I can say from the bottom of my heart is I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be able to share what I love every single day with people that I love. I have to say thank you so much to my fans because you guys are so damn loyal and I don’t know what I did to deserve you. If you are broken you do not have to stay broken. If that’s anything whether you respect me or not that’s one thing you should know about me. I care about people. Thank you so much for this. This is for you."

"I’m going to be very open with everybody about this: I’ve been to four treatment centres. I think when I started hitting my early twenties is when it started to get really dark, when I started to feel like I was not in control of what I was feeling, whether that was really great or really bad."

"The past year and a half has been really transitional for me, just personally, as well as transitioning into becoming a woman. I still feel like I'm 15 sometimes and then other times, I'm wanting to feel comfortable in my body and my skin."

"I was able to have full creative control over it. Before, I would have maybe a month or two to record an album, and I'd have to do my series at the same time and tour on the weekends. I wasn't in the right mindset to fully give my all."

"I truly believe that you are who you surround yourself with. To me, it's that easy. I have a great family, I have great friends, and my mom is like my mama bear. She's the one that's going to tell me 'no' when everyone around me says 'yes.' It's a good thing to have a tight group that will keep you in check."

"Everybody wants to form their own opinions anyway. I think the biggest problem I had this year — even with Justin] and on his side — is identity. I was trying to figure out what I’m doing, and that was the first time I was constantly being kicked down for doing that. When I didn’t know, I just wanted to say, ‘This is what I want, this is where I am in my professional life, things changed in my personal life, things changed in my heart — everything.’ And people just thought, ‘Alright, this is what we think.’ And yeah, I made some decisions that weren’t great as well, and so did he and that’s why we went through all that to only make us better. And he has heard [the song] and he has seen the video, and it’s something that I feel like girls need hear, and it’s something I’m willing to share with people."

"Honestly, music is an expression, and if you will be that voice for these girls, there are some people that feel this. This is universal."

"[I learned] how to love myself first. And not just in a relationship, just my everyday life,” she admits. “I give myself so much, I let people pull at me in every direction, and I want everybody to be happy. Eventually I would be in my bathroom sobbing right before I go onstage. And then I’d just put myself onstage and I’d want to be there for those people. I never took a moment to just go, go away and be myself and figure it out. I kept pushing myself and I think the biggest thing I learned is, it’s okay. I’m going to stop when I need to stop, I’m going to feel when I need to feel, and I don’t care what comes with that or what people want to say. It’s normal. I’m suppose to keep going and that’s all I want to do."

"I support him. I think I always will. I’m upset when he’s upset, I’m happy when he’s happy. I don’t want anything to ever happen to him bad. It hurts me. That’s all."

"You (you) You're falling down The world's not spinning 'round You (you) When you're falling down No, it's not all about You (you) When you're falling down You know I'll be around When you're falling down, falling down"

"You are the thunder, and I am the lightning And I love the way you know Who you are, and to me, it's exciting When you know it's meant to be"

"I'm missing you so much Can't help it, I'm in love A day without you is like a year without rain I need you by my side Don't know how I'll survive A day without you is like a year without rain Whoa, oh, whoa"

"We're going 'round and 'round We're never gonna stop goin' 'Round and 'round We'll never get where we're goin' 'Round and 'round Well, you're gonna miss me, 'cause I'm gettin' dizzy Going 'round and 'round and 'round You try to pull me close and whisper in my ear You always told me lies, I've cried out all my tears I push my feelings to the side, but then you bring 'em back Br-bring 'em back, now you got me singing"

"Who says? Who says you're not perfect? Who says you're not worth it? Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'? Trust me, that's the price of beauty Who says you're not pretty? Who says you're not beautiful? Who says?"

"I, I love you like a love song, baby I, I love you like a love song, baby I, I love you like a love song, baby And I keep hitting repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat (oh) I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh) I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh) I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh) And I keep hitting repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat"

"It's the boy you never told "I like you" It's the girl you let get away"

"I think it fits so well for her to be on [the song] because everyone knows what she went through. And I think everyone has had those relationships where you're obsessed with that one person, but then you break it off peacefully, but it's changed. You can't talk to them like friends anymore. You can say you want to remain friends, but it's easier said than done. It's heartbreaking. 'We Don't Talk Anymore' is basically the conversation a month after that type of breakup."

"I'm bringing booty back Go ahead and tell them skinny bitches hey"

"If I was you, I'd wanna be me too"

"Hitler was a good man and it takes some f---ing balls for someone to say this out loud this day and age, especially for a public figure like myself, but you know what? SOMEONE NEEDS TO SPEAK THE TRUTH WITHOUT FEAR! Otherwise the dark cabal who currently control the world and all of the world bankers will continue to feed you their lies, feed off your emotions, take advantage of your emotions and will continue to keep you THEIR SLAVE!"

"AMERICA IS FALLING AT THE MOMENT YET I DO NOT SEE ANYONE IN OFFICE *AHEM* THAT IS BRAVE ENOUGH TO SAVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE LIKE HITLER WAS WILLING TO SAVE THE GERMAN PEOPLE!"

"I am waking from a dream, I am choking on a scream, You were trying to show me something. But the dark is wide and long, The gates are closed, the crowd's all gone, You're still shimmering and leading me on…Firefly that's what you are Burning for me in my darkest hour "Light breaks where no sun shines" So shine for me tonight — firefly."

"I wake to "magnolias sweet and fresh", Lines of poetry on my breath, You were here but you have stolen away. My inspiration is an evening star, So come to me wherever you are, I will wait for you tonight alone in the dark…"

"I'd stop a train just to watch you get off, Don't leave me alone with my whiskey thoughts."

"Not only is pot way cooler than alcohol, it’s also non-toxic. Dylan Thomas could not have smoked himself to death."

"When I was younger I was always looking for someone’s approval. Then I had kids and what I needed from music totally changed. Motherhood just kind of sliced away all self-defeating behavior. The lesson I learned from the experience of releasing Whiskey Thoughts was that if I make another album, it has to be for me. It has to be much more personal and honest, unique and raw, and that is what I hope that we have done here. After 20 years playing and touring, 5 studio albums and one live album I finally feel that I have found my sound. Like it or leave it the sound on this album is mine and mine alone."

"My parents wrote their own rules, so it didn’t seem odd to me to invent my life as I went along. … I picked up a guitar and started writing songs late, when I was 22, but quickly became devoted to the craft of song writing, relieved that I had found my inner calling."

"Greta Gaines was voted one of the 'TOP 100 Most Influential People in Cannabis' and is a former member of the National Board of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Law (NORML)."

"Greta Gaines is a true original and rocks hard at everything she does."

"I think the best camp for women is the Wild Women’s Snowboard Camp, launched by women’s 1992 World Extreme Champ, Greta Gaines, and co-directed by Mary Seibert. It follows a philosophy by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves, in that women need to break free; that there is a need and obligation for each woman to reach this level and let go. Snowboarding’s a fluid sport that allows you to do just this. Like rock climbing, it’s more about balance and grace than strength and ego. Therefore, women excel."

"Greta Gaines isn’t afraid of a challenge and she’s as courageous in her artistic life as she is in her professional life. Singer/songwriter, bandleader, adventurer and extreme sportswoman — Gaines is a woman set on living life to its fullest. Gaines comes to her blend of sports and art honestly. Her father is novelist, screenwriter and outdoorsman Charles Gaines (Pumping Iron, Stay Hungry) and the inventor of the game of Paintball. Her mother is painter, sculptor and former Miss. Alabama, Patricia Ellisor Gaines. Hunter S. Thompson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities were frequent visitors to her family’s rural farm growing up so pushing boundaries and living life to its fullest were part of her upbringing."

"Greta Gaines is a newcomer to the movement of legalizing marijuana. Having spent the last 20 years immersed in the extreme sports and rock n roll world, however, she has been smoking and thinking about smoking pot for a very long time."

"Greta's years' long passion to help patients and her active involvement in developing novel cannabis-based products are inspiring to all in our rapidly changing landscape of within the cannabis industry."

"Is it enough to be an Extreme Snowboarding National Champion? An on air TV host? A professional fly fisherman? Not for Greta Gaines. This multifaceted woman also has just released her fifth studio album, Lighthouse & The Impossible Love, and what a rollicking ride it is. Dripping with vintage tone and sultry but gritty vocals, Gaines' latest effort is a study in tension and release. Sweetness and sorrow. A good old-fashioned stomp juxtaposed with a bluesy narrative. And you know what? It’s all good."

"The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door, He said "I am not fighting for you any more.""

""I've watched your palace up here on the hill And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will Only first I am asking you why."

"I have swallowed a secret burning thread."

"I won't march again on your battlefield."

"If you were to kill me now right here, I would still look you in the eye"

"And when they ask me, "What are you looking at?" I always answer, "Nothing much" (Not much)"

"I think they know that I'm looking at them I think they think I must be out of touch But I'm only In the outskirts And in the fringes On the edge And off the avenue And if you want me You can find me Left of center Wondering about you"

"I am sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner I am waiting at the counter for the man to pour the coffee and he fills it only halfway and before I even argue he is looking out the window at somebody coming in."

""It is always nice to see you" Says the man behind the counter To the woman who has come in She is shaking her umbrella And I look the other way As they are kissing their hellos And I'm pretending not to see them"

"I open up the paper, there's the story of an actor who had died while he was drinking, it was no one I had heard of."

"My name is Luka. I live on the second floor. I live upstairs from you. Yes, I think you've seen me before."

"If you hear something late at night, Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight, Just don't ask me what it was."

"They only hit until you cry, After that, you don't ask why."

"The light and sweet coffee color of her skin"

"Kids will grow like weeds on a fence She says they look for the light, they try to make sense They come up through the cracks like grass on the tracks She touches him goodbye"

"By day give thanks By night beware Half the world in sweetness The other in fear"

"When the darkness takes you With her hand across your face Don't give in too quickly Find the thing she's erased"

"Solitude stands by the window she turns her head as I walk in the room I can see by her eyes she's been waiting Standing in the slant of the late afternoon"

"And she turns to me with her hand extended Her palm is split with a flower, with a flame ...And she says, "I've come to set a twisted thing straight", And she says, "I've come to lighten this dark heart""

"If language were liquid It would be rushing in Instead here we are In a silence more eloquent Than any word could ever be These words are too solid They don't move fast enough To catch the blur in the brain That flies by and is gone."

"I'd like to meet you In a timeless, placeless place Somewhere out of context And beyond all consequences ...And we'll sit in the silence (That flies by and is gone) That comes rushing in And is gone"

"You come from far away With pictures in your eyes Of coffeeshops and morning streets In the blue and silent sunrise But night is the cathedral Where we recognized the sign We strangers know each other now As part of the whole design"

"You're the jester of this courtyard With a smile like a girl's Distracted by the women With the dimples and the curls By the pretty and the mischievous By the timid and the blessed By the blowing skirts of ladies Who promise to gather you to their breast"

"Oh Mom, the old man is telling me something His eyes are wide and his mouth is thin And I just can't hear what he's saying Oh Mom, I wonder when I'll be waking It's just that there's so much to do And I'm tired of sleeping"

"Those whole girls... Breathe with ease Need no mercy Move in light Run in grace"

"Travel, arrival Years of an inch and a step toward a source I'm coming to you I'll be there in time"

"When I was growing up there were few Asians on TV and now I'm one of many and that makes me happy. I see how far we've come, which is amazing. But diversity is still an issue and we have to continue to grow the message."

"We saw that amazing documentary 'Forks Over Knives' and that cleared everything up for us. Every Sunday we're going to the farmers market now, getting our fresh fruits and veggies. It's just two weeks, but we feel much better. I love animals. I don't want to eat them."

"I do a lot of things wrong. I lose my temper, and I hate waiting in line, but do I take drugs? No. Do I run around deploring the world? No. I'm just not into it. I was brought up that way."

"Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter. I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop. Love Carries Mother"

"I miss her so much, I want to be with Carrie."

"I'm not as intellectual as my daughter. She says bigger words than I … I don't even know what they mean ... But she's so amusing to me and it's wonderful to be around her."

"Old age is a wonderful time of life ... At least, that's what everyone tells you. But let me tell you: it is not true. What's true is that your hips, knees and ankles gradually give up on you – everything is quite dreadful, really. And it was a terrible thing to have told us...because we believed it."

"What Gene taught me was tremendous discipline and never give up and you're never good enough ... He believed that I could do it, but I never danced before Singin' in the Rain, and I had to learn to dance. Months I was locked in a soundstage to get me — never equal — but up at least to cut the role."

"I just think my life's been really blessed, because being in show business I've met wonderful people and I've traveled all over the world ... I ain't down yet, and I've had a wonderful life, and I still have more life to go."

"I don't think you can ever be bitter about anything, because if you don't allow your heart to stay open, then all you have is a filled heart of hate and bitterness, and you're never able to love or like anybody."

"I was a simple kid who was thrown into the wonderful world of show business. I've loved every moment. These are my recollections. If you remember things differently, send me your version — but only if it's funnier."

"What do you do do when your heart says one thing and your head, and your lawyer, says another? I was a romantic. I put my whole heart on the line when I love someone. ... I don't think like a thief so I never see this quality in others until it's too late."

"Faith is a powerful thing to have in your repertory. ... Certainly, I'd felt despair, sometimes so much that I thought it would be easier to die. But my family and my faith have sustained me until, when I least expected it, life picked me up again."

"I wanted to see how I would react. I didn’t think I would actually get through my fear as fast as I did. But was I scared of meeting Robert in makeup? No... well, yes, I’m lying. I don’t want to admit it because I’m 22 years old, and that’s ridiculous. But I was scared for about a year after I saw one of Freddy’s films when I was 7. I wasn’t supposed to be up, but I snuck behind my brother’s chair. And right as I got to the chair, Freddy’s face popped up. I had to go sleep with my mom. And when I say sleep with her, I was probably on top of her."

"Back in 1967,Tiger Beat magazine asked me what my ambition was for my career. I said I want to become a really good Mexican singer. But it wasn’t noticed or validated"

"You gave us Rupert Murdoch ,thanks a lot you guys, take him back."

"For all families, participation in music and the arts, can help people reclaim and achieve the American dream."

"I can sing in my brain…I sing in my brain all the time. It’s not quite the same as doing it physically. There’s a physical feeling in singing that’s just like skiing down a hill. Except better, because I’m not a very good skier."

"I feel if I were to organize it correctly I would try to sing like a Mexican and think like a German. You know what I mean? I get it mixed up."

"The thing I’ve always thought about music is that it’s not competitive, it’s cooperative. I thought that was a really good example. We chose the songs because all three of us loved them so much we were afraid we’d get sick if we didn’t record them. Then we’d choose the arrangement by who was going to sing lead, by who sounded best…"

"…I was singing on the sort of the flat, lower part of my voice. I didn't have all the color and the breath and the sort of airy halo that comes. There's a lot of different textures that you can dial in and out on an unconscious level when you're singing. And you just bring in these colors and textures, and they all express emotion in some way or another. And I didn't have that with me. I was - I thought of myself as a painter that was painting with a limited palette, so I thought, well, I got some darks and lights here. And I've got some maybe some umber, you know? And I can put that in, and I just have to make a really strong drawing, make the image as bold as I can. And that's what I was trying to do with this song."

"It's always like that when you record: You always think that you can do a better [job]. You know, the whole thing with recording is you have to know when to turn off the tape machine and just stop recording because you want to keep fixing, fixing, fixing, you know? In those days, we didn't fix anything."

"The culture supports serial monogamy, and I think I had plenty of that, and I think I was reasonably monogamous in a serial way. But I'm not a good compromiser. I think I don't have the knack for that kind of compromise. I admire people's marriages, and I think it's a wonderful thing to have, but I don't think it's the only way to live…"

"She was trying to soften the blow of the word Mexican…That’s typical of what happens. Mexican Americans are always made to feel invisible."

"People didn’t have a clue I was Mexican unless they grew up with me…I heard plenty of it…I’d straighten them out fast."

"I was bored with rock’n’roll…And I was tired of singing fast songs. I’m a ballad singer. And I like drama and nuance. This music has richer poetic images and more interesting rhythms."

"There is a lot of German and French influence there…The music uses accordions and German-style brass bands, reinterpreted in a Mexican style. I like to say that Mexicans took German and French music and made it sexy."

"I get especially angry when I see how people are treated when they come up here looking for work, especially the farm workers…I challenge any prep school white boy to spend an hour picking strawberries in the full sun where you’re bent over and somebody sprays pesticide on you. And without them, we can’t eat."

"The thing that I enjoy about animation is the fact that it is unbridled and there are no boundaries; when are in the room you don’t have to focus on your clothing, make-up, hair, your choreography or your blocking, you really do have total freedom. It is that total freedom that I really enjoy as there is no judgement and there are no critics there watching to see what you are going to do. It is just a free-for-all, and I really enjoy that process. When you are working with incredible directors then the responsibility lies on them to do the product and get the story told; it takes a lot of pressure of me, and I just get to go in and have a play session."

"Well, for me, I was able to make that statement of faith early on when my career began, so there weren’t really a lot of surprises. People around me knew where my husband Ray and I stood as far as my faith went. When you establish that early on in your career it makes it so much easier than trying to re-invent it or having to restate your faith each new opportunity that comes ahead."

"I am really committed to my faith journey and I am committed to my family. My husband and I have been married for almost 30 years and we homeschool our kids. We have a different working-out-of the-box family, but we do make it work, obviously with God’s grace and we are very grateful for that.” Are there any drawbacks from not living in New York or L. A.? “Sometimes it can be a little bit lonely because we are the only family that we know that is in the entertainment industry, homeschools and is faith-based [while trying] to maintain some sort of ‘regular life’ so to speak in the midst of the crazy stuff. It is a little bit different I think. Sometimes we feel like we are the Lone Rangers, but this is where God has us and this is his calling for right now, for this season. We do it with joy and with integrity"

"I go back and forth between [being a vegan and not being a vegan]. I try lots of different things. I really feel that you need to kind of listen to your body and what your body is telling you to eat. So I was a vegan for about two years. … Well, everything with being vegan and vegetarian is a really big commitment. You have to do what you feel is best and what you believe in and what your body is telling you that it needs. I really think everyone should do what’s best for them, and what’s best for me may not be best for someone else. But like I said, you just have to do what makes you feel good."

"It's so important, so comforting, to have lampposts in this world who can light the way."

"Uniqueness is what makes you the most beautiful."

"Find something you’re passionate about and you know, do something."

"Nobody should be entirely defined by one thing"

"If there's anything that I can tell people that are being bullied, it's that the bullies are really the ones that are hurting. Playing Lauren Tanner made me realize that she was evil because she was harboring so much pain from her childhood. And if there's anything I would tell anyone who is being bullied, it's to just let it go. Bullies are the insecure ones and the ones who are trying to get a rise out of you to make themselves feel better."

"Everything in your career is a stepping stone because it’s an experience, and experience is the biggest thing."

"I was very, very, very shocked about the outcome of the first one, what it became, and the domino effect from the news outlets that were covering it and the social media trends that grew out of it. It goes to show that you never know what is going to take off in Hollywood; it’s so unpredictable, so you just have to have fun with it."

"In my view, I’ve had tons of success but, in the way the world views success and they expect Idols to do, mine has just been a longer journey to get there. And I’m grateful for it. It just makes the journey that much sweeter in the end."

"America is a country with so much opportunity. After returning from a recent trip to West Africa, I gained a new perspective on what our country’s colors mean to me. Even in our worst times, we have so much more and give so much. Everywhere I went people wanted to know how they could get to America. On my way home I realized that I now looked at our flag differently. I thought about those that fought so hard for our independence; to give us the right to pursue our dreams."

"I have to find the right part of myself and put it into that character. I feel like everyone has a full deck of cards and I just have to pull the right card for that character. The more comedic roles come easier to me though because I see myself as a silly, easy-going person."

"When I was younger and started acting, I wasn't good at sports and didn't have any other special talents. Acting was my after-school activity. I never planned on growing up and becoming an actor. I always wanted to go to school and become a veterinarian so I think when I got older and suddenly realized that it was my passion, it was just a natural moment. I never felt pushed. My family has always supported me completely and kept me grounded. I never got lost in child Hollywood actor weirdness."

"I love watching amazing actors and actresses that you can't take your eyes off of because everything they are doing -- even if it is just twiddling their thumbs or scratching their eye -- it's just interesting. That's why I love this job and that's why this industry came around. People are fascinating and we want to watch them."

"Discipline is important, we need to be more focused on what we put into our bodies."

"I've been vegan for two years and vegetarian for 20 years. I used to be a dancer, and so health and vitality have always been important to me. I wouldn't say it took any one big event, vegetarianism just always made sense to me. [What farmed animals] endure is just terrible. It's horrible … Vegan food is soul food in its truest form. Soul food means to feed the soul. And, to me, your soul is your intent. If your intent is pure, you are pure."

"Art is my religion."

"“I consider myself a performance artist more than a recording artist. The stage is where I feel the most comfortable in expressing who I am, where I am, discovering things about myself. It's more therapy than it is a job. Recording is like perfecting a moment, where performing live is just creating a moment. And I love the feeling of creating that thing that just disappears and evaporates into time. You have it on your phone or video but for me, it's over after the moment. And there's something really beautiful about being able to just let go of something after you create it.”"

"“I can see the evidence of that when I listen to music or hear young artists talk and they’re not shy at all about telling me thank you for the things I’ve contributed to them.”"

"“I’ve learned so many things since then. I’ve changed in a way that involves elimination for the sake of evolution. There’s less emphasis on trying to figure things out. It’s about letting things be. I’m focusing on listening to the silence underneath everything. That’s what I try to connect with. I can listen to the silence right here, right now while we’re talking, and it feels so good. I’m in love with the silence.”"

"“I don’t regret anything. I don’t like to make people feel uncomfortable or bad. But people are very sensitive in this climate. It’s very understandable. I totally understand. I get mad with them. I get it…But no. I would never take back a message of love…I’m sorry that it was misunderstood. But not sorry for saying it because it was from a place of love. And sometimes that happens.”"

"“People can be bad for certain things. They could be bad around children. They could be bad with power. Are those people all ‘bad’? Could be. Maybe they need to get kicked off the planet. I don’t know. Each thing is individual. There aren’t rules for how we can or should think about something. We don’t have to believe everything we’re hearing. At least I don’t think we do. I’m glad I don’t watch this stuff.”"

"“I think it’s necessary. The world creates things up out of prayers that people pray and have. Things begin to move accordingly to how we all collectively think. When you see collectives moving on something you know that there’s going to be some kind of mass migration to a higher place, and I see that in the world as a whole, not just in America. I see it all over the globe. People are organizing and fusing together to make change, and it’s inspiring. I think it’s part of the natural order of things. We’re evolving, and what helps us evolve is social media. Social media is social evolution. It’s sparking a great change.”"

"It’s not okay to actually take a life out of an individual for whatever reason and then sell those body parts. It’s sick. It’s really sick. And it’s hurtful because those lives were real and just and you’re giving them absolutely no grace in the end of their life,” she continued. “It’s, you know, they’ll have to meet their Maker one day. So as much as we all have our opinions on this matter, I think at the end of the day they’re going to have to meet God one day and they’ll have to answer for themselves on what they chose to do with their time on earth, you know?"

"I became a vegetarian because I felt really bad for the animals and I love them a lot. Animals are very sweet, and I don't think that they deserve to be tortured."

"Difference is the one thing that we all have in common."

"If you're going through rough times, just stick around, cause everything has to end eventually."

"You can do anything once you put your mind to it and just follow your dreams."

"Because I love all animals so much, people, I feel like they should realize they don’t have to cut into something to learn about it. … If you feel weird about dissecting something, say “no.” I would totally say, “I'm not cutting into this animal.” I would never do that… You’ll learn so much more off of the computer. If you have the other option, why not take it? You should ask your teacher for other human alternatives."

"That is something I'm very passionate about. I love animals so much. To think that any animal would be trapped — it makes me so sad. It's like living in your bedroom for your entire life and never being able to go outside. … You should always speak up. That's what I'd like to teach my fans — to be real and speak up for things you're passionate about."

"I would like to thank Jeff Wald because he makes my success possible, and I would like to thank God because She makes everything possible."

"That's a pig show. The lowest."

"We have to keep everybody happy. This is a house full of big egos."

"(The Queen of Housewife Rock) means I’ve reached a lot of people in a simplistic manner who would never go to a lecture or read an article on Women’s Lib. My basic audience is women who have had their heads turned around by the knowledge that something’s going on out there—that they can stay married and have their own identities. I’m not for the swinging singles. I have a career and marriage happening all at the same time, and that’s the example I set."

"Years back I didn't wear makeup or use a hairdresser. Then, about four years ago, I became very tired of the way men and the media were trying to present feminists - as drab, un-attractive, shrill and ugly. So I changed. Some feminists have criticized me for it, but there's a lot of compromise in this business."

"The word failure is not in my vocabulary. I learn something every day. It's human to make mistakes."

"I believe that we are consciousness, consciousness is energy, and energy can never be destroyed. It can be transformed, but it can never be destroyed."

"I’d gotten involved in the Women’s Movement, and there were a lot of songs on the radio about being weak and being dainty and all those sort of things. All the women in my family, they were strong women. They worked. They lived through the Depression and a world war, and they were just strong women. I certainly didn’t see myself as being dainty."

"I’m bothered by all these talent shows because it keeps people who are professional out of work, and these poor souls that are going on there are not getting paid, and people like Rupert Murdoch are making lots of money that they shouldn’t be."

"Movie-making is not my favorite medium, because you’re on the set for 12 hours and you might only film for three minutes. It’s very much hurry up and wait. So, although I loved doing the film, it wasn’t quite what I expected."

"There’s a moment before I walk out on stage, where it’s like electricity. And then you just go out there and it’s home. The stage is home to me."

"...I don’t think of myself as a pop star. I started out as a jazz singer. And I love having the chance to just jump in and sing songs that touch me or move me."

"As a moral issue, abortion will be debated as long as humankind is able to debate. I respect all points of view as being valid to the holder. What concerns me is abortion as a legal and political issue. I am against all reproductive laws for the same reason I am against the draft. I believe that legal ownership of one’s body is the most basic civil and human right. Without it, we are all slaves to whatever government is in power at any given time."

"The number-one rule for a celebrity is keep moving."

"History will be much kinder to Richard Nixon than his contemporaries have been. Truths will come to light that will reveal him to be a more honorable man than some who have come to that office after him."

"Oh yes, I am wise But it's wisdom born of pain Yes, I've paid the price But look how much I gained If I have to, I can do anything I am strong I am invincible I am woman"

"Would you take better care of yourself Would you be kinder to yourself Would you be more forgiving of your human imperfections If you realized your best friend was yourself"

"She was an office girl ("My name is Betty") Her fav'rite group was Helen Reddy"

"I definitely knew her song, "I Am Woman." I didn't know a lot more than that. I'm so thrilled that I got to learn a whole lot more about her over this process. I now am her biggest fan and I could probably start a museum, I’ve done enough research on her. That's what's really interesting, is that not a lot of people in my generation know a lot about her life. But that being said, her song "I Am Woman," the words are on most placards at any women's march. Her story is so incredible, and to look back and honour all the amazing work she did, and what she did for women and just the music industry in general. I mean, she had four gold records in a year. She was the first Australian to win a Grammy, and people don't know that. So it feels like a really lovely thing to be able to share that."

"Veganism started off as a willpower challenge for me from vegetarianism. … I just walked into year three, so I'm still a brand-new vegan, but I've learned so much … and it's done wonders for my entire life. Some of the changes that I've experienced being vegan: I'm no longer anemic. … I don't get sick! And my skin is clear. I lost 30 pounds. … Everything in my life has benefited me just eating natural foods, and the more information about the truths and the harsh realities of treatment of animals as well as the process of manufacturing food or meat products—including seafood, including the dairy industry, which I was oblivious to being a vegetarian—prompted me to continue this journey, which I'm very proud of, but it's impossible to turn back, because I no longer see product—I see process."

"I've been vegan for about a year now … It’s more than just food, it’s a lifestyle, and so my whole life has changed, I get up earlier, I wanna exercise, I feel better, my skin feels better. And these are things I didn’t even know coming from the South, coming from New Orleans — a girl who needs crawfish and gumbo, you know, you never would think that you would need avocados instead, and now I'm kind of an avocado junkie. … People are forgetting that it starts with the animals and we have misused them as if they are not like us."

"Animals don’t have the ability to say how much pain they’re in or tell you not to rip their skin off for your ability to wear something. … Really get into the process of seeing what you’re putting not only inside your body, but outside, too."

"I’ve always been an animal-lover and when I was about twelve I became a vegetarian. My mom subscribed to PETA’s magazine and I just started looking at the level of what it was. And I just thought it was unkind, so I made my personal choice — which at that point had nothing to do with the global scale of the situation. And so I know it was really early, but I made up my mind then to become an entertainer primarily because I thought I could help. I noticed that all my friends respected entertainers and knew more entertainers names than politicians names, so that was my turning point from possibly doing politics to entertainment … So that was one of the reasons I went into this field. And then the more I kept going career-wise, the more I’ve been able to use that vehicle — that megaphone. And that was exciting — the only exciting part, personally, about being a celebrity. I don’t think there’s anything good about it, except the ability to make positive change."

"In life it’s always a bit of a challenge to be ethically motivated, and it’s not very different in this career. In the play I use all fake leather and no animal products on my face, hair or body. It’s up to me to put in the effort in life to make the most compassionate impact on the world around me without being rude or inconsiderate to others."

"Getting involved in Earthlings was pretty intense because there were still a lot of things I didn’t know. To raise compassion and awareness is so necessary. The documentary is not just about animals, it’s about how we treat each other as well. How we have empathy for the weak and we don’t abuse it. It exposes the truth. It is a very difficult film to get into mainstream because there are so many corporations that will hurt if their secrets revealed."

"The world has so much suffering in it already—choosing to be vegetarian is one thing you can do to reduce the suffering on a daily basis."

"I believe we should extend our care and concern to all living creatures with whom we share this planet. ... [Animals] give me a window into a world that is different from our own, but every bit as meaningful. ... I can’t imagine what life would be like without animals. They bring me happiness and a sense of calm and peace."

"I'll say, ‘Hi, I'm Michelle Visage and I'm a ' and that usually opens the door to the conversation. This is how I get my reputation. If you look on Google it'll say Michelle Visage is a man, the list goes on and on, but I am 100 per cent biological female, but RuPaul says it best when he says you're born naked and everything else is drag."

"I’m a gluten-free, soy-free vegan who also tries to be sugar-free as much as possible, so it can be crazy on the road trying to find things to eat. Once we were in Madison, Wisconsin and I was trying to explain what veganism was at a restaurant, and they went, “So can you eat roast beef?” […] When I was doing Celebrity Big Brother and told me that I wasn’t the spokesperson for gay people, I said… well wait a second, I’m not a dog, does that mean I can’t fight and speak up for animal rights?"

"One day when my kids are out and we’re retired I want to go to the country and have all sorts of rescue animals. The ones that nobody wants. The ones with three legs and missing an eyeball. The ones that are too old that people don’t want to adopt them."

"I would like to say that I live in Hollywood and I sleep in Simi. I am in LA every single day. I do not want to move there because I like the escape, the quiet in Simi."

"I’m not the biggest fan of long walks on the beach but I do love being on a boat, that fulfills the scenic water element right? In all seriousness, I’ve been acting since I was seven years old and I love it. I’ve been blessed to work with amazing people on wonderful projects and made great friends along the way. Besides acting, I love laughing, eating, being adventurous and I’m simply excited about what the future may hold."

"I live in a world of actors where everyone is a little crazy to begin with, but it was interesting that he said all these elements to this disorder. I was like, “Oh my gosh!” I feel like this will be a great challenge to play the role, but I can tap into that because I feel like I know someone with that disorder."

"Don't let anyone else tell you when your time is up or what's best for you, you make that. And if you live by what other people want you to do with your life, you will be miserable, I can guarantee you that."

"I said you know what, I thought my transformation was that I needed to transform into Erika Jayne, but my true transformation took place when Erika Jayne showed me that Erika Girardi was just fine the whole time. It was just a truer, shinier version of myself. And you can be fluent in both of your personas, both your personalities. We all have them, whether you’re on a reality television show or not, whether you’re 47 years old and you’re out there singing and dancing. You’re not the same person at home as you are at work, or with other people, so there are performance personas whether you acknowledge them or not. And transformation is individual. This is my story, my experiences, doing this stuff. Maybe yours is something different, but they’re equally important."

"Blonde bombshell is always in. Don’t ever let anybody tell you it isn’t... I don’t think I’m gonna cut my hair. I’ve already shaved my head twice in my life. At 47, it’s not really an option. This is who I am."

"This week’s episode discussing Tom’s car accident is hard to watch. We both live such busy lives working that sometimes it takes accidents like this to remind us of what’s most important in life—each other. I’m thankful he's made a full recovery, and just in case you were wondering, he never stopped working."

"Well, my mother and I were discussing how my father left when I was nine months old, and then she remarried and divorced again. I feel like I had blocked out that part of my childhood. I went back with her trying to piece it all back together. I was looking at it through 46 year-old eyes and thinking it was basically ten years of bullshit."

"There are a couple of skills you take away from Housewives. You learn to be quick on your feet, stand your ground. I’ve always been kind of unapologetic, but you grow into that or into your own skin. You have a choice: you can either grow into your skin or you can back out. It will test your strength and patience - it will definitely run the gamut so you can figure out a little bit more of what you’re made of."

"I like to slip out in the middle of the night and take my Lamborghini and drive it really fast on the highway. There’s a particular one close to my house in Pasadena. I just roll down the windows, and it’s kind of like I just slip into the night."

"I've grown up disciplined all my life as a dancer, so I know how to eat and work out. Do I do it? No!"

"I’ve worked very hard for everything I’ve ever had. But it’s my journey. And I don’t regret anything."

"There are no rules anymore and if you believe that there are, then you’ll be left out."

"I was living Tom’s life. There are only so many material things you can have before it becomes boring. There are only so many dinners, so many things you can buy. I was complacent. I was in a wealthy coma and I wasn’t looking inward."

"Erika Jayne is six words: fantasy, love, escape, glitz, glamour, and fun. I think women should live out loud. I think that we should be fearless. I think we should express ourselves. I think we should have fun. And I don’t think anyone should dictate to you when your best days are, or that you are too old to express yourself. You are of worth and value in your 40s, 50s, and 60s. You don’t have to stop doing what you love simply because you’re not 25. I just think that those are old ideas that need to be broken and discarded quite honestly."

"Inside all of us is a boss. You just gotta go find her. That’s the truth. Everyone is capable. Everyone has the ability. A lot of it is timing. A lot of it is right place, right time. A lot of it is not giving up. A lot if it is push, dreams, following those [dreams] through, and tenacity. You can do it. It’s going to be hard. People are going to tell you no. But no matter what your goal is in life, there’s always a way. You just have to look for that way. Sometimes you have to make that way. Sometimes you have to go around people. Sometimes you may have to go through people. But there’s always a way to make it happen."

"I felt like I was just not being myself. I felt like I was hiding. I was hiding from me. I was hiding from sparkle and magic and fun and fearlessness and music and dance and creative magic... I just knew I had feelings. I knew I had thoughts. I knew I had things I wanted to say. Listen, I'm rebellious. Okay? I always have been. And Erika Jayne is a little bit of a rebel too."

"I’m a showman. I believe that you’re a character every time you put on clothes. Tomorrow I may be another in hoops and tight jeans and a bomber. Clothes, to me, or wardrobe express characters."

"Obviously, being on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills brought more awareness to Erika Jayne and brought her out of the clubs and into people’s living rooms. I’m very thankful for that. I have nothing but great things to say about my experience."

"As a performer, I’ve always been very inspired by Andy Warhol and the Studio 54 era– the wardrobe, the glamour, the free-spirited underground club world."

"I don't think anyone should tap you on the shoulder and tell you that it's time to sit down and retire. Imagine if I told you, "You know what, you should really hang it up right now." As women, we need to do more to support each other. And I think it's a lot of old rules that are being broken."

"Another thing Tom and I enjoy doing is visiting our small circle of friends, so spending an afternoon in Malibu with David and Yolanda is always a nice little escape. It’s always good to bounce creative ideas off of someone as incredibly talented as David. Even after all of his success in the business, he’s still willing to listen with a fresh set of ears and gives great feedback."

"My job is to take you to a place of fantasy and help you escape your reality. Nothing makes me happier than to put on some crazy costume and dance around. It’s what I live for."

"New York City is such an awesome place with a lot of great artists doing great things at the top level. There was so much going on then and so much going on now. It was really ‘the’ place to go to hone your artistry. I became a member of a couple of girl groups early on and performed at a few clubs around there. But basically, I was doing any job I could just to stay alive. A lot of extra work. I was a starving artist."

"I've been fortunate enough to tour all over the country. I'm always going to be over the top - I'm a showgirl at heart, so that's what you can expect."

"You know, I'm kind of a tomboy. I love to fish. I like to fish. I love to stay outdoors. I'm a big sports fan and go to games. I don't care what they are. I love to gamble and go to Vegas. I like my dog."

"I've had a lot of ups and downs, and listen, to still be putting yourself out there on stage at my age, you come against a lot of stuff. But if you love what you do, no one should let the opinions of others take away their joy or take away their dreams. And that's really all it comes down to. Loving yourself, believing in yourself, putting one foot in front of the other and doing it."

"Other people's opinions are simply other people's opinions. I am who I am. I know who Erika Jayne is, and I know who Erika Girardi is. It's OK."

"All of us have been in situations where we've lost our confidence, even the greatest leaders in the world. We are at the end of the day human — I have no problem telling you, yeah [I have days when] I think, you know, What am I doing? Remember why you're doing what you're doing; talk yourself off the ledge. You know you have to become your own best counselor because really no one is going to take the time and the energy to understand your problems quite like you can."

"You do have to rise above. If you're true to yourself and you're confident with who you are and you really know where you're coming from, you'll be fine. No matter what anyone says and no matter what anyone tries to do to you."

"And you've [got to] pick and choose when you wanna be tough. If you're tough all the time or you raise your voice all the time, it's really ineffective. Something that you might say now in the heat of the moment will not serve you later ... You have to know when to put your foot down and really stand on your conviction. If you're gonna really let someone have it, you have to really have your shit together."

"I think you have to rise above, to remain true to who you are. No matter what is said about you in the media, you have to look at the big picture — and you have to have a plan for where you want your life to go. And you also can't think that everyone is going to be there to help you; it's a lonely road to success."

"Money does not make you happy. All money does is make you really look at yourself. When you're not worried about the lights being shut off, then you can get down to business looking at 'What kind of persona am I?'Money is not a cure-all. You're still human, you still get depressed, you still get scared, you still get sad ... It's really about your own self-worth. If you're going to be the best doctor, the best dancer, the best teacher, the best singer, it's really about that. That's where the confidence comes from. A lot of people who don't have a lot of money have a lot of confidence, [they] still love themselves because they feel accomplished inside."

"Money doesn't make you confident, material things don't make you confident. Your work ethic makes you confident; your achievements make you confident. It's about setting goals, and it's about whether or not you reach them. I know a lot of people with money who are not happy, who are insecure, who are basically train wrecks."

"Confidence isn't always out front and screaming, 'Look at me, look at me.'Confidence can be sitting back for a moment and letting someone else take the lead when you need to. You don't always have to be showboating."

"Here's the thing, it's the same person. It's just that some things that are appropriate on stage aren't appropriate at a dinner party, you know with a bunch of judges and lawyers. It's still saying how you feel, it's still being yourself, it's just knowing when and where. It's also knowing when to let someone else take the lead. That's exactly why Erika Jayne is so great, because when she's onstage, that's what she's supposed to do. To be over the top, to be peacocking. But it still resonates from the same place inside [me]."

"I can do it. I earned it. It's something you have to remind yourself."

"I think it's something that I had to teach myself because growing up wasn't always a barrel of laughs. I was insecure and I had a lot of self-doubts, which is why I tell myself I can do it and that I earned it. I think you kind of become your own best cheerleader. I mean, obviously, my mom and my grandmother were big cheerleaders of mine, but at the end of the day, you have to be your own cheerleader—every day. Otherwise, it's not going to work out if you don't believe in yourself. I think a lot of it, too, is looking around and saying 'Why not me?' You know, 'Why not me?' I mean, if they can do it I can do it. There's nothing that special about anyone, really."

"So, if they can do it, I can do it, too."

"Well, yeah, Erika Jayne is a mask, even though she's a great part of your personality, it's still a performance persona. When I was standing on the red circle, there was nothing there. [It’s] just a human being and telling your story and you know, I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know whether people would like it or not like it or you just don't know. It's something completely different."

"So TED Pasadena reached out to me in the spring of last year and asked if I'd be interested in doing a [TED] Talk. I was totally blown away because I would have never thought that would even come across my universe. I said yes, and it's the hardest thing I've ever done. I thought that talking about my own life wouldn't be that challenging but it turned out that it was. If anyone gets a chance to do [one] I highly recommend it because it's very challenging. You know, I still haven't watched mine. I still won't watch it."

"Well, fashion is a way to escape and to express your personality and to have fun. I have always liked the idea of fashion and creating personalities with fashion. Let it be over the top or understated or effortless or chic. Or, you know, Erika Jayne with 100 crystals on her face. That’s always been a theme of my life. I’ve always enjoyed costume. I think it's a great part of life, honestly. It's really self-expression."

"It's organized chaos. Everything is different. You have a sound check—a very thorough sound check—to make sure that everything is worked out so smoothly and then you're in glam, and then you have a small prayer before you hit the stage and it's it's a lot of fun. That's what it's all about. You want to come together and be thankful for having the privilege of getting to do what you love for work."

"With Facebook and Instagram, it seems like everyone has an online persona. It’s a way of perfecting how the world looks at you."

"The danger of living two lives is that they can unintentionally collide. Like when my Erika Jayne voice comes into Erika Girardi’s life."

"But surprisingly, once I started to reveal a little more of my unguarded self, people didn’t really seem to mind. I found that I could connect to them on a more human level."

"Everyone wants to meet Superman but nobody wants to meet Clark Kent."

"It’s great to be outlandish... to acknowledge that side of yourself. But it’s when you harness that true power that the true success is unleashed. I’m glad I came out of hiding to liberate this persona."

"I definitely picked up Renee's talent for saying hateful things, and I would use it against her. That's why I'm always so afraid of losing my temper on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. If I ever did, I would really eviscerate someone."

"On their date, my father said to Renee, "Tomorrow I'm going to come by your parents' house, pick you up, and we're going to go hunt for apartments. The three of us will live together and be a little family." It was really romantic at the drive-in, so this was all fabulous. He dropped her off at my grandparents' house. The next day, my mother waited and waited. He never came. He never called. Finally, she called her friend, Janet, who had recently married Nicolas' brother Gabriel. She asked if Janet had seen my father. "Oh honey, he's moved to California. He left this morning," Janet said."

"The day that my stepfather left was hard, though. Renee sat in a chair in the living room, wearing a pair of navy shorts and a purple polo shirt. She was sobbing into her hands. Her face was pressed into the side of the chair. I thought - and I will never forget this - I don't ever want to be like that. I love my mother, but in that moment, I saw her as weak. I knew that she could survive without a man, but she wanted a partner so badly that she let him ruin her life."

"When he left, he cleaned out their checking account and left Renee with nothing. The next month, Renee didn't have enough money to pay the mortgage, keep the lights on, pay for her car, and buy Christmas presents."

"I don't think the father figures who let me down are bad people. They were doing the best they could, and sometimes that's just not enough. It's less their fault than it is the circumstances they were in. I can't really blame them for what happened. Now I'm so far away from these issues that it doesn't hurt anymore. In those moments, it was excruciating, but you can't stay in pain too long. You have to let it wash over you and pass, or else it will drown you."

"I have to keep walking forward. I have to do the best that I can and hope that everything I've learned from these men helps me do things better than they did."

"I feel like my marriage came apart because of me, not because of anyone else. I can take responsibility. I knew I was a good mom. I thought I was adult enough to be a wife and a mother, but really I wasn't. Tommy bore the brunt of that. It was this constant pressure and it was hard for both of us to take. We broke up when my son was a little more than 18 months old. I came out of a divorced home. I did what I knew, which was to take my son and leave."

"One of my first jobs at eighteen was singing with a group called The Flirts when one of their members was on a leave of absence. They had a hit with the song "Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime)" and there was always a three-girl lineup, but it changed a bit. I filled in to record a couple of tracks with them."

"After a year of working in the restaurant, one night I decided to slip Tom my telephone number. We were standing in front of the giant fireplace. 'Did you hear I was single?' I asked. The next day his secretary called me and said, 'Mr. Girardi would like to know if you're free to have dinner this evening.' 'Absolutely not,' I told her. 'Tell Mr. Girardi if he wants to take me out on a date, he needs to call me himself and ask me and give me enough time to prepare.' You know how men are, especially if they are successful. They expect you to drop everything right away. That's not how I work, I don't care who you are. He did call me back himself, and he asked me out on a date like a gentleman."

"Tom is 33 years older than me. It was always a bigger deal to everyone else than it was to either of us. All a couple really needs is to have the same life philosophy. If you see things the same way, then age, race, religion-none of that comes into play. When you want and enjoy the same things, it’s more important than being born during the same presidential administration."

"You have to be willing to be ridiculed, laughed at, and mocked. You have to have people not believing in you. That makes you your own biggest cheerleader."

"I'm a princess I'm a temptress I'm a pretty mess I'm a mistress"

"Wop boys rock my world I like to play with all my girls But money makes me hard and tight I love to bathe in cash and pearls"

"You make me wanna give you everything I been watchin' you Show me 'round your world Whatcha' do whatcha' do"

"How many fucks do I give? How many fucks do I give? None, Not One, Zero, Zero, Zero, Done Zero, Zero, Zero, Done Elevator, elevator gettin' me high Tryin' to hit my level but ya can't even try Diamonds & Chardonnay C U Next Tuesday"

"I'm reckless, offensive I destroy your defences My guestlist is priceless And yes, I run a tight ship Bentleys and Benzys Threw cashcard in Lenzies And dollars and senses Cha-ching It's expensive to be me Looking this good don't come for free Oh bitch what? That's just who I be It's expensive to be me"

"So is this the girl, you want me to be I surrender myself, I'll never be free One step from the edge, is all that I'll be Waiting for you Like a painkiller"

"Top back, candy paint Damn I got expensive taste Flex on 'em everyday Champagne, celebrate I get freaky, all my girls we have a kiki Rock a party like Purple boomin' Lamborghini"

"Just let life be the spark A catapult that shoots us through the dark Raise your glass, bring a toast To the one thing you treasure the most Tonight the only way we go is up up Let the music play, let's make it pop pop DJ keep the record spinning all night non stop"

"I wanna grab the microphone and shout it to the world Shout it to the world, world I'm your freaking girl Anytime you need me, you just have to say the word Have to say the word, word I'm your freaking girl"

"Erika could probably, like, run over my cousin and I still wouldn’t be mad."

"I may make an appearance on Beverly Hills this season, and you might see Erika and I interacting. We ran into each other at Christina Aguilera's birthday party where she performed. We know people in common, I know her husband, so we're good."

"My obsession for Erika Jayne is getting scary! I love a real ass woman!"

"She is human perfection."

"So, I've known Erika Jayne for about maybe over four years. She was one of the first experiences I ever had of writing songs for other people. And so then when she takes over the planet on Real Housewives, you know, she hits me up to see if I want to work again. And I'm like 'Of course.' And so we wrote the very subtle, the very family-friendly "How Many Fucks"."

"Mikey and Erika took me under their wing and taught me everything. We traveled the world together. They both opened my eyes to so much, about being a hard-working, meticulous assistant, yes, but also just all the things life can offer."

"From the moment Erika joined the show, I immediately liked her. We both had in common that we had our kids really young, and we just sort of started bonding over being young moms. I just liked her. Now that she's been on the show, it's her second season, we've gotten closer and closer and I'm really enjoying my time with her."

"From the moment I thought about doing this, I thought Erika would be good, and she was. She was terrific. It meant a lot to her. She grew up watching [soaps]. I loved the fact that she felt strongly enough about her character and her performance that she could say something [to the director]. That just tells you she's a professional. She's been doing her own thing and taking care of her own business for a long time."

"Erika is one of the most pulled-together, professional, organized, smart, and sober people I know. And she's so clearheaded and in-the-moment and I think she's like the ultimate picture of a lady."

"Erika is awesome. We’ve been together now 16 years. She’s a dancer and a singer and she’s had eight No.1 hits on the Billboard charts – the last one just a few weeks ago, called 'Crazy'. She’s a hoot. When I won that case against the Dodgers in connection with the fan who was left disabled, I was very happy about it. At 3 a.m., she woke me up. She said, ‘Let me tell you something pal. Anybody can win a trial... Singing a song – that’s much harder!’ And then she turned over and went back to sleep."

"Drifting in and out, you see the road you’re on It came rolling down the cheek Say just what you need in between, it’s never as it seems"

"If you built yourself a myth You'd know just what to give What comes after this Momentary bliss Consequence of what you do to me"

"Can’t keep hanging on To all that’s dead and gone If you built yourself a myth You'd know just what to give Materialize Or let the ashes fly."

"Tender is the night For a broken heart Who will dry your eyes When it falls apart"

"Risks can be really small moments. You know, it's like a small little pivot and there you went. You know, and you just let go. You did the past, you did the things, but you let them go. And putting out a record is that."

"Everybody's wonderin' what and where they all came from. Everybody's worryin' 'bout where they're gonna go When the whole thing's done. But no one knows for certain And so it's all the same to me. I think I'll just let the mystery be."

"Some say once gone you're gone forever And some say you're going to come back. Some say you rest in the arms of the Saviour If in sinful ways you lack. Some say that they're coming back in a garden, Bunch of carrots and little sweet peas. I think I'll just let the mystery be."

"Far away I've travelled To stand once more alone. And hear my memories echo Through these hills that I call home. As a child I roamed this valley, I watched the seasons come and go. I spent many hours dreaming On these hills that I call home."

"And you know the sun's settin' fast And just like they say nothing good ever lasts. Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover. 'Cause your heart's bound to die. Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town. Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town? Goodnight."

"Sweet is the melody, so hard to come by, It's so hard to make every note bend just right. You lay down the hours and leave not one trace But a tune for the dancing is there in it's place."

"Fireflies inside of a mason jar, Acting big behind the wheel of daddy's car. Playing church around the old piano stand, You were quite a preacher and oh, we sang so grand. I remember every night what we would say and do: "If you've forgiven me, then I've forgiven you." And now when life begins to get the best of me, I reminisce these childhood memories."

"I've got no time to look back, I've got no time to see The pieces of my heart that have been ripped away from me. And if the feeling starts to coming, I've learned to stop 'em fast Because I don't know, if I let 'em go, they might not wanna pass. And there's just so many people trying to get me on the phone And there's bills to pay, and songs to play And a house to make a home. I guess I'm older now and I've got no time to cry."

"My life, it don't count for nothing; When I look at this world, I feel so small. My life, it's only a season: A passing September that no one will recall."

"If you were there behind every family's closed doors, everyone's a little wacko. Chances are that your family is no weirder than the next family, or than the other girl at school's family. Everyone can be quirky at times, and I embrace that, personally."

"The better you know your character, the more naturally it comes. But at the same time I don’t know that I ever want it to be easy, because the minute it gets easy I think I get too comfortable. And so I always am trying to search for what I can do to make my performance better"

"I like pistachio and mint chip. So I'm a green ice cream kind of guy."

"The top critics on @RottenTomatoes are OVERWHELMINGLY white and male. The newest report from @Inclusionists @USC shows a vast underrepresentation of diverse voices"

"Art is a self-care medium for me"

"Never let anyone's opinion or perception of you convince you that you're someone you're not. Keep your head up."

"I feel the world is the way it is because we don’t talk about ourselves ever. We don’t talk about how we feel, we don’t talk about how we experience things. And not knowing yourself is when you project your insecurities and your fears and your bullshit onto other people. And so that just kind of creates a whole collective where nobody’s aware of themselves, and if you don’t have self-awareness then how can we have collective awareness?"

"Put some more hours in the day, God"

"I feel like style is just a constant evolution because it’s an expression of self. Some days I’ll be in like a grungy mood and just don’t wanna fuck with anybody, and some days I’m just like 'hi world I love you'"

"Pride to me is a celebration of self. It is a celebration of being fully aware of and proud of your existence. And it's also historically a major monumental moment for the queer community. It was started by a black trans woman. And the movement is still around because we are still looking to feel empowered and still looking for visibility for all of our members."

"I rekindled a ­friendship I hadn't had in a long time and I was reminded of all the parts of me that had left. I was like, 'Wow, I love to paint and to write, and to be outside...'"

"I’d rather be myself authentically than have to keep up with a persona."

"This year has been an insane about of exploration, just getting deep down into my own heart; things I've been through, things I've not really talked to myself about. Because I feel like a lot of us kind of float through life, and we get to this point of numbness and we don't really know how we got there, we're not really feeling as much. And that's to say to the good things as much as the bad things. And I noticed that when I lost touch of feeling, I lost my artistry, I lost myself and what I love to do because I couldn't get in touch with that anymore. Because feelings is what fuels it, emotion is what fuels the art. I've been just reconnecting with that, and allowing myself to feel and allowing myself to explore the different ranges in my mind."

"I think the numbness is kind of created as a coping mechanism to all of the bombardment that we get in the world we live in right now. We're just constantly asked to be performative, and constantly asked to be present, and happy, and nice, and giving, especially as a woman, so it's just kind of exhausting after a certain point, especially when you're in a monotonous kind of cycle where you don't feel heard, you don't feel like you're expressing yourself, or you don't feel like you have any value to the situation you're in; it's easy to succumb to the numbness."

"This first video [for "Expectations"] is an exploration of my two extremes: my really naïve, innocent, youthful self, who is very hopeful and blissful in the world, and really believes that everybody has a good heart, and really believes that we can overcome this darkness that we are all surrounded by on a regular basis. And then there's my darker part of myself, who is more violent in her thoughts about the way things should be handled, or more aggressive and demanding and sensual and explorative of self."

"He was searching Blindly night and day This life, there must be more Breaking beauty, Just to stay awake His heart was like a stone"

"And on the last day He walked out in the sun He only just discovered the sun On the last day And on the last day When all his work was done He only just discovered the sun On the last day All this rapture Right here all along In scraps he tore away All this color In his final breath Exhaled the dark and gray"

"She helped me feel like I could take risks with the music, which you’re often told not to do. When you watch her, you see that it makes a difference. From now on, I am not going to be afraid to individualize my performances to the max. I won’t be afraid of liberties, if the score permits them. I know I can do it."

"Mimì vergisst nie, die Schönheit im Leben zu sehen."

"When an audience gives you love, you can feel it."

"Jüdische Geschichte ist voll von Leiden und schrecklichem Kummer. Aber sie ist auch voll von unermesslicher Freude. Wir ehren das Leiden durch Erinnern. Wir ehren die Freude durch Feiern."

"Unglaublich viel Musik, die wir kennen, ist von jüdischen Künstlern. Sie sind immer da. Es weiß nur niemand, dass sie Juden sind."

"Ob Sie Adeles "Skyfall" von Megan Marie Hart intonieren, von Kylie Minogue piepsen oder von Tupac Shakur rappen lassen, macht einen Unterschied."

"“In tenth grade—this says a lot about how developmentally delayed I was—I had in my mind that it was the proper thing for me to have a love interest. And you’d see in movies where two characters instantly see each other and are, like, I’m in love!, and then it just cuts to them on a date or interacting...A lot of my adolescence was like that. Me thinking I was doing the right thing by re-creating a movie scene that I’d seen but then realizing that’s not how it happens in real life.”"

"“When people looked at me they couldn’t recognize any of the history of me, like, ‘Where is she from? What’s her ethnicity? Who is she?’ I just didn’t make sense to anybody.”"

"“By the time it was done my heart was pounding like I just saw the rest of my life. I was fucking doomed.”"

"“I’ve always grown up feeling lonely or other, but through my music, I can be like: ‘Look, we’re the same, we’ve felt the same thing, so we’re not so different. I belong here.’ It’s almost like a hungry monster that’s just a constant need to feel connection.”"

"“I was always bothered when people say, ‘I cry to your music, it sounds like a diary, it sounds so personal,’…Yes, it is personal. But that’s so gendered. There’s no feeling of, ‘Oh, maybe she’s a songwriter and she wrote this as a piece of art.’”"

"“I write personal stories about relationships, and living in this world and being a human being…but I happen to live in a world which views me as an Asian American. So my experiences are tainted by that, even if I’m not conscious of it. Someone said ‘the personal is political’, where it seems like me just being honest about my experiences as a human being and as a person translates as being political about being an Asian American person. I’m not in this to be political or a social activist, it just happens that my being honest is a very political thing.”"

"“I like to say something in as little time as possible…I don’t think I have the fundamental confidence necessary to write a four-minute meandering song. Number one – because I'm impatient. But number two – because I’ve never been someone who is listened to. No one would stop to listen to me. I'm not a white guy noodling on a guitar for 45 minutes. No one would stay for me. I learned from a young age to be concise because there’s a very small window for me to grab someone's attention.”"

"“I’d always been fascinated by death, which sounds so morbid. Especially being a woman trying to make music, I think there’s a sense that you’re never young enough, or your career is going to end soon. So there’s that element of ‘I’m going to die soon.’ Maybe not physically, but I’m going to run out of time very soon. It’s always on my mind. I have to do things now."

"“Even when I’m in a scene I don’t think of myself as being in the scene. I’m very conscious of myself being an outsider. I think that has to do with my upbringing outside of the US – not just my heritage but that I grew up differently. I moved to a different country every year or every other year…a lot of different places due to my father’s occupation.”"

"“…this song is quite autobiographical because I didn't grow up in the U.S. I am half Japanese, and it came from wanting to just fit into this very American person's life and simply not being able to. Just fundamentally being from a different place and feeling like I would just get in the way of their progression if their life, because I could just never get to wherever they're naturally going.”"

"“You always want what you can’t have, and that all-American thing, from the day I was born, I could never enter that dream. That all-American white culture is something that is inherited instead of attained. So yes, it’s a sad song, but I wanted to make sure it reflected all of the contrasting feelings. You can be heartbroken about a relationship, but also, from it, realize you are you and you’re okay with who you are, or where you came from.”"

"People think I was writing it for a group of people, when actually I was writing about one person. The truth was, I loved this person so much, and us being from different worlds kept getting in the way."

"“…A lot of the ‘yous’ in my songs are abstract ideas about music...I will neglect everything else, including me as a person, just to get to keep making music…And even if it actually sometimes hurts, it doesn’t matter as long as I get to be a musician.”"

"“It's not like [the album’s protagonist] is a fictional character, but I noticed a personality in me that was very obsessed with control and feeling like I have power — because I am powerless and don't have a lot of control. So I kind of investigated that person in me. What is the exaggerated form? Well, it's a woman who's incredibly controlled, severe, and austere. But maybe there's some kind of deep desire or emotion that's whirling around in her and trying to get out. Maybe she's losing control.”"

"“I think it's a very feminine album…There can be something incredibly violent about being a woman and having desires as a woman – not so nice, not so soft. And I think that's an interesting experience to draw on…""

"“The phrase ‘Be the cowboy you want to see in the world’ has been an inside joke between me and myself…I would always kind of say it to myself in situations where I feel like I’m sort of trapped in my own mind. Like, ‘Oh, what would a swaggering, western movie cowboy do in this situation?’”"

""I think the theme that I unfortunately saw—unfortunately for me—was the theme of loneliness or the idea of being alone…And the idea of being alone, not because the world is forcing you to be alone but because you are the person causing your aloneness…”"

"I think there is in my previous albums a very useful romanticization or glorification of a sadness...wherein Be the Cowboy, there's a realization that no one gives a shit that you're sad, and you're still sad. Your sadness is no longer profound, and you're still sad. It's that kind of growing up and realizing that it's not cool anymore to be sad, but you're still sad."

"“It was right around Christmas… and it was kind of too expensive for me to try to fly back from Australia to the U.S. on holiday prices, so I just decided to stay in that side of the world. I went to Malaysia instead…I thought it would be a great vacation, but I went alone, and I went during the holidays when everyone else is spending time with their families, and so, long story short, I ended up feeling incredibly, devastatingly alone… I think of myself as, you know, a very solitary, kind of introverted person, so I didn’t plan for loneliness, and then it just happened and I didn’t know what to do about it. So I wrote a song.”"

"“…it was actually about when you have some kind of toxic relationship to yourself, or to another person, for so long that it becomes your identity. Even when you don't need it anymore and you've stepped away from it, you still hold on to it because it's scary to let it go — because if you actually let it go, it feels like erasing yourself. That song is about likening that sort of toxicity to a pearl.”"

"I wouldn’t say it’s an alter ego, but I have anxiety around social situations, and I don’t like going to parties…As a performer, onstage I know my place. I’m sure of myself. There’s no doubt. It’s just existing, and it’s so lovely to get to be for an hour."

"I felt it was shaving away my soul little by little…The music industry is this supersaturated version of consumerism. You are the product being consumed, bought, and sold. Even the people on your team who are your friends, the very foundation of your dynamic is that they get a percentage of your income. Every time I turned something down, it would mean that they would make less money."

"I’ve often found myself in a situation where, narratively speaking, I’m the bad guy,” she says. “We can acknowledge more than just black and white. If you present something that feels true to you, there will be other people who are like, ‘This is true to me too.’"

"I think we all have issues of self-esteem and I’m not clear of that…I also think that because it’s my occupation – to be a performer and to attract attention and to appeal to sexuality – it’s sort of a given in showbiz."

"Yes, but, you know, in a way it was good because I can sneak up on them unawares. I think times have changed in that respect. Women are serious wage-earners, and we create great things, and it seems clear to me that we can be supportive of one another regardless of what sex [we are]."

"I was working as a team and in a relationship. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable being a solo artist and I’m sure that those girls have a lot more to say about that than I do. I never went into meetings trying to get a record deal by myself, so it’s a little bit different."

"Not at this point in my life because I’m an adult. I think we all have a little area of clutter that’s nagging sometimes and it’s often hard to get rid of. Maybe this is my purge."

"I sort of thought: ‘Gee, maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad to have kids.’ But I don’t know if I could have done it while I was working so much…My natural inclination is to really throw myself into things. It wouldn’t be like I could hand over the baby. I would really want to be involved."

"I don’t actually regret taking it, but I do regret the amount of time … it’s a time-consumer. But I think at that point it was a necessary evil. To some degree, it was self-medicating. It was a rough, depressing time of life and it seemed to suit the purpose, but then it outlived its benefits."

"I mean, I was angry and I felt victimised. I wasn’t beaten or harmed physically, it was all emotional or mental. Being raped – or fucked – by some stranger against my will at knifepoint, you know…It wasn’t a happy moment in my life, but I really, seriously, empathise with women who are beaten. That would be something that [would lead to] emotional ramifications for the rest of my life. But this doesn’t."

"I did in the beginning. It helped me to cultivate some kind of female persona. I took a lot of different aspects of my character from my childhood or young-womanhood and elaborated on them. The guys were also writing songs, and I felt like I had to portray what they were writing and appreciate the male point of view as well as the female point of view."

"With lyrics, I have a basic idea, and then I write little phrases that fit with the music and encapsulate a feeling. I start with a theme and then try to adjust it to the music. I like the music to come first. For the book, I would sit down and tell the story, and then go back and edit myself. It’s probably a similar process to what you do with your photography. You shoot it, and then go back to it."

"I’ve never been a diarist… I wish I had done that. Selfishly, I wanted to have all these moments in my life shape me, but I didn’t necessarily want to share them. And I guess that makes me a nasty bitch."

"In order to survive, I could never put myself in the position of whining about being a woman. I just got on with it. As much as it was possible, I found a way to do what I wanted to do."

"And I always felt that since all my life, I was always called ‘Debbie’ or ‘Harry’ – so I embodied this myself and it’s just the way it was. It probably still is!...Yeah, so I don’t know – I never really had any problems with that and I’m always surprised when people have a fear or frustration about their combination of sexualities – I think we do better recognising both within ourselves."

"…I would say it's not not about Warren Beatty. But I can't understand why there's been such intense interest about this over the years and I don't really want to play into that. To me, it's not an issue. It's a kind of a fun riddle."

"You know, that's so much a part of life, being able to embrace the broken heart, not just cast it off as having no meaning or trying to get rid of it. I think in the book gives a very good journey through the way I handled things that were desperately frightening for me."

"I grew up with lots of mystery in my house…I was always feeling on shaky ground when I was growing up. I didn’t know what was what, and that led me to feel very insecure."

"I think of that time a lot…It’s part of my blood, my bones, all the liquid in my body. I’ve just taken him in so he’s in my core."

"I pretended I was Cat Stevens. I started out with very Cat Stevensy chords, very abrupt. I was so stuck in the moment of being fearful so as a lesson to myself I said: ‘but we can never know about the days to come’. I didn’t know when the door-bell was going to ring. I liked that. It was all of a sudden a quarter to eight and I had written the whole song."

"Fear came in so much in my life that it did everything but completely stop me. When I was a little girl, I so wanted to be sociable, but I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to speak a sentence because I had such a bad stammer..."

"Music brought me closer to the idea of God…Music gave me the energy to revise, revive myself; renew, rebirth myself. It was a palliative, a relief."

"The time I enjoy music most is when it’s not a performance. It’s just trading instrumentals and finding that part in the song that you feel best singing."

"As a child…I always had a sense of social conditions and political situations. I think it had to do with the fact that my mother was always discussing things with my sister and me — also because I read a lot. A lot of people in similar situations just have a sense that they’re poor or disenfranchised, but they don’t really think about what’s created the situation or what factors don’t allow them to control their lives."

"It seems to me that that image was created for female folk singers because they actually had a lot more control than other women in the music scene…They wrote their own songs, they played them, they performed by themselves — there you have a picture of a very independent person, and trying to make them seem emotional and fragile and all puts a softer edge on it. As if there was something wrong with being independent."

"I think people are foolish to believe that there won’t be major social changes in this country before we possibly, ultimately, destroy ourselves…There’s only so far you can push people before they start to push back, and I’ve seen that in my life. That’s where the things I write about come from. It’s wrong not to encourage people to hope or to dream or even to consider what’s thought to be impossible. That’s the only thing that keeps people alive sometimes. For me and my family, that was one of the only things that kept us going."

"I think it's important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in…That's what everyone should do with their lives…stand up for what they believe in, or try to do some good in the world. I don't think artists have a greater responsibility than anyone else."

"I know—they treat it like it’s a big phenomena. It would be like, “all-girl band” or “girl drummer” and I’d be like, “Why can’t you just say drummer?” Female this, female that. It’s an oddity."

"I grew up being aware that I was Southern, and that being a very important thing for me. And being drawn to short story writers, like Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty—the surroundings in their stories were so familiar to me, the whole Southern Gothic thing. That world only existed in that part of the country. It’s going to inform the personality of the songs. In a lot of my songwriting, I mention towns and places. It’s a culturally traditional thing in the South to tell stories."

"My mother passed away in 2004, and then my dad 10 years later. That period in between, I wrote songs like “Death Came”, and then after my father passed away I wrote, “If There’s A Heaven” and “If My Love Could Kill”, which I wrote about the Alzheimer’s disease that killed my father. There’s a lot of dealing with loss, and heavy stuff, and life. It’s a lot different of an album than some of my earlier ones, like Essence, when I was still struggling with unrequited love as a younger girl."

"I was always into different kinds of music but just by default, I was singing and playing acoustic guitar; I didn’t know how to dance or anything. So it would take some time, over a year, for me to kind of progress into the stuff that I ended up doing later, the more Southern soul, country-rock, whatever-you-want-to-call-it kind of thing."

"I think what informs my songwriting is my empathy with that. Maybe that’s what bothers people. It scares them to go to the edge of the well and look in. But it’s what they like also. And wouldn’t you rather feel the pain than not feel anything?"

"The night's too long; It just drags on and on. And then there's never enough. That's when the sun starts coming up. Don't let go of her hand, You just might be the right man. She loves the night, She loves the night, She doesn't want the night Don't want it to end."

"Do I want too much? Am I going overboard to want that touch? I shouted out to the night: "Give me what I deserve, cause it's my right!""

"He sleeps all alone on Second Street With a roof over his head and food to eat. But he can hardly make it day to day cause Everything he wants is six blocks away, six blocks away."

"There are things about you that make me wanna scream and shout. There are things about you that make me wanna lock you out. But there's a little thing that drives me wild, Something that happens every time you smile. I can't get over the lines around your eyes, Lines around your eyes every time you smile."

"Just a shakin' in my knees, just a cold chill. Don't know what it is, just call it a thrill. Just a lump in my throat, just hot blood. Don't know what it is, some call it love."

"Not a day goes by I don't think about you; You left your mark on me, it's permanent, a tattoo. Pierce the skin and the blood runs through, Oh my baby."

"Sun came up it was another day, And the sun went down you were blown away. Why'd you let go of your guitar? Why'd you ever let it go that far? Drunken angel."

"I am waiting here for more. I am waiting by your door. I am waiting on your back steps. I am waiting in my car. I am waiting at this bar. I am waiting for your essence."

"I would risk the serpent's bite. I would dance around with seven. I would kiss the diamond back, If I knew it would get me to heaven.'Cause I want to get right with God. Yes, you know you got to get right with God."

"You don't have to prove Your manhood to me constantly. I know you're the man can't you see? I love you, righteously."

"Are you alright? All of a sudden you went away. Are you alright? I hope you come back around someday."

"I would rather suffer sweet silent solitude, Deathly defiant from drowning out. Filthy sounds stumbling, ugly and cruel Between the lips of your beautiful mouth.Deep down within me words move in phases, Frozen and still until they decide To melt and drip over the pages, Until that moment they live inside."

"I found the love I've been looking for. It's a real love, it's a real love. Standing up behind an electric guitar, It's a real love, it's a real love. And all the time I was thinking no way. And all the time I never thought I'd say I found the love I've been looking for. It's a real love, it's a real love."

"You will never cop To the damage that's been done. You will never stop 'Cause it's too much fun.Now you want somebody to be your buttercup. Good luck finding your buttercup."

"Sometimes the best intentions are never truly met, And all your expectations are never what you get. You’ll never say why, or come up with a reason; You’ve been weakened by a string of bad decisions."

"There's a place in my heart, I got room to spare. There's a place in my heart, I made room for you there. Even though you make me blue, I've got room enough for you. No matter what you do, I want you to know that You have a place in my heart."

"Open up the doors of heaven and let me in. I think I'm finally tired of living, let me in. I'm going to walk into glory, Tell everyone my story. So open up the doors of heaven and let me in.I've tried to live my life the righteous way. I tried to do my best from day to day. But no matter how hard I try, Seems all I do is cry. So open up the doors of heaven and let me in."

"When you go, you let me know If there's a Heaven out there. When you leave me here to grieve In pain and despair, I've seen the face of hell. I know that place pretty damn well. But when you go, you'll let me know If there's a Heaven out there."

"There’s two sides of the coin: One where people don't expect you to do anything and won't let you do anything because they think you don't know how, and then the other side is when you're fucking up but they won't tell you because you're a girl. Then you don’t learn."

"…There's no secret, no shortcut. Once you accept that being a writer or a creator is just really hard and takes a lot of hours of slogging through crappy first drafts, you just keep producing, and then you turn around and it's done. That's the magic."

"I want to have a beneficial effect on your physiology, but it’s not my business what happens after that…It’s my gift to you."

"Alchemy and magic are about how mundane, benign, and abundant materials can have an effect that is greater than the sum of their parts. To me, creativity is alchemy."

"That explains why I have this impulse to share, to be honest and unveil stuff – because that area was like: ‘No, you have to be perfect.’"

"Men were the gatekeepers. They ran all the equipment and the labels … I was tired of being the girlfriend of the guy in the band, I was tired of hearing that my musical tastes suck."

"Intimacy—real honest intimacy—is one of the most radical things you can do right now. It’s like an endangered species to connect to your feelings and actually be present…"

"…When I’m not working, I safeguard my time to go into a dream state and not have to think about the commercialization of my art or the commodification of myself..."

"…It feels like I understand the male mind better than some people. This whole idea that men just want sex, I don’t think that’s true. I think they’re actually looking for intimacy. To them, sex equates to a moment when they can step out of their tough masculine mind and be in a really Technicolor vulnerability. I think that’s more what they’re craving…"

"I sang it about soldiers, then, later, about gay men. It touches me deeply every time. I used to perform this song at Mr Henry’s and people would be totally silent. I knew it moved them."

"I didn’t try to be a soul singer, a jazz singer, a blues singer – no category…My music is my expression of what I feel and believe in a moment."

"I hope that one day we will be seen for the people we are, not for our race, gender, age or nationality."

"I know what it is to go over the same songs over and over again, and to try to make them perfect. It’s interesting and it’s hard and it’s difficult at the same time…You have to stay on top of things."

"To be moved, to be moved constantly by your own songs. You need it to be in tune with them, and I don’t mean in tune musically, but I mean in tune with the lyrics of the songs, with the words of the songs, and with the meaning. You need to be in tune with all of that, and that takes a little bit of doing."

"Women, we naturally want to be the best…And I can’t be mad at the next girl for wanting to be the best! Why would I get mad at you for saying you the baddest? Why can’t we both agree that we bad, and that just be that?"

"I want to tell that story to people that, even though I was chasing my dream, I still was able to get my education…I really want young girls to want to go to college. My grandma and my momma will be so proud too."

"Believe it or not, I used to be a little shy…I never wanted anybody to know that I could even rap. Even when I got to college and I told my best friend I could rap, she’ll be like, ‘OK. Well, then rap.’ She wanted me to rap and I wouldn’t do it. But then we went to a kickback and I just started rapping. . . . I was confident in myself, but I didn’t really know how people would react to how I thought about myself on the inside."

"First step, you got to spend more time in the mirror…Because once you get in the mirror and you start finding shit that you do like about yourself, you’re going to stay in the motherfucking mirror trying to perfect that. That’s how I am. Like, ‘OK, what do you got going on? Bitch, you look good as fuck today!’"

"We can’t lose the arts in schools. We just cannot. I would not have graduated school had I not had my drama program or my music program. My sisters are both musicians. My little sister teaches music at a school in Afghanistan, so that’s how important music was to all of us in my family growing up. My mom taught music as well for a while at schools. It’s just been part of my life and I can’t understand how it’s even an option to take it out of schools. It helps the creative process so much—and even math skills, learning how to tell time signatures—it’s all related. I’m a huge advocate for music in schools. It’s weird to me that someone came up with the idea that it shouldn’t be. I also hate that people have to choose between sports and music. A lot of kids get into theatre or get into sports because they had to make a choice and I don’t understand why you can’t do both things."

"Coming from that place of knowing you are here for a purpose; you're here for a reason; that nobody is on this planet by accident... If you have that as your armor, you can show up as a performer and then see what you bring to the room. That's a good place to be in. I also tell people that it's really important to have the desire to perform, but also the willingness to do the work. What I mean by work, as any aspiring musical theatre kid knows, is singing all the time; taking dance and acting classes; doing monologues by yourself in your room etc. Whatever it is, do the work and do the necessary self-work too. Get therapy if you need therapy! I love therapy. It's so helpful to go. As actors, we portray so many different kinds of human being, so don't you also want to explore your own healing and better understand the human condition?"

"I'm not watching Idol this season. I stopped watching after the Fantasia season because I loved her so much I didn't want to go through that process with anyone else."

"Music is like food. It is necessary for me to stay alive. It is a fundamental part of being a human being. It is sustenance, full of different flavors, full of culture and beauty... I also just really love food, so, this is my analogy, I guess."

""We’re all living double lives: There’s the skin we wear on the surface, and then the one we keep to ourselves – the part of us that indulges in curiosities and fantasies we wouldn’t dare admit to the world, let alone ourselves."

"I enjoy strategizing and planning releases as packages, not just throwing them out willy nilly. But honestly, in today's music culture, every form of expression becomes valid if you give it your authentic effort."

"Hot take: this is probably not the first time it’s Rapist v. Rapist for president"

"Men will tell you what you are From the day you are born ‘til the day when your heart stops beating They give you their names"

"He don’t know how the devil comes Right out under the midday sun How he hungers for a way to make control How he’d throw my body down How I’ll never make a sound How he’s waiting around the corner"

"The rules I want to break The games I love to play I know I shouldn't say It's burning up my time"

"We come together Baby, can you feel it? We're all torn up inside"

"You've got to know your power"

"It's midnight in Vegas And oh, I want to be famous And oh, I'm willing to get it just right for you That's why I'm spread on the bed tonight I'm feeling so dead inside"

"I make a lot of bad decisions"

"I have to know what I'm doing I don't know what I'm doing Not gonna lie to you No idea what I'm doing right now"

"When I wear the crown You bow down!"

"I can’t think of anyone more suited for Eurovision. She’s an LGBT artist, an absolute live performance beast, she’s drop-dead gorgeous, and her ever-changing genre-defying music would totally speak to all sub-fandoms. She’s made of the same material as Eurovision winners."

"No matter what press you're doing, it's kind of a narcissistic exercise. And you start to hate the sound of your own voice and want to talk about anything besides yourself, and that's when you're talking about a movie. It's amazing how quickly the topic of me gets boring. I definitely feel like I get personal a lot more quickly, I suppose because if I were promoting a movie and somebody asked me about my first boyfriend, I would be like, 'None of your [bleeping] business.' But now it's like, I guess we're going there. And that's on me."

"I can't now say what it was that originally drew me to performing, because it's very possible that at 6 it was just that I wanted people to be looking at me and paying attention to me. Then it sort of transformed into something that was really meaningful for me. ... It became the way that I learn about myself and the way that I learn about other people."

"Just because your smart may not be conventional, doesn’t make it any less important or credible."

"I’ve never been one to fit into a box. I’ve never been normal. I think that this is part of the reason why I love this life that I live, and that I am an actor, and I am a chameleon, because I am okay with the not knowing sometimes, and I’m okay with the questioning and I’m okay with being different"

"Whenever I meet someone, talk to someone on the phone, it’s a great feeling, knowing you’ve made their day or that they love the show and they love watching. I mean, it gives them something to do. It’s a great feeling."

"People do feel very entitled to say something negative as if that is their job, or if they have any reason, or as if they know that much. They usually don’t. So, I find it kind of funny, honestly. And, that’s how I deal with a lot of things, and that’s how I would deal with a bullying situation, is that I would try and find humor in it."

"I don’t think about the past except now, when we’re talking about it, I never felt I was really there anyway. I always pictured myself as a fly who was up in the corner looking down at myself. I never feel I was there. I’m not very sentimental when it comes to the past, I don’t live there and I feel for people who do because it’s never going to be the same as you remember it."

"When you play a character, you learn the inner workings of someone's heart. I've learned something about myself through every character I've played!"

"Step by step Heart to heart Left, right, left We all fall down Like toy soldiers. Bit by bit Torn apart We never win But the battle wages on For toy soldiers."

"Love... Thy will be done I can no longer hide, I can no longer run No longer can I resist Your guiding light That gives me the power 2 keep up the fight. Oh Lord, Love... Thy will be done Since I have found you, my life has just begun And I see all of Your creations as one perfect complex No one less beautiful or more special than the next We are all blessed and so wise 2 accept Thy will, Love, be done."

"The album was the creation of a space where all of the different lives I’ve led. My life has been really divided and this was a place where I could finally gather them all up and they would be in one place. So that my professional life and personal life exist together."

"The lyrics are the most important part for me and I spend most of my time on the lyrics. When I’m in that process, I try to write every morning. I wake up and write and then just spend as much time as I can generating content and lyrics. Nothing happens until the music exists and then I’m writing to the music. So the other stuff is just sort of like collecting ideas and trying to frame different narratives and capture different emotions that I want to convey."

"I wanted to try to be a real live person, rather than just singing songs about them."

"I had these ideas, which propelled some of the songwriting, that I was moving to a different place with. I thought it would be more change. I thought, “Maybe I’ll call him,” or whatever, which I haven’t done. But it was really important to me. These were the songs that were going to exist in this time. I wanted to be performing songs that meant something emotionally to me, and it would be this vulnerability that is liberating and also necessary."

"Not ever in depth. When I was first starting out, it was so much about me and my ethnicity. I was really turned off to that. But now I’ve seen that it’s just really important to bolster that part of it as well, just so that there’s an example of someone—a woman of color—doing something that may or may not be within the realm of what is expected."

"You know, what's so funny is that I actually feel lighter than I ever have in my life — outside of what's happening. But sometimes I think the service of a song is just to capture a moment or an emotion, and I really loved the catharsis of a more plaintive and plain statement."

"I don’t want [listeners] to be sad, but I appreciate that that’s a part of emotion, and if I can help bring it out if it needs to be brought out, then yes, it is an honor. Any time someone brings what you’ve made into their life and interprets it however is most beneficial to them, it’s a true honor."

"It’s been very freeing to get out the suspense stage and be able to play the songs live. I can’t be happier. I’m pretty surprised that with this kind of content and showing this kind of vulnerability, it’s really sweet to see how people have responded in kind with their own vulnerability. It’s a very humane interaction. I think that everyone has familial issues that they deal with, so it’s a common ground that’s immediately laid down. Even in interviews, music writers have been more forthcoming with their own personal encounters. It’s so different than the run-of-the-mill releasing a record and doing promo and whatever. The shows have been so sweet, and it’s very rewarding to be that emotional and that vulnerable in front of people."

"I'm just so sick of new artists picking themselves apart trying to find something different about themselves. I'm not going to buy into it, because, quite frankly, I hate images. I'm just going to be me, whatever that is, and do my music, because it makes me happy. What makes me different is really up to you guys."

"Even at 95, I remember everything. Closure is never complete. I didn’t ask for Hollywood, it discovered me."

"Please stop acting like you don’t know what this is. He murdered two people. And will walk free. You’ve never in your life heard of a POC that killed two people and got to walk free. #WhitePrivilege"

"By the time we married, I realized I could survive without him, and he realized he didn’t want to survive without me. I liked that. That’s a good attitude to enter a marriage with."

"You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy."

"Last time I checked, I had some cancer in my lungs, spine and my liver."

"We're all a little lost and that's alright."

"Life doesn’t always give breaks to those that deserve it—but we knew that already."

"I'm honored that creators trust me to collaborate on their babies. It touches me deeply. Plus I get to start from a blank slate and play. Of all the characters I’ve ever played, Anne is the closest to who I am in the world. It makes me feel very vulnerable but I love it. I’m wide open to this experience."

"What it’s helped me remember is that it’s all a crapshoot — theater. All of the variables that have to be in place for it to be a success, it’s like an alchemy that has to happen. It’s rare that it does, and it’s a reminder to be grateful for each and every moment. So now, every rehearsal, every time I walk into my stage door, I say thank you three times. Because I know that it’s just for now. It’s fleeting."

"I talk a lot about kindness and gratitude and how those two things can bring us into the present moment and how present moment awareness is key to being not only a good artist but a good person. And we don't just get hired because we have this tremendous talent, we get hired because we're the whole package. People can sense that throughout the day we are in the practice of taking care of others and certainly for a new work you know you're going to be in the room developing with this team, this family, for years and years and years so the energy that you bring into the room has to be something that you practice throughout the day."

"A hug is a tribute to connection between two humans."

"For audiences to discover that kindness is accessible at all times, not just in the wake of tragedy. That we all have the capacity to be kind, that it is a practice. That it is there just waiting for us whenever we choose to grab it."

"To play a living person is one thing, but then to have that person present so often, and I can see her, it's trickier than anything I've ever done…Her hands were over her face, and she was sobbing openly, she said. I'm not a robot -- I could feel something inside of me start to break. And yet, I have a job -- she remained stoic through those five days, and I'm in those five days."

"There's a lyric in our opening number where we sing, "I'm an islander." And they heard this and leapt to their feet and started clapping and crying. And the cast just started bawling. We didn't know what to do. It was so beautiful. They really - they gave us the OK to come to Broadway. They really kind of blessed the show."

"It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made. I did 1,180 performances, and I’ve fallen in love with the company. It was a career-defining moment that helped me become a more well-rounded artist. But I really enjoy travel, and I enjoy creating my own shows."

"I actually went to visit her in her home in Florida, in her vacation home. I got to spend some time with her away from Come From Away, away from the theater, away from interviews, and it was very, very dear. We had long deep talks about our feelings, about our families, about how we move through the world. It really helped me come back into the role this time."

"It was challenging. If you fail in standup you can’t blame anyone but yourself. But it definitely increased my confidence and now there’s really nothing that scares, frightens me in terms of performance."

"Doing stand-up, for me, created a deep sense of courageousness. There’s no one else to blame if your screw up. The moments you’re failing are quite devastating. But you realize you can win the audience back with the next joke if you hold on and keep working."

"Stand-up created a platform to weave a story together and trust my own ideas… it gave me a deep sense of bravery as a performer. To be on stage and have a joke fail miserably, and realizing that the world continues to spin. I can get them back in the next breath."

"And you know. Jenn Colella. that we all think you are hella fine. You know I'm not alone in this belief."

"A captivating adult actor, Colella is utterly believable in the role of a four-year-old celebrity singer. Rather than bounding about with child-like abandon or producing high-pitched "little girl" speech, she talks very quietly, yet firmly, pauses a lot, stands still and tenses her fingers—this is a kid trying to be taken seriously...Colella is side-splittingly funny, never cloying, and incredibly lovable—even when Kiki turns into a monstrously spoiled brat."

"You will fall in love with Kiki, a little four-year-old...played marvelously by an adult, Jenna Colella, steals every scene she romps through in Kiki Baby...Ms. Colella is wonderful, a sensation. She is dressed like a little child, and acts like one, with a deep frown or effervescent glee on her face. She is so good at the impersonation that you really think she’s young, although she is about 5’7”."

"Colella has carried several short-lived Broadway shows on her back. It's fitting, then, that she earned her first Tony nomination for "Come From Away," in which she plays Beverley Bass, the real-life pilot who on Sept. 11, 2001, carried dozens to refuge."

"It isn't just that Jenn Colella's show deserves praise, it isn't just that Jenn Colella belongs on a list of the best, it's that she belongs on a list all her own. I don't believe I have ever seen an artist work a room the way that this singing actress does, and that's what had me gobsmacked."

"Her off-the-cuff commentary was so incredibly relaxed and natural (and sometimes intimately personal) that one would think that Jenn Colella was performing to a room full of friends at her very own birthday party, as opposed to a room full of paying guests in a supper club."

"The sight of Colella's onstage relationship with the band was something slightly resembling a dodo video of a houseful of puppies at play ... and speaking of puppies, the personal highlight for this dog-obsessed hooman was watching Ms. Colella's eyes tear up while singing about the importance of dogs in our lives."

"It's not just that Jenn Colella puts on a great show, that she is talented, that she is a hard worker, it's the commitment to bringing all the parts of herself to her storytelling, the willingness to lay bare her soul and humanity...It is, apparently, not part of Jenn Colella's genetic makeup to hide herself from the people, and that is where her success as a concert performer resoundingly resonates."

"Instead of traveling, I tend to think about a variety of things while filming or working abroad. When I play a different role, my perspectives and ideas change each time."

"Like most female actresses, I am always aspiring to succeed and become a popular star, and my positive energy never dies out. And it wasn’t until entering my twenties that I began to identify my real dream as an actress. I realized that acting is not all about receiving people’s applause or cheer. It is about delivering the right character to the audience and feeling satisfied in who you become on stage. Therefore, I try to focus more on the abstract qualities of acting, and I hope to become a better actress throughout time."

"As an actress, it’s not only about looking good on camera, but being able to deliver the right emotions for the characters you play. This makes you more attractive on the screen. That’s why I focus more on acting rather than my appearance. Sometimes, I don’t even bother taking out the mirror to fix my makeup before filming."

"I think there are various sides to my personality. However, to simply summarize into one, I am a flexible person. I’m not bound by rules. I enjoy talking to people while standing, and even comfortably sitting down on the ground. I seek comfort wherever and whenever. I have a pretty lenient personality, but sometimes can be aggressive as well. But this is only seen when I am acting on stage."

"But at its core, Mulan is really about the character, the spirit. She is such a famous character, but I also wanted to be myself. It was all about balance and choice. It’s always brave to be yourself."

"I would say focus is really the number one. Each day I allowed myself to forget who I am for the moment. You have to kind of lose yourself and not think about just how brave Mulan is. Yes, I am playing a hero, so we need to bring out that side, but I think every human being is complex, and complex is so beautiful. And that’s where the energy of the character is."

"I think it’s important in every culture that we treat family respectfully. We’re being thankful and we’re showing love. I think if you ask me what family means, I would say it is unconditional love. So at this point in time, I think it’s still another universal language."

"I’m very lucky but I don’t want to put on too much pressure, because pressure means doubt. For me, the spirit of Mulan is the simpleness and the unspeakable belief and strength. This power inspires me."

"I'm eternally grateful for the Irish side of me. That's where I got my sense of comedy and whimsy. As for the English half — that's my reserved side ... But put me onstage, and the Irish comes out. The combination makes a good mix for acting."

"I was a wife and a mother, and I was completely fulfilled. But my husband recognised the signals in me which said "I've been doing enough gardening, I've cooked enough good dinners, I've sat around the house and mooned about what more interior decoration I can get my fingers into." It's a curious thing with actors and actresses, but suddenly the alarm goes off. My husband is a very sensitive person to my moods and he recognised the fact that I had to get on with something. Mame came along out of the blue just at this time. Now isn't that a miracle?"

"I'd like to be remembered as somebody who entertained — who took one out of oneself — for a few minutes, a few hours — transported you into a different venue — gave you relief, gave you entertainment, and gave you joy and laughter, and tears — all those things. I would like to be remembered as somebody who was — capable of doing that."

"What I experienced at drama school was the fun and the excitement of being given a part. And when you're a student and you are given a role, something is assigned to you. And you're going to do a little scene at the end of the term. That's absolutely the most thrilling thing in the world. So you're doing it, in other words."

"My first role was to play Audrey in As You Like It, which is a very comic part. And Touchstone and Audrey have a very funny scene together. And during that scene, I suddenly got this - the feel and the smell of being able to make an effect by the way I played the role, the way I comported myself. All of the physical aspects of acting suddenly came to me. And I got a laugh, you know, the first time I did it. Well, this was a tremendous kind of boost to my self-esteem."

"I went very fast in drama school and ended up working in one of the senior plays. Even just in my first year, I was assigned a role of a lady in waiting in Mary Of Scotland. So they obviously knew that this young person had something. She had a talent. And I sort of felt that, although I didn't get big-headed about it, but I felt it — gave me tremendous confidence."

"The only, let's say, the comfort I took was — and even then, I kind of leant on it — was the fact that I knew that I was an actress and that I could play different roles because I was continuously being offered extraordinary stretches, shall we say, as an actress, to play parts which were way out of my range. However, I would do it. And I managed to just skin by by the skin of my teeth, you know, playing roles where I was much older than I actually was, playing Walter Pidgeon's wife in "If Winter Comes," you know?"

"I was never going to get to play the girl next door. And I was never going to be groomed to be a glamorous movie star. And I sort of realized that. So I had to make my — make peace with myself on that score."

"Any actress will tell you that evil roles to play are the best. You can go to town, you know? And in that instance, I think that woman had so many layers and so many personas in a sense, she was riveting and so interesting to play. I relish the — having had that opportunity to play that role because I don't think there are many written like that. I consider that she was the Lear among, you know, movie women."

"When I first started Murder, She Wrote, I thought it would last maybe two, three years, you know, or maybe a year if we were lucky. But when it extended and I realized the deep inroads it had made into family life in America, I couldn't stop. So I was sort of trapped — happily trapped — for 12 years with it. And I'm still playing Jessica from time to time and loving it. I wouldn't want to let go of that lady. … She was the sort of woman I like, and therefore, I enjoyed playing her. And being Jessica was second nature to me because she embodied all of the qualities that I like about women. She was valiant and liberal and athletic and exciting and sexy and all kinds of good stuff that women are of a certain age and are not given credit for. So to be able to play that gave me tremendous sort of pleasure, and I'm so glad I've done it."

"In this quiet little Indiana town I will aim to bring together the song composers of the land so the young and ambitious may meet the veterans and successful members of the profession."

"There's not a city, or even a small town, that couldn't make its grandmothers happier, and make itself happier, by doing something for the old folks."

"I was sitting on the couch and I was just like, “I’m tired of this.” And by “this” I mean: Being quiet when there’s something I want to say. So I just said it, I wanted my music off. I honestly thought I would say it and then have to go into a legal situation that was more quiet. But when people started responding, that’s when I wanted them to understand what I was really saying. Social media is certainly not a place for nuance, so I did my best to explain everything, how it all interacts and how it all feels. For me it wasn’t even about exposing Joe Rogan. It was about exposing what it’s like to be an artist of color in the business. Our biggest streaming platform is allowing this. Now it’s become a conversation of me against him — that was never my intention, and that’s not how I feel. We’ll see how many more times I can say Joe Rogan’s name; I’m getting a little tired of it. This is about the way Spotify treats artists. I’ve been saying that on my Instagram for a while. People listened to it this time because [Rogan] is involved, which has its own element of race, too."

"It’s really unfortunate. I feel like artists don’t realize that if we all really truly actually stood together, something could change. But we’re also all living day to day. People are just trying to make sure they’re ok. I get it. But it is a shame how much courage you have to muster to just tell the truth."

"First when there's nothing But a slow glowing dream That your fear seems to hide Deep inside your mindAll alone I have cried Silent tears full of pride In a world made of steel Made of stoneWell, I hear the music Close my eyes, feel the rhythm Wrap around Take a hold of my heartWhat a feeling Bein's believin' I can have it all Now I'm dancing for my lifeTake your passion And make it happen Pictures come alive You can dance right through your life"

"Sometimes you just need to have a good cry and write something that gets to the core of your most miserable and beautiful humanity."

"I write to get to the bottom of whatever I’m feeling. And I hope that my music will comfort the people who hear it, and maybe help them process whatever they need to."

"I knew [these songs] would benefit from making the recording process a very communal experience; it definitely opened them up into something bigger and less about me and my little world."

"It feels like a permanent topic, I’ll probably never stop writing about religion—but the way I write about it now is very different than I wrote about it five years ago."

"Being that vulnerable is so necessary; putting words to those feelings is difficult, and it take a while to write the songs because I want to get them right. It can be excruciating, but it’s worth it, it feels like you actually got to the bottom of something, and the hope is that people can easily relate to it."

"I don’t write to dwell on sorrow, I’m trying to process something to help other people."

"If you don’t have a drummer, you can still make a beat. The good news is, it won’t sound like anyone else’s beat, and most people won’t be able to tell if it’s Matt Chamberlain or just you frantically tapping a launchpad."

"Work hard, be generous, publish your art and move on. You are the only one who can make shit happen."

"We teach best what we most need to learn."

"Let's shake hands & reach across those party lines, you got ur friends just like I got mine, we might think a little differently but we got a lot n common u will see, we're just like you....ONLY PRETTIER!!"

"I guess if you don’t jump, you’ll never know if you can fly."

"Forget your high society, I'm soakin' it in kerosene. Light 'em up and watch them burn, teach them what they need to learn; ha! Dirty hands ain't made for shakin', ain't a rule that ain't worth breakin'. Well, I'm givin' up on love 'cause love's given up on me."

"And I'll grab the wheel and point it west, Pack the good and leave the rest. I'll drive until I find the missing piece. You said I wouldn't get too far on a tank of gas And an empty heart, But I have everything I'll ever need. I got this old guitar and a brand new set of strings."

"Sweet like a kiss, sharp like a razor blade, I find you when I'm close to the bottom. You can't appreciate the time it takes To kick a love I always knew was kind of wrong. And as I'm putting out the flame, Somebody brings up your name."

"So you treat your love like a firefly, like it only gets to shine, for a little while Catch it in a mason jar with holes in the top and run like hell to show it off Oh, promises were made when we'd go walking That's just me and Charlie talking."

"I'm going home, gonna load my shotgun, Wait by the door and light a cigarette. If he wants a fight, well, now he's got one. And he ain't seen me crazy yet. He slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll Don't that sound like a real man? I'm gonna show him what little girls are made of: Gunpowder and lead."

"Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell Every grandma, in-law, ex-girlfriend Maybe knows you just a little too well Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail Hey, word's gonna get around Everybody dies famous in a small town."

"Forgiving you, Well, she's stronger than I am. You don't look much like a man from where I'm at. It's plain to see desperation showed it's truth You love her, and she loves you with all she has I guess I should've been more like that."

"Hey, white liar The truth comes out a little at a time And it spreads just like a fire Slips off of your tongue like turpentine And I don't know why, white liar."

"So lets shake hands and reach across those party lines You got your friends just like I got mine. We might think a little differently, But we got a lot in common, you will see. We're just like you, only prettier."

"I feel like this long string of lights, They lit up our whole house on Christmas day. But now it's January, and the bulbs have all burned out. But still, they hang, Like dead flowers."

"'Cause I heard Jesus, he drank wine And I bet we'd get along just fine. He could calm a storm and heal the blind, And I bet he'd understand a heart like mine."

"My reputation follows me around, Just makes me wanna give them more to talk about. Let’s go to town for a little while, I’ll be wearing nothin' but a tattoo and a smile.Ain’t no use in tryin' to slow me down, ‘Cause you’re runnin' with the fastest girl in town. Ain’t ya, baby? You're kinda crazy."

"At the baggage claim, you got a lot of luggage in your name When you hit the ground, check the lost and found Cause it ain't my problem now I can't carry it on, I've got a lot of troubles on my own It's all over the yard, in the trunk of the car I'm packing' it in, so come and get it."

"But you went away How dare you? I miss you. They say I’ll be OK. But I’m not going to ever get over you."

"Hey, whatever happened to waitin' your turn? Doing it all by hand?<br?Cause when everything is handed to you, It's only worth as much as the time put in. It all just seemed so good the way we had it, Back before everything became automatic."

"If you borrow dresses like you borrow time, If you dream all day and drink all night, If you're looking for love but willing to fight Over men and mama's and Miller Lites, Well then, we should be friends.I don't know you well but I know that look. And I can judge the cover 'cause I read the book On losing sleep and gaining weight, On pain and shame and crazy trains."

"Another vice, another town Where my past can't run me down. Another life, another call, Another bed I shouldn't crawl out of At 7 AM with shoes in my hand. Said I wouldn't do it, but I did it again. And I know I'll be gone tomorrow night. Mm, another vice."

"Hey there, Mr. Tin Man, You don't know how lucky you are. You shouldn't spend your whole life wishin' For something bound to fall apart. Every time you're feeling empty, Better thank your lucky stars. If you ever felt one breaking, You'd never want a heart."

"'Cause it'll all come out, all come out in the wash. It'll all come out, all come out in the wash. Every little stain, every little heartbreak, No matter how messy it got. You take the sin and the men and you throw 'em all in And you put that sucker on spin."

"I'm a wild child and a homing pigeon, Caravan and an empty kitchen. Bare feet on the tile with my head up in the clouds One heart goin' both directions, One love and a couple of questions: Am I settlin' up or settlin' down? Am I settlin' up or settlin' down?"

"And if the house just keeps on winning, I got a wildcard up my sleeve. And if love keeps giving me lemons, I'll just mix 'em in my drink. And if the whole wide world stops singing And all the stars go dark, I'll keep a light on in my soul, Keep a bluebird in my heart."

"If I was a cowboy, I'd be wild and free, Rolling around these towns like tumbleweeds. I'd be a legend at loving and leaving, Nipping on a whiskey and numbing up my feelings. You thought the west was wild, but you ain't saddled up with me, If I was a cowboy, I'd be the queen."

"So I try to relish in that moment and try to smile about it and just be grateful for the time you have and you have to always remember to be kind to one another."

"Holiday time makes me feel happy and festive and excited. I got a three-picture deal at Lifetime and I thought a Christmas movie would be the perfect way to come out and introduce it."

"I would say, ‘One day I’ll be really famous.'"

"My skin as an African American tends to be a little drier, since I’m getting up there, just going outside in the sun, and all the years of the things that I’ve done to my body being in the entertainment business. For me, it was having hyperpigmentation or sometimes you get light spots. I wanted to do something that represented me. I wanted something that I knew really worked."

"It's just another sad love song Rackin' my brain like crazy Guess I'm all torn up Be it fast or slow It doesn't let go Or shake me And it's all because of you"

"And I can't get you out of my head And I know I can't pretend That I won't die if you decide You won't see me again If I never feel you in my arms again If I never feel your tender kiss again"

"The lovely thing about being a grandparent is you can just love them to pieces, spoil them–and then give 'em back! You don't have that extra responsibility. You just have fun, FUN. It's inspiring for me to watch how they grow, and who they become through the nurturing of both their mother and their father."

"But I could sing. It was given to me; it was a gift. And I thought everybody could sing."

"And I thought, I want to tell people who I am, the life that I had as a child, being married all my life. I mean, you know, I never had affairs with a lot of men; that was not my case. But I was very devoted to the two husbands I've had."

"It truly was incredible. It was so great for me. I did three shows while under contract with them. By the time I got into movies the studio system was over so in a way it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because then I went on to do everything, from television to films and everything else."

"To tell you the truth, I was never attracted to handsome men because they were so attracted to themselves!"

"I tell the story of my life, how I got into show business, my two husbands and, of course, we show a lot of photographs."

"I read. But to be very honest, I don't have time for hobbies. I've been working like crazy. I just came back from a signing. You take everything you have, records...pictures... movies... CD's and you have a booth where you sign them for the public."

"Yet I'm now seeing Patrick as an adult and an actor onstage. He's a damn good actor. It's wonderful to see how he works."

"Shirley truly cares about her grandchildren, children, trees, the UPS man and me — in that order."

"Shirley's husband, Marty Ingels talk about the actress."

"“You have to look at your art as a commodity, and you have to understand how the world of commerce works. Otherwise, it can leave a bitter taste in your mouth, and leave you quite disillusioned.”"

"“As a human being, you retain the right to your freedom - mental, physical, emotional, financial, sexual, etc. Being a young African we’ve been bred with our core values out of fear.”"

"Nobody owes you anything. It’s really up to you to make the best out of situations"

"Power changes hands. Be respectful and kind to everyone, you never know whose help you might need."

"I deleted all my old music and I am rebranding myself. I don’t have to hypersexualize myself in order to be successful."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting a girl, but if she blatantly tells you 'no' and asks you to stop calling her, then please take a hint."

"I wanted women around the world to have an anthem for all the times they've had their phone blown up by someone that they really didn't want to speak to, especially if he's a married man."

"The best feeling in the world is having someone all to yourself and not looking dumb"

"No shame in my game."

"You gotta let me be me. Because everything I’m doing and how I operated has worked for me all this time."

"Every day something special has happened. Every day something new keeps happening. It’s crazy."

"People try to go tell you stuff, and they’re not in your shoes. They don’t see all the footwork that goes into it. Mentally and physically, it’s just a drain. They don’t know what you’ve been through, so people always try to tell you “You know what I would do? I would do that.” You don’t even know the half."

"I think the way that you dress always can add spice to whatever you’re doing, to hold people’s attention."

"But the people who do show love and who love what I do, those are the people who I work for, who I want to keep happy. You can’t worry about the haters."

"I don't ask tabloids to chase me around every week. But at the same time, I would never take back any part of who I am or where I came from. I would never want to be part of anything else. I'm honored and proud of my family and my dad."

"Death is part of life whether we like it or not — and so is grieving. There is so much to learn and understand on the subject, but here's what I know so far: One is that grief does not stop or go away in any sense, a year, or years after the loss. Grief is something you will have to carry with you for the rest of your life, in spite of what certain people or our culture wants us to believe. You do not "get over it," you do not "move on," period."

"This is where finding others who have experienced a similar loss can be the only way to go. Support groups that have your specific kind of loss in common. I go to them, and I hold them for other bereaved parents at my home. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING takes away the pain, but finding support can sometimes help you feel a little bit less alone."

"Presley joined Oprah Winfrey and her Angel Network and was active in the relief efforts after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and surrounding areas. Presley gave a helping hand in Memphis, Tennessee. "I'm here," she said, "because I definitely needed to do something, and it just so happens this is where I'm from. I'm going to do everything I can. People need help—this is a huge catastrophe and everyone needs to stand up." Her first stop was a food bank, where, with the help of FedEx and Kroger, Lisa Marie loaded a truck with groceries. Then it was time for a pit stop at Target for toiletries and clothes. "I thought I was going to grab a couple things at the store," Presley said, "and I ended up filling up a truck. I went a little crazy." Presley's final destination was the Grand Casino Convention Center in Mississippi to distribute the supplies to people who had lost everything. One evacuee said, "I really appreciate everything Ms. Presley is doing for us. We have nothing, so we're very grateful for everything she's doing"."

"I wanted to be an actress - I didn't want to be a model, I felt myself choking to death. I hated it with a passion. I got hurt very easily. I mean, I'd come in weighing 115 pounds, and I'm 5 feet 7 ½, and I'd be told I was TEN pounds too heavy! And I still wasn't eating a damn thing!"

"about a hundred and eight, I think"

"As I have grown up in the acting world, I have learned a lot about really listening and keeping quiet, even in my own life. Less talk, more listening. It has taught me a lot about life and acting."

"You come to a place in your life where you really learn what it is and how it is and what make you tick as an actress. It takes you a long time to learn how to be an actress. It really does. And then you find these buttons that become so accessible to you. And you just push them."

"I’m not a big red-carpet girl. But I love the work."

"She grew up in the limelight but I tried to provide stability and a quieter world."

"I think she wanted to stick her foot in and see what it would bring. And she’s doing extremely well. You just want them to follow their own path, and she totally did this on her own."

"We are one half of this planet and yet women all over the world are second class citizens. There are many women abused in so many countries. To be a woman today is quite a place to sit."

"Life does imitate art many times, and people pick up from the movies. Messages are sent that way. I’d like to see more and more women collaborate on films in which they show great, deep devotion and friendship. It’s important."

"But if you really look at it, men are kept as the sacred ones and touted the older they get. It’s always been the old adage that women are put out to pasture the older they get."

"Well, I’m not very comfortable with looking at myself in the mirror before I do a scene, anyway. It really throws me."

"The bad thing about animal protection is it never seems to get better, We can look back in history and see things not having changed with the way they were, so it’s an ongoing fight to protect any kind of animal."

"People should be reminded that we are one. I don’t care where we’re from or we’re going, but we are all in this together and we are one. Like it or not, suffering together, suffering individually, however it is, we’re all the same one."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, That’s number one. What someone thinks as beautiful might not be to someone else."

"I love being by the beach because I participate in all water sports, especially surfing, I love music and I love books of all types."

"I have always loved writing and I'm getting more into it these days, especially children's books."

"Kim Basinger wasn’t there."

"Learn to love yourself and all that other stuff will not matter."

"You can do anything as long as you don't stop believing. When it is meant to be, it will be. You just have to follow your heart."

"I think you can do anything you put your mind to. I think your mind is the worst thing you can use as a reason to not do something."

"Anytime you see Beyonce, Jay Z, Kanye West. Anytime a young black person's doing good, that's motivation for everybody else. Anytime, anytime, it's motivation. Use that fuel to push you forward. That's what I did"

"God is so good. Always follow your dreams, own your purpose! Embrace God’s anointing."

"You decide what beautiful means to you. We don’t all need to look the same. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you decide what’s beautiful in the world. Not the other way around."

"It's unfortunate that the "hustle hard" thing can be toxic, too, to our lives. It's OK to grind, but don't grind your wheels off, pooh. Work hard, but work smart. Be able to leave a space for you to still enjoy it to where you're not looking at the end and resenting something you care about."

"We need to stop separating ourselves by how dark or how light we are."

"A great example of colorism is to believe I can be compared to anyone,"

"Follow your heart’s truth with no need for personal gain other than the feeling produced when doing what you truly love."

"Often, kids don’t appreciate the choices available, as if it’s either the street or nothing."

"Everything happens for a reason, and everything is going to turn out the way it should."

"...having to experience so much so soon, and then to have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, that's a lot. I can understand that."

"It's like a brand new me, Sometimes I don't even recognize myself."

"It's all about self-motivation because at the end of the day, you can have all the trainers and all the money in the world, but if you don't have that mindset, it's not possible."

"I'm a mother and I have a life that's in my care and someone that looks up to me. That helps me see myself in a whole other light in a different way. It's a whole new world."

"Chicago is home. Obviously, family, and it's all I know. I don't care where I go in the world, there is no place like home. Every time I come home, I get to come home to Chicago."

"I went from being an aunt, having a mom, and being a child to not having a mom, becoming a mom, and raising my own child."

"Well, I don’t really have time to do much [exercise], I just watch what I eat. I’m very careful and cautious of what I’m eating and I just try to place those meals throughout the day."

"I am at the weight I want to be, People are under the impression that I’m still losing but I’m not."

"Stuff like this happens in your own home! I defy all the odds being African-American, living in a wealthy neighborhood and being a working mom. It’s too many foreign things in one person! It’s so ignorant. Race is just one of them. I face them all."

"I always like to say what men can't conquer, they like to destroy, I've learned, and that's something else that Mama Franklin taught me."

"That's exactly how Aretha would eat! That's exactly how she was.'" Hudson remembers. I loved having people around that knew her, to give notes or give the okay or chime in."

"When you pre­record you're married to that emotion, that delivery. I like the rawness, the honesty of being in the moment."

"We will continue to support Jennifer in maintaining her healthy lifestyle and wish her the very best in her personal and professional life."

"Oh, I'm working with a singer who acts. I felt like I was working with a woman who truly knew how to tell a story, whether she was speaking or singing or just standing there feeling something."

"More praise for the movie's headliner isn't hard to come by. Her voice is a weapon."

"Of course there’s an album on the way. There’s been actually lots of music that’s been put out. I guess the music journalists were more concerned with being tabloids than they were with paying attention to the music. I’ve released a lot of brilliant music in the last 10 years."

"Good luck when you wake up / And realize all that you've lost / Shining lies are what you're made of / I hope it's worth the price that it cost"

"So cherry chaotic, the taste of losing control / I'm chasing down the drip sip down the rabbit hole / Now I'm staring down the metal barrel of your gun / I surrender on a bender, you're the drug."

"As I enter this new moment, I wanted to explore the vulnerability I've felt in finding balance with submission, dominance, and sexuality. I've had to dive into my own body to feel the deeply powerful but also dangerous feelings of relinquishing control."

"As my closest friends and I have now begun to really grow into ourselves, it can feel heart-wrenching to witness people you love fall for a moment, or lose sight of the goodness they have within themselves when they're struggling. As a friend we just want to pick them up and show them who we really know them to be — to try to cheer so hard on the sidelines over how incredible they are, and how much they mean to us, but at the end of the day of course it's only them who can discover their own light on their own."

"Feeling pretty cute until I ran into you/ Chewed me up and spit me out like gum on your shoe/ And if you’re free and you’ve got nothing better to do/ Go ahead, destroy me, destroy me."

"After church on Sundays, I would build forts with blankets and sheets, covering my bedroom from corner to corner. Underneath those bedding canopies I created a world of my own, my first experiences with privacy from my parents. To save space on storage, my mother kept her nylons in my bottom dresser drawer. I found them, and natural curiosity led me to try them on. I wondered what was so special about these shriveled brown socks that only my mom got to wear. In the dark secrecy of my forts, I lay on my back, stretched my legs up toward the sky, and slowly rolled the nylons down over my legs. I was almost hypnotized by the sensation of nylon on skin. This must be what it feels like to be a woman, I thought to myself. My father would walk by and see the sheets and blanket tent tops I had constructed over the furniture. "Tommy, what the hell are you doing in there?" he'd bark. "Nothing!" I'd call back, and I would roll the nylons off my legs and hide them as quick as I could. No one ever had to tell me that what I was doing in my fort was indecent behavior. I could just feel that it was wrong, as if I was born with the shame. I had already been caught playing Barbies with a neighbor girl. My father's reaction was a cold stare of disapproval and a new G.I. Joe. It was put to me bluntly that "little boys don't play with Barbie dolls like little girls do," and that was that."

"My confusion over my interest in women's bodies and clothing followed me throughout elementary school. I'd see older women on the street and want to be as pretty as they were. At 8 years old, I caught an edited version of Rosemary's Baby playing on late night network TV. While most kids would shy away from the terror of the Roman Polanski film, I was drawn in by the beauty of Mia Farrow. Her hair was short and blond, chopped into a pixie cut, not dissimilar to my own. I knew what it felt like to have hair so short, so she made femininity real and attainable to me. I had no idea what kind of adult I'd grow up to be, but she gave me something to aspire to. Maybe, just maybe, I would look like her one day."

"Like most kids who had their musical awakening in the 90s, I cut my teeth on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." The utter simplicity of that song taught countless rock hopefuls like me how to form power chords and annoy their parents with them. Frontman Kurt Cobain singlehandedly calloused a whole generation of tiny fingers with those opening notes."

"When I grew bored, I would lock myself in the bathroom and by on my mother's dresses that were in the hamper. I'd stand there as long as I could, looking at myself in the mirror, wishing I was someone else, wishing I was her. Who was "her"? She was the person I imagined myself to be, in another dimension, in a past life, in some dream. I had never heard of gender dysphoria; the idea that your psychological and emotional gender identities do not match your assigned sex at birth. I didn't have a name for the way I felt. No information was available, and there was no adult that I could trust with my secret. I thought I was schizophrenic, or that my body was possessed by warring twin souls: one male, one female, both wanting control. I would look down at my body in a dress and blur my vision until it almost felt real. My eyes scanned upward, hoping to see her face, but I would only find an insecure teenage boy dressed in women's clothes. I'd do this until it was time to take the dress off and go through the motions of flushing the toilet and pretending to wash my hands before stepping back into reality."

"One night, I stumbled upon a sports almanac there. There was a two-paragraph article in it about Renée Richards, the professional tennis player who underwent a male-to-female sex change. This was the first time I'd ever heard of such a concept. I could hardly believe it was really possible. In the sanctuary of the attic, I read those two paragraphs over and over. I wanted this so badly, but didn't know how to make it happen. All those sleepless nights praying to God for this one miracle never got me a word back. After everyone was asleep, in a moment of pure desperation, I turned to Satan. [...] "I pledge my allegiance to the Dark Lord in exchange for..." I vowed to do whatever he wanted. I offered my soul, anything in trade. I begged for Satan to please, please let me wake up a woman. Not a girl, but a fully grown woman; instant emancipation so that I could run away and escape it all. I had a full, intricate plan worked out in my head. I would wake up that next morning before the rest of my family and disappear into the woods, never to be seen again. I wrote out the contract and sided it in my own blood, but of course I never woke up the woman I wished to be."

"Get a little drunk, get a little loud Stupid me and my rebel mouth Ain't all wrong but I ain't alright Don't see the world in black and white And I ain't good at being careful I just say what's on my mind Like my idea of heaven Is to burn one with John Prine"

"Grew up in the sticks where there ain't no light But the stars were big and bright If they told me no I would always wonder why But I tried to be good And keep my head down But there was too much sky around And my daddy said Keep lookin' up"

"If you can't lose the weight, then you're just fat But if you lose too much, then you're on crack You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't So, you might as well just do whatever you want So, make lots of noise (Hey), kiss lots of boys (Yeah)"

"There is a light at the end of the tunnel There is a light inside of me Tried not to show it To make you feel good Pretended I couldn't"

"Bursting with empathy I'm feeling everything The weight of the world on my shoulders Hope my tears don't freak you out They're just kinda coming out It's the music in me and all of the colors"

"I really love to do it all, but singing has opened so many doors for me. And that’s definitely a true passion of mine. It’s a natural, God-given gift. I always find comfort in singing, so singing is number one. Acting, modeling: those go hand-in-hand and I enjoy those too."

"You don’t always have to take yourself so seriously all of the time. It still should be a joyful experience in making music. You can definitely hear that in my album. And I really learned that you should seize the moment; you should be present in the moment. It was just a great time musically for me. I evolved so much during Opera Noir, during my album, and it’s just so apparent in the music, in the delivery and the execution of it all. So I’m proud of it."

"You don’t always need all of the bells and the whistles. I learned in my life, throughout my journey, that I’m enough. I don’t need all of the extras. I just live my truth, and as long as I do that, I feel like I’ll be good in whatever circumstance. I apply that to life, to my music, to being a young lady out here. I just have to live my truth and know that it’s okay to rock on my own vibration, because I’m me. I try to stand by that code, especially as a young Black woman in this industry. I try to walk the walk and talk the talk."

"You have those times when you’re trying to fit a square into a circle. I’ve been through girl groups. I went through people saying I didn’t have it. I wasn’t special or I didn’t have the look. It really affects a person’s spirit. My manager, she told me that, ‘You are enough.’ And she also told me that it’s okay to be vulnerable. I took it and applied it to my artistry and it really helped me evolve into what you see now."

"I figured out how to set myself apart and create my own name and really figure out what that meant."

"Because nobody knows your vision better than you do. Nobody can tell your story as you can. You have to live it."

"So always fight for yourself and believe in yourself and your vision."

"And it’s okay to say, ‘Hey, I’m not okay today.’"

"Be the truest form of yourself. If you go with what everybody else is doing you may risk falling into the crevices and the cracks, because there's so many people doing the same thing."

"When I create music, it's not just about the song. I have to visually see something in my head too."

"Whatever you’re doing, if you feel like you’re in this place, and it seems to be working, stay there. Don’t allow other things to make you second-guess yourself, as long as it feels good to you."

"People don’t realize that artists are sensitive or that they have feelings."

"Music is a male-dominated field. Women are not always taken as seriously as we should be, so sometimes we have to put our foot down."

"I always try to remember who I am."

"And what I'm doing is stepping into my confidence and my power to create my own beauty standard. And one day that will just be the standard."

"I feel like women who are smaller aren't really given the opportunities to be body-positive or role models either because we've been conditioned to believe that women are using their bodies for the male gaze."

"You realize that people truly care about you and they’ll help you, and they don’t mind helping you."

"I take self-love very seriously. And I take it seriously because when I was younger, I wanted to change everything about myself"

"I like to make music that you can use to motivate yourself, because I’m going to be singing that every single day on stage. I’m not trying to sing no curses in my life."

"I think that’s part of the prejudice lens that most human beings are kind of taught to build. Very judgmental. Everyone’s really mean to themselves and to others"

"Lizzo is learning self-love, practicing hope, and making space to let everyone in by Rayne Fisher-Quann. Retrieved 9/11/2023."

"You know what you want more clearly…you’re less likely to settle or compromise your standards just because somebody looks good or says all the right things."

"The best thing about getting older [is] learning how powerful human connections can be…It’s great when two people can share something deeper than just lust and passion between them – something real and lasting."

"You have to stay patient and stick with whatever is best for you…If it doesn’t work out, don’t beat yourself up about it – just keep going until you find the right one."

"And I always want my product to be what's in my heart, so I'm writing and in the sessions. It sounds like me because I'm there."

"Back in the day, the music industry was my God"

"“I found peace and balance.”"

"I played ball during my freshman and sophomore years at RHS, I was a quarterback. My teammates and coaches were incredible, but there were many instances where I was not given the opportunity to play, likely because I’m a woman."

"Like I said, my teammates were amazing…many times they backed me up when an opponent spit on me, kicked me or called me names. The entire experience of having a female on the football team was new for my teammates, coaches and the parents. All I wanted was to be treated equal."

"After college I went on to play football for Chicago Force Women’s Professional Football Team as the starting quarterback and I was quarterback for Team USA where I was able to lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to three gold medal wins. But even through this experience, I faced gender stereotypes, lack of funding and sponsorships, no unified league, and no awareness or recognition."

""My favorite time of day is the one I feel the most powerful in and that's random"."

""So I'm thankful for this unusual turbulent and emotional time that we're going through because I think a lot of people are going to come out very different"."

""I think most people manifest everything that happens in their life"."

""I believe the universe wants to give, and if we ask very clearly what it is that we want, I believe that we receive exactly what we want"."

"Interview: Linda Perry by Katherine Yeske Taylor,25 April 2021 Retrieved 23/11/2023"

"You get into that position and you don't want to get your hopes up because everything is so fickle in the industry."

"I think it's a good thing to look back on and understand that you have a power really. You have power in it and to use it wisely and to the best of our abilities too. Do good rather than bad."

"Society expects you to act a certain way and she didn't, which had its consequences."

"It's one of those things where — and this is why writers are so successful — it's about humanizing people."

"Some of the biggest monsters out there have something in their past that's made them into what they are.I don't think someone is just born into the world being nasty. Usually it's a combination of things. But it's interesting how it affects their life, how it affects everybody else in their life."

"Teenage bullying in general, I don't even want to say teenage anymore because everyone deals with some sort of bullying, it never ends. That's such a misconception, but bullying in general is so awful. Whether it's online or it's in person or it's your family."

"The biggest thing is to protect yourself emotionally and mentally, which should be a daily practice anyway.""

"As far as advice goes, I would definitely say keep your circle small and close. There really is something to making sure that you have a good support group."

"I couldn’t wait to pursue my love of singing again. Music helped me through a lot in the hospital, and it seemed like I was far away from my troubles when I was singing or listening to music."

"You put so much time and effort into such a small amount of time,but all that amount of time is worth so much"

"At that moment, it was like a ray of light came over me, and I knew that I was going to live"

"As days pass, you start to wonder when that one hero will come and save you, keep holding out for that hero, keep pushing forward, never lose hope, and find something you enjoy and use that as your light."

"To me, it's work that is kind of invisible; it's a weird kind of work to have because you're not working"

"Like anything, you just need to stay true to who you are and hope that social constructs don't get in the way of accomplishing your goals."

"I want people to know that I'm a force to be reckoned with."

"If you're a creative person, what inspires you is always changing; it's always shifting."

"I'm the kind of person who doesn't wait for opportunities to fall from the sky."

"I've learned to love my brown eyes."

"There is the devil at the door. I'm nearly going under, can't help but wonder who am I working for? No one's more enslaved now then the ones who falsely feel they are free. I've come to terms with the fact that nothing is what it seems. This life is an illusion. And everything you thought you knew isn't what it seems. Only truth will set you free. This new world has begun."

"One tip is to try and give your hair some time to relax. Don't over wash or over dry it."

"Hopefully with a woman President the double standard will slowly begin to wane."

"This industry's so full of distractions: partying, drinking, sex, money. The priority for me is just to make music that people can connect with. I want to make something fresh that people may not understand"

"I'll usually run an ice-cube over my skin to close all the pores. That's pretty much my daily routine."

"I like people who don't take themselves too seriously."

"My routine actually stays pretty simple and consistent. Every morning I use the X-Out Wash-In Treatment with warm water in the shower. I towel dry my face, apply a moisturizer-sunscreen, and go!"

"Keep your brow game on point and always pack a lip gloss."

"My hope is that no matter your mood there is [on a Joyride albom] a song on there that speaks to you."

"I think that sexism existents everywhere"

"“You will be terrified, and it's OK that you don't know what the future holds. Some people will count you out because of the decision you've"

", "Happiness comes from within, not from external circumstances," encapsulates a powerful notion about the nature of true contentmen"

"I try to transition my energy into just having fun. In my experience, as a young black artist, you have to fulfill an archetype, or be a token —"

"When you take care of yourself, you're a better person for others. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better."

". My son spends as much time with his dad as he does with me. ... When you think back in history about producers and artists or writers who'"

"When you think back in history about producers and artists or writers who’ve had good synergy, a lot of times they date, or they’re married, or there’s a friendship and a kinshi"

". “I do the best I can, which involves a lot of saying no to things, actually, and a lot of really organized scheduling and"

"My mom put me in dance at four, I started writing music at ten, and it has always been a super passion of mine."

"It was really crazy, though, because when I got the audition for the show, it didn’t exist"

"I’m in a space for releasing more music. I’ve been in my bag, but I’ve been in the lab just working"

"Gwen Stefani is a fearless rocker who can wear the same boyfriend jeans and sneaker wedges over and over but make them look different every time"

"There's nothing wrong with wearing makeup and hair extensions to feel pretty, but you can't get lost in all of it."

"I came to the conclusion that not only was the Gospel I was given as a child objectively true in reality, but that the Christian worldview was the best explanation for the way the world actually is."

"I think when you have children, not matter what you’re doing, at least as a mom they're always in your head and in your heart and sort of informing your decisions and how you live your life. And so some of these songs are totally inspired by them."

"["Your Dog"] comes from a feeling of being paralyzed in a relationship to the point where you feel like you are a pawn in someone else's world. The song and the video are meant to show someone breaking away and taking action, but at the same time, it's only a quick burst of motivation. It's a moment of strength amidst a long period of weakness."

"Getting off social media was the greatest thing I could have done in terms of my relationship with fans. That sounds really counterintuitive, but when you meet people in real life, the experience is often really pleasant. I can’t remember the last time I had an actual bad time, except if someone was being a little strange or taking too long. The part that can start to make you feel really alienated is sitting on Instagram and interacting with a stranger. I’m just not that type of person. If I’m not on social media, I speak to maybe five people on a daily basis. I just don’t have any desire to be any other way. [...] It gives you such a negative view of what fans are thinking or what they want from you. [...] Flooding yourself with strangers is too much."

"I don't wanna be your fucking dog That you drag around A collar on my neck tied to a pole Leave me in the freezing cold."

"I found God on Sunday morning laying next to you My arms stretched out like Jesus White sheets nail me down to the bed."

"Mary has a heart of coal She’ll break you down and eat you whole I saw her do it after school She’s an animal."

"I am fake it till you make it in a can And you have a calmness that I could never understand"

"I try to break your walls but all I ever end up breaking is your bones And the bruises show Standing in the living room talking as you’re staring at your phone It’s a cold I’ve known"

"I lost myself to a dream I had And I’d never give it all away But I miss feeling like a person"

"I’m barely a person Mechanically working"

"This soft music is not precious. It’s gnarly and intense, like the heart itself."

"Whether you’re reminiscing about late-night make out sessions in high school or surrounded by plenty of “cool” girls in your city, Soccer Mommy’s is something that defies age."

"Some of the magnetism of her pop-inflected indie rock comes from the winding shape of her melodies; in their unpredictable motion, they often resemble counterpoint written to a root melody that’s been erased."

"Fame is weird. I’ve never been super famous. I’ve always been somewhat recognizable. It’s been the healthiest trajectory. [It’s] not a scary spike. I have my priorities. I know who I am. I know where I’m going. I know what it means. It means that I’m getting to do what I love."

"Jennifer's Body is my favourite movie that I've done. It was overlooked in theatres, but it does have a DVD following. I can't believe nobody wanted to see Megan Fox and me hitting it. They had an extreme close-up of our tongues, and I'm telling you, the thing about the scene is that it's actually really sexy. For a young girl to say that about her own sex scene - it must be because it's special. I think Megan and I kissed really well together. We have similar kissing styles and it worked. We got it done for the masses, and the masses still didn't show up."

"We're just spinning where we stand"

"You are burdened by only your dangerous mind"

"I’m in a state again, but I stay polite It keeps me alive"

"I need to stop singing in code To start ringing true because true rings only"

"There comes a time when you decide if you fight it off or learn to die."

"You’ll be a home for ungrateful drones who will churn your bones to butter."

"This summer hurts!"

"Is there room in the band? I don't need to be the frontman If not then I'll be the biggest fan."

"You used to be so sweet Now you’re a firecracker on a crowded street"

"A preacher in a t-shirt told me I could be a leader [...] You showed me the light All it did, in the end, was make the dark feel darker than before"

"How did they betray me? What did I do? I never touched you how I wanted to If you get married, I’d object Throw my shoe at the altar and lose your respect"

"Without you I am surely the last of our kind Without you I am surely the last of my kind"

"I let my mind get turned inside out Just to see what the kids were laughing about And it wasn't worth understanding Something I could've gone my whole life not knowing."

"I thought you'd hit rock bottom, but I'm starting to think that it doesn't exist You've been falling for so long and you haven't hit anything solid yet"

"If you hadn’t come over, I would be so much colder I would be much less confused"

"I want what we have, our beautiful life But the stillness, the stillness, might eat me alive"

"The people in her songs seem to naturally settle into realms of instability and ambiguity."

"Wish I could write songs about anything other than death."

"Good God, when’re you gonna call it off Climb down off the cross and change your mind? All right, then, I’ll go to hell"

"What if it’s all black, baby, all the time?"

"I’ll wrap Orion’s belt around my neck and kick the chair out."

"Beat myself till I’m bloody, and I’ll give you a ringside seat."

"Day-one chip on your dresser get loaded at your house"

"It’s the mercy I can’t take."

"What right had you not to let me die?"

"I don’t need a savior I need you to take me home"

"Hey, why do you sing with an English accent? I guess it’s too late to change it now."

"I don’t want to be stoned anymore."

"I woke up in my childhood bed wishing I was someone else feeling sorry for myself When I remembered someone’s kid is dead"

"The doctor put her hands over my liver She told me my resentment’s getting smaller"

"You’re the prettiest mermaid in the souvenir shop But if you’re coming home this late, you know you’d better be drunk."

"Good neighbors make good fences."

"Advice I would give to my younger self? I don’t know that I would really give her advice. She was a little too angry to take advice. I’d probably just get in a fight with her. I’m very thankful for it [childhood]. Of course, when I deal with things in therapy and whatnot, therapy has helped me a lot to figure my own shit out. It’s really helped me understand and not be so angry in life. I think I always felt like I didn’t necessarily have a voice, the way I grew up. It was like everyone else’s voice was on me."

"We make memories every day and everywhere we go, it's just shenanigans. Something always happens. I think the secret to a really great friendship is just creating fun memories whenever you're with that person. Bella is a surprise every day. That's the best part of our friendship. She's very bubbly and bright, and I'm more mellow, so we are kind of like our characters in a sense. We fit together so well because whatever I lack she has and whatever she lacks I have."

"I started playing bluegrass music at such an early age that it never really dawned on me that I was the only female around at times. I think that was one of the reasons that I fell in love with Alison Krauss so early on. I was nine years old when I got my first Alison Krauss recording and she really became a big hero to me. I remember getting my first Rhonda Vincent album, too. I didn’t know anything about her music, yet, but I thought it was so cool to see a woman holding a mandolin on the album cover. I remember being about nine or 10 and thinking, ‘that will be me someday—a woman mandolin player!"

"I think we have, just like in society, a way to go for everybody to be recognized equally. [...] But I think women have learned business and honed their craft. They’re great musicians. I think that’s been a very important point for women growing in bluegrass.” For Bradley, Emmylou Harris was one of her first inspirations in music. “When Emmylou came out with ‘Roses in the Snow,’ I was a teenager and that absolutely, that was just it, that was the first real representation of the female artist making one of the best records that ever been in bluegrass, acoustic and roots music."

"Born and raised in the coalfields of Appalachia, Dale Ann Bradley today is one of the most respected bluegrass vocalists, with five IBMA Vocalist of the Year Awards under her belt. She’s got the kind of hard twang of the best Appalachian bluegrass singers, and she’s always one with a kind word and helping hand for new musicians."

"Tina Weymouth can hold her own among the best bass players in the world. That's been the case for quite a long time. Weymouth’s punk-tinged, funk-infused bass lines have influenced countless women to pick up a bass and follow a path that is not foreign in the modern day. Whether we're talking about her work with Talking Heads or her own band Tom Tom Club (with husband and fellow Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz), Weymouth has always delivered the goods. She plays with confidence and continues to innovate."

"As much as I’m honored by this award, I do want to address what’s happening right now outside of the building. There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order. Trump is using military forces to stop a protest. And I want y'all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us. What type of government is that? People are being swept up and torn from their families, and I feel it's my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people. For Black people, for Latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza. We all deserve to live in hope and not in fear, and I hope we stand together, my brothers and my sisters, against hate, and we protest against it."

"While so much of our other work—theory and direct action protest alike—presents answers to the world, fiction presents questions."

"We need to be inspired and we need to inspire. And fiction offers the chance to explore things deeply in ways that other mediums can't."

"(about anarchists) we've got a wonderful critique of failure: if you don't fail from time to time, you're not setting your goals high enough."

"we need to tell stories about ourselves, because others are talking too. Every book and movie out there with a cop as a hero, saving the world from terrorists and thugs hellbent on chaos? We need to counter that. We need books about the oppressed, about the beauty of resistance."

"(SFP: Can you tell us your work’s message in 25 words or less?) MK: We, all of us, need to explore our own agency as individuals and communities in order to fix this dying planet. (2022)"

"(SFP: What authors are you inspired by?) MK: Well now I’d be a liar if I didn’t say Tolkien. I like authors that talk about power and talk about community. So Tolkien (for all his faults), Ursula Le Guin, Octavia Butler, Cory Doctorow, Terry Pratchett, I love them. (2022)"

"(SFP: Where do you think science fiction as a genre is headed?) MK: Well, probably all sci-fi that doesn’t directly address climate change is going to read as nonsensical fantasy soon enough. So I think the future is there. Personally, I hope it heads in the direction of offering alternatives, instead of just saying “here’s some stuff that’s bad.” (2022)"

"(do you have any advice for aspiring writers?) MK: Store at least 5 gallons of water per person and a week’s worth of food in your pantry. Connect with your local mutual aid organizations, or start your own. Talk seriously about how you and your friends and family will attempt to interfere with the global resurgence of fascism, utilizing the skill sets and resources available to you. You can’t write fiction on a dead planet. Furthermore, it’s our participation in life that allows us to reflect life with accuracy and beauty on the page. Find inspiration for your characters from people in the world instead of people in books. Find inspiration for conflict and resolution in history and the present instead of what you’ve read in other novels. Live life as fully as you can, feel things as fully as you can. Your life will be better and your books will be better. (2022)"

"it’s just a big inner woven net that is the way to get things done."

"survival isn’t about hoarding supplies, and hiding in the basement, but instead about building connections with community and building resilient communities. And sometimes hoarding food in your basement!"

"fiction – not just written fiction, but stories in general – are how we generate what we perceive as possible, as a society and as individuals. And so we need stories that show other ways of living, besides the one that we’re in now that is obviously doing us all a great bit of disservice."

"at some point, you realize that almost all fiction, especially science fiction, is activist fiction. Sometimes it’s an activist fiction for the status quo! But for the most part, it’s not, there’s like people all over the right and left and then weird combinations of both right and left, all over the history of science fiction."

"That was the first interview I did for the project [the interview with Ursula Le Guin]. And talking about what role fiction has within social change. That really opened my eyes. I saw them as very separate activities. And I no longer do, although I also do believe that it’s also easy to go too far the other way and be like, well, I’m doing my part, I sit at home and take no risks! And, you know, I do think that the actual work of making things change in this world involve organization, and they involve direct action, and they involve confronting oppressive powers directly."

"(Q: Do you see all your creative work across the different bands and projects as being connected?)…they’re also just coming in from the same place in terms of how I see the world, in terms of how I see the physical manifestation of different thematic ideas, of what Gods are and aren’t. All that stuff will tie in together. And it’s fun. I totally get now why so many writers that I love are just 50 years into one wild, weird world building thing. Or just declare all their work a multiverse. So they’d be like, yeah, it’s all tied together somehow. I totally get it now."

"I don’t believe the places of friction for a reader should be in the prose. I believe they should be in the ideas that are being presented instead."

"There’s no other issue more pressing for everyone alive enough to read these words than climate change. Which is saying something, because we’ve also got a fascism problem — but they’re not unrelated problems."

"(about Leonard Peltier) We always idealize wild rebels who refuse to bow to empire when we read about them in fantasy books, but some of those rebels are alive and imprisoned by the same people who draw their salaries from our taxes."

"I think that story is incredibly good at mitigating suffering. Overall, most people lead fairly hard lives with a lot of physical pain and emotional pain. And being able to step outside oneself every now and then I think is crucial for our mental health."

"when you set magic] in the real world, if you’re honest to the subject, you’re mostly going to write horror because it’s about power and playing with power. I’m interested in understanding how people shape power communally and collectively amongst each other."

"I believe that art involves reaching into the sea of possibility, the void, and coming back with ideas in order to then build those ideas into things, so I’m going to use similar tools, similar building blocks, similar themes, regardless of the medium. As I come up with ideas, I have to figure out which format is best for those ideas."

"On some level, everything I write is about the fact that we are of the earth and we’ll return to it, and I can’t help it and I don’t want to help it because I think that reading should connect us to something grounding whenever possible. And I think that there’s actually nothing more grounding than realizing that we are dirt temporarily taking on a different form."

"(Q: what is your favorite part about launching a new thing into the world?) When people indicate to me that something in what I have written has been useful to them, and that they take something from what I’ve written and find their own ways of applying it and make it their own. So, it’s not like when people quote me, but more when I can see that I have been a participant in the great art of shaping the world. And when people leave me alone about how pretentious it is to talk about art."

"I think the human condition is knowing that you’ll die. And I actually don’t think that books have to be a way to avoid thinking about that. I think instead they can be a way to find peace with that. I think feeling that it’s okay that this is going to happen is necessary for our well-being. But when you imagine the full breadth of what’s possible as a human being, I think you have to come back to an awareness of mortality and to seek out lives of meaning and beauty. And I think that fiction can be a really good way to give us ideas of how we can be in the world to try and accomplish those things."

"What I would argue is really useful about studying and understanding history is not just looking for these patterns as they repeat, but to look at trajectories…if you want to hit a ball and you know where the ball is, that’s useful. But unless you also know where the ball was, you can’t tell where the ball is going. In order to understand trajectory, you need more than one point of reference. History provides us a second point of reference. I admit, most of the patterns that I see as they relate to queerness and transness and things like that throughout history—the trajectories that I see are dangerous. They are reasons for us to keep our guard up. There’s this quote that lives in my head by Edward Murrow, “We are not descended from fearful men.” Obviously, he’s very gendered. We can look back at the history of queer and trans stuff and be like, “Oh, we were really repressed and oppressed and now we’re looking like we’re going to be again.” And that’s true. But the other thing we can look back at is be like we were fierce. We took people to task for trying to hurt us. We organized collective defense and self-defense. The fact that Stonewall was a riot is not just a quip. It is a fundamental truth about where we come from and what built our movement. There had been decades of aboveboard, polite, acquiescent, homosexual organizations, and then some people were fucking tired of it and physically fought the police. And that actually catches fire. That actually catches people’s attention. And those are the people that we come from. We come from both, and I’m not embarrassed or mad at the people who tried to make us look polite. I understand why they did it. But yeah, what we can learn from history is that we have claws. Whether we win or lose the fight is not as important as that we fight it. But we can win."

"It's more of a life partnership… I don't own him. He doesn't own me. He has to be his own person first, and vice versa… Love is freedom."

"For every woman it's important that we recognize that we have the right to figure out what works for us personally. We don't have to do what everyone else is doing. If we are good, our family is going to be good."

"I really thought happiness had a lot to do with pleasure, and I realized that happiness is about peace."

"When you've walked through the darkness of your own heart and mind ... there is no shadow you fear."

"The ego will never fail to strangle the love out of one's heart if we allow it to take center stage in our relationships. Transferring our trust to our hearts from our egos is a painful process in learning HOW to love. BUT… through it all… when we finally get to the place where we can give and receive love in its most pure state… ego free… it is only ever… beauty."

"I've always believed a woman's superpower is how deep she can love, you know? And one of the things growing up in Baltimore, I grew up around a lot of Black women that didn't have, necessarily, resources to give, right? But they had their strength and they had their love to offer."

"You gotta trust who you're with, and at the end of the day, I'm not here to be anybody's watcher. I'm not his watcher. He's a grown man. I trust that the man that Will is is a man of integrity. HE's got all the freedom in the world, and as long as Will can look at himself in the mirror and be OK, I'm good."

"If you really want to know, I'm thankful for the Hollywood scrutiny, that that's my problem. There are mothers out there losing their sons, their husbands, their daughters. I'm blessed. So scrutinize me. I'll take that any day over what the majority of my people are dealing with on a daily basis. I dare not complain."

"A man can CHOOSE to belong to someone. And if he does...he is considered noble. A woman is told she MUST belong to someone or...she is not worthy."

"We mere mortal women are worthy simply because we exist!,"

"if we so CHOOSE to bond with someone from this space … we will erect monumental love and give birth to treasures."

"I think everybody's life is their own work of art and then we have many pieces within it. I have a lot of ideas around marriage and I think it can be one of the most powerful dynamics."

"You cannot make a cake with all sugar. In one lifetime, we've lived about 20...If I had to say what kind of art piece our union is, I would say it is a tapestry."

"so that's what I'm really playing with right now. And I love the juxtaposition of going from beauty to rough, the balance of both."

"Having the courage to be with all that we are, even in the face of the disappointment and the anger and resentment that comes with the breaking of the romantic idea around the feminine," she explained, "part of the freedom and part of the empowerment of women is being able to withstand that."

"I don’t know if it feeds my soul. The only thing that feeds my soul is God. Entertainment, singing, acting, doing skits, that’s fun stuff. But it doesn’t feed my soul at all. but it’s fun stuff to do. However, people tell me it brings them joy."

"Then I was like, people are watching, and they thought that was funny. So I did another one, and then I did another one. And people would hit me and say, “My mom was dying and we would sit and we would sit around and watch you and it made my mom smile and laugh.”"

"I’m from Columbus and Toledo, My friends and I used to come up here for concerts because Detroit has the best concert. Everybody would come through to Detroit and ain’t nobody coming to Toledo. Nobody. And so we would get in the car and drive an hour and we were like, “Oh, OMG. The talent here is crazy!”"

"I think that’s mainly because people in Detroit will sit down on you. If you’re not singing like that, they will sit down. Ain’t nobody gonna clap for you. Ain’t nobody gonna feel sorry for you. You will die a slow death. They don’t care. It’s like the Apollo. Detroit will bring out the dog in. That’s the culture of Detroit. Most definitely."

"When I was dared to go on and do something funny, the person that dared me told me that the Playmakers are doing funny stuff on YouTube."

"And at that time, Kevin, his brother, Jason, and their friend Anthony were doing stuff on YouTube. So I reached out to them and said, “Man, I love y’all stuff. Y’all are funny.” And we became friends online. Kevin’s brother Jason became Kev’s manager as well as my manager too."

"Why, I've been lucky all my life. I was even lucky in having typhoid fever. I thought It was most dreadful that I should fall ill and have to give up a leading part... but when a week or two after its New York premiere the piece was sent to the storehouse, I just turned over and thanked my lucky stars that I was saved from all the disappointments that go with such an experience."

"Drag is like a spa for my soul."

"We want liberty, justice and freedom for all. When you do that, that’s when I’ll come."

"I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote – vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city."

"It’s awesome to say no to things, even though they’re offering a lot of money. I have the power to say no."

"I was so desperate to feel understood"

"I pushed down the gay part of myself so deep because I was like, that can’t possibly be me."

"It's weird how people think that you know a person just because you see them online and you listen to the art they make."

"I know that I stand on the shoulders of the women in the industry that came before me, and my shoulders are broad enough to have the women that come after me to stand on mine … the little kid in me still believes that rock n’ roll can save the world."

"When I’m not acting, I work behind the scenes with a group of talented individuals from Stronghold MNL, which is a production company that I own with a bunch of friends from DLS-CSB. The newest addition to my schedule is that some of my friends and I are about to start a line of lounge sets, room scents, and candles—so watch out for that!"

"I really try to keep things simple by staying away from a lot of prints and color. Keeping it basic and simple is key. I don’t really like spending too much time on thinking about what to wear. If it looks good and I’m comfortable then that’s about it."

"Wear clothes that make you look and feel good. Plus, don’t waste your money on trendy stuff, you won’t be able to wear them again and again."

"I never knew there was a purpose for girls with loud voices until I discovered musical theater."

"[About Madonna] I disagree. Nor do I agree with the association of Madonna's name with the title of her LP Like a Virgin."

"I could have had a career in cinema. It was difficult to reinvent myself as a singer. I have a weak voice. I can swing, dance, I'm a show woman, but I had to overcome my extreme shyness. My legs trembled in front of 80,000 people."

"I do yoga and meditation. I'm a vegetarian and I've given up alcohol."

"It's better to be the one who leaves than the one who is left."

"My recurring dream, for many years now, is of a giant wave about to crash onto a beach where I am with a group of friends. I have premonitory dreams."

"I discovered Buddhism during my mother's illness, when I moved to the United States to care for her. It's hard to see a parent die: Buddhism was my reward, all my questions were answered. I eradicated my anger, I realized that it is a poison that I must no longer swallow. Before, I used to go to ashrams but I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere. I didn't renounce anything, Buddhism doesn't ask you to do that: when I was little and preparing for my Confirmation, I thought about becoming a nun."

"My hair has always been my strong point, everyone wondered who took care of it: instead, I trimmed it myself with scissors, on new moon nights, so that it would grow back stronger and faster."

"Those who eliminate animal products from their diet no longer get sick. And then meat makes you go bald."

"Lo dico per la prima volta: il problema fu la marijuana. Romina fumava quella robaccia anche quattro volte al giorno. E lo faceva da anni, ancor prima della scomparsa di Ylenia. Era un'altra donna. Fumava ed era allegra. Finito l'effetto, si intristiva e piangeva. Era irriconoscibile. Non esprimeva più quell'attaccamento alle cose, la passione per la vita, per quello che avevamo vissuto e costruito quegli anni. Fu l'inizio della fine."

"Marquis de Sade: Justine"

"Confidence is the most beautiful thing you can possess."

"I’m not gonna say I peed my pants because that sounds really graphic and maybe not sanitary, but I think it really just caught me off guard. It was very much a childhood dream come true. I still probably have not processed it if I’m being completely honest."

"I love when artists write sad songs and they have a sense of humor to them because it’s just up my alley."

"I believe in divine timing, I always have. There are moments in everyone's life where the stars align, but it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't spent years working hard—not for the things happening now, but to stay true to my own voice and be excited about what I'm creating. I had to fight off many voices, opinions, and people controlling me when I was younger, whether in music or acting, because I was a child coming into this."

"I do think that men have been a super entertaining species to watch, in positive and negative ways. I feel really adored, inspired, and loved by some of them… and really confused, attacked, and ridiculed by others. When one of my female friends announces that she’s having a son, I just rejoice for that young boy. Because I know he’s going to be raised right. Correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve only been on Earth for 26 years, but I feel like we’ve always kind of had to train them. Unfortunately, it’s a tale as old as time."

"The mother has a daughter Who gets married to the brother of the mother. And they all just tryna multiply with one another. Cause that's just the way of the world. It never ends till the end then you start again. That's just the way of the world, that's just the way of the world."

"Now he's thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh Is it that sweet? I guess so Say you can't sleep, baby, I know That's that me espressoMove it up, down, left, right, oh Switch it up like Nintendo Say you can't sleep, baby, I know That's that me espresso"

"Please, please, please don't prove I'm right And please, please, please Don't bring me to tears when I just did my makeup so nice Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another I beg you, don't embarrass me, motherfucker, ah Please, please, please (ah)"

"When I was a little girl, I worked tirelessly for 10 years to fill one dream, to become a Kpop idol, and I was rejected, and disappointed that my voice isn't good enough. I'm so glad to be part of a song that is helping other girls, other queens and everyone of all ages to get through their hardship to accept themselves."

"So, so proud to be Korean. Growing up, people didn't know where Korea was or what Korea was, and that's why it's so incredible to have the song 'Golden' being sung all over the world, singing the Korean lyrics word by word."

"Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone's singing our song and all the Korean lyrics. I'm so proud. The song, this award is not about success; it's about resilience."

"I'm done hidin', now I'm shinin' Like I'm born to be We dreamin' hard, we came so far Now I believe We're goin' up, up, up, it's our moment You know together we're glowin'Gonna be, gonna be golden Oh, up, up, up with our voices 영원히 깨질 수 없는 Gonna be, gonna be golden"

"Writing is the love of my life, so I'm grateful that I had an example of someone who also loves it entirely in really close proximity to me."

"Songwriting has been my outlet since I started writing at eight years old. It was a thing that I did when I had big feelings and didn't want to talk to other people about them. It's always been the place where I think I've shown up most honestly."

"Be really aware of the vampires who are always lurking. People are scary and don't have your best interest at heart most of the time. And that's just the truth."

"The night that we wrote the song was kind of this feverish catch-up about our lives. And I think our friendship fostered an environment for a very dramatic song to come about, which is fun."

"Songwriting, for me, was always just a personal outlet to deal with my experiences without having to talk to anyone, especially my parents for many years."

"Ooh, bet you're thinking, "She's so cool" Kicking back on your couch, making eyes from across the room Wait, I think I've been there too Ooh, you've got me thinking, "She's so cool" But I know what I know and you're just another dude Ooh, that's so true"

"Acting is like the blood of language."

"I think I scare men. I was given the impression that being 19 and single in the world means you'll be fending off the wolves, but I can't find a wolf to save my life."

"I'm interested in human contact. I think phones have created a certain social incapacity; it's made people socially deficient."

"I’m not interested in hiding from the fact that my parents are actors. I’m proud of them! It’s very ordinary to pursue a career that your parents do, but when it’s in the public eye it becomes a complicated thing."

"Blush is simultaneously a revealing thing. Like, when you blush, you're revealing something about yourself, something personal. And it's also a mask. It hides your face, your feelings."

"The great thing about Stranger Things is it has such a reach and so many people watch it in the middle of the country. Even a little gesture like having a gay character is a big deal."

"I did take it seriously because I felt that I understood the character emotionally. The whole Disney princess thing hadn't sunk in yet. I'm not sure I could have done well at the audition if I knew what was at stake. I'm glad it wasn't pitched to me in that way. It was pitched as just another role, and that was probably a smart thing."

"I feel like if I lose touch with humanity by only surrounding myself with privilege then I won't be able to play my roles honestly any more."

"I had an existential crisis at the Oscars, sitting next to Sean Penn and Meryl Streep and being like, 'What am I doing here? I don't belong here. Everybody can see right through it all.'"

"I had just come off of a play, so I was already working on a deficit of sleep and being very tired. I had a lot of a sense memory of being a parent and sort of the exhaustion that comes with that. I just wanted to meet the character where I was, and so it was wonderful to not have to pretend to be different than I was on set. I feel like I really was able to channel my own experiences through this."

"I'm a young Latina woman growing up in a primarily white area of town where I live. I've been called it all. My hate comments on YouTube tell me to go back to where I came from. I was born in Hackensack Hospital. I'll go back there."

"It's the most jarring feeling as someone who is quite literally in therapy for impostor syndrome. You're sitting at the table with the likes of these incredible actors, singers, activists, Olympians, models who have earned their due. They earned their seat at the table, and you can't help but think, 'What am I doing here?'"

"When I was in the running for María in 'West Side Story,' they kept calling to ask if I was legit. I remember thinking, 'Do you want me to bring my abuelita in?' I will. I'll bring her into the studio if you want to meet her."

"We just need to normalise our hearts' not having boundaries. I think that there's this idea that we as public figures can't have thoughts or feelings because we are like paper dolls to a majority of the public."

"Music is my first love. Ever since I was a little girl I've dreamt of one day being lucky enough to share my music with the world."

"Lyrics to me are of utmost importance and they mean so much to me — in every song that I write, the lyrics have to come from my heart and they have to be honest and true."

"I've dedicated myself to ensuring that every word that I say, everything I write, every role that I play … I know that there's one girl in some corner of the world that's going to watch or listen to that, and I want her to feel seen and inspired or in some way empowered. That has been the guiding light in every decision that I've made in this business."