"… A lot of women have borne a lot of things; a lot of people have borne a lot of things. There’s a certain kind of human that I want to be. There is not shame in my life. There is certainly misfortune, but I’m not the only one. I do know that. And sometimes, one of the things poetry can do is say to an audience: you are not alone. It can also speak for those who have not yet found their voice to speak. That’s part of the human condition. And if we’re going to talk about humans, why are we just going to talk about the pretty ones."

"Other than “the unanswerable question”… It’s the heart speaking, maybe that, maybe the human heart speaking."

"born in babylon both nonwhite and woman what did i see to be except myself?"

"This is not for wimps. You have to keep a sense of humor. You have to develop stamina because there's going to be tough days."

"Herbert von Karajan always rolled out a magic carpet for us, the singers. With him, our musical work took on another dimension."

"We say booty. I'm not quite sure about 'posterior'. I'll try to keep that in the back of my mind. 'What are you doing?' 'I'm shaking my posterior.'"

"Andy Murray, he's been joking about myself and him playing a match. I'm like, 'Andy, seriously, are you kidding me?' For me, mens' tennis and womens' tennis are completely, almost, two separate sports. If I were to play Andy Murray, I would lose 6-0, 6-0 in five to six minutes, maybe 10 minutes. No, it's true. It's a completely different sport. The men are a lot faster and they serve harder, they hit harder, it's just a different game. I love to play women's tennis. I only want to play girls, because I don't want to be embarrassed."