"Fame does not define me. If you are looking for fame to define you, then you will never be happy and you’ll always be searching for happiness, and you will never find it in fame. Fulfillment comes from within you, by being authentic to yourself — not chasing fame."

"I'm like every other woman: a closet full of clothes, but nothing to wear: So I wear jeans."

"I'm in a no-win situation. If I have my kids in the show, I'm exploiting them. If I don't, people will think I'm not a hands-on mom."

"I didn't go into this marriage with the idea of just trying it out. I fell in love and wanted to make a new life with him. A lot of people said to me, "How could you go out with someone with his past?" But I've always believed that everyone deserves a second chance. I fell in love with who he was when I met him: a strong man who could admit his weaknesses and work through them."

"Everyone says I'm exploiting the kids, but they haven't even seen one episode."

"As a mom, I can't imagine how hard it would be to hear hurtful, untrue things being said about my daughters."

"Just because you donate sperm does not make you a father. I don't have a father. I would never give him the credit or acknowledge him as my father."

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

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

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"I don't know where to begin with that one...the final episode is… appalling."

"I'm still figuring out who I am. But at least I know what I want."

"I have a real problem giving up that kind of control. You know, my mother helps me."

"Yeah, I have giant breasts — in a bra. It's so disconcerting — there are so many women now with fake breasts that that's the standard; that's what you're supposed to look like. But real boobs don't look like that, and a lot of working out won't make them look like that."

"I have very little patience for people who whine and complain about life not being fair. It's just the risk of life. The only thing to do is live as much as you can and as best you can, and just sort of swing it from there."

"I think people don't expect a lot from me. I'm trying to think at what age I noticed it was more about how I looked and less about what I do, but to me that was never the interesting part about me. I had nothing to do with my looks."

"I do think you've got to fight a lot of the time to be respected in business, in relationships, in life. I learned that early in my career."

"When I was 13, I was flat as a board and totally unhappy about it. I would write in my diary every day, Oh, if I could just have a B cup by summer! I actually prayed for big boobs. So I developed at about 14, and then I was 15, 16, 17, and they kept going."

"Oh God — I look back now, and it seems so gross. At just 14 years old, I had to wear a thong bikini. And then they used that scene in the trailer, so my entire school saw it! There are still men who come up to me today and say, "You were really hot in that film!" I was 14, for God's sake!"

"Isn't it better to be alone than pretend you're someone else? Be you. Find you. Be happy with that."

"In my early 20s, I didn't know who I was or what I wanted. And if you're just getting to know yourself while you're in a serious relationship—well, it's almost like when you go through clothing phases where it's all Banana Republic all the time, and then it's something else. It's like you're trying on different personalities to see what fits, but there is that real you in there somewhere."

"Now I've got this moniker that I'm the foot-in-mouth gal, and I keep thinking, In what way? Because I said something you don't agree with? Because I said something you don't like? I'm just telling you my opinion. I hate the idea that I can't be honest about how I feel about things because it's going to piss somebody off who feels differently. That seems preposterous to me."

"I lived in a town called New Canaan, which is just outside of Connecticut, where they are far too snobby to even mention celebrities. Many American towns are famous for things like, "See the World's Largest Ball of String!" I think my town's would probably have to be "Most Pretentious People"."

"My sense of humor is the raunchier, inappropriate kind. It's so much funnier than the quirky stuff."