I always have to go that extra mile, and I do it and I don't mind doing it, but it isn't fair.

I can't do some of the songs that younger girls like Mary J. Blige and Beyonce are doing. They have their own place and I have my own place.

I know how to put it on when it comes to interviews and performing because I have to. But I'm pretty laid back.

Tell Aretha I’ll be praying for herBecause she needs Jesus!I love her.

All I can tell you really is if you get to the point where someone is telling you that you are not great or not good enough, just follow your heart and don't let anybody crush your dream.

So if anybody wants to get me something, get me 60 crabs - one for each year. I don't want no diamonds, I don't want no shoes, I don't want no party. I want some crabs.

God doesn't do the work for you; he does the work through you. It's not enough to look up; you must also look within.

That's another lesson I've learned the hard way. All relationships will die if they aren't nurtured. Just as a flower will die if it's not watered. Because love is demonstration, not declaration.

I don't feel as though I have to prove anything to anybody.

So if diva means giving your best, then yes, I guess I am a diva.

I just sing the stuff that makes me smile, makes me feel like I didn't sell myself out.

At least one thing was consistent about her life: It just kept on getting more complicated.

I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think, and in the hearts that love...I believe in sunshine, fresh air, friendship, calm sleep, beautiful thoughts.

If I can alter my perception of the reality, I can change the reality itself.

Hating anything in the way of ill-natured gossip ourselves we are always grateful to those who do it for us and do it well.

I will feel equality has arrived when we can elect to office women who are as incompetent as some of the men who are already there.

I crave time in all its duration, and I want to be myself unconditionally.

Los Angeles is a very special city. It's a great ethnic mix, a great cultural mix.

Oh what lies there are in kisses! And their guile so well prepared! Sweet the snaring is; but this is Sweeter still, to be ensnared.

Everything you need to get that relaxed driving that brings consistency only comes with practice.

My motto is: walk expropriating and igniting, always leaving behind me howls of moral offenses and smoking trunks of old things.