I always sing them as though they are autobiographical, even if they're not, and most of my songs do come from something about me.

I don't care how somebody gets their education, as long as they have one.

I do use reality because I want my work to feel real, I want it to feel heartfelt. I don't want to make it up and have it sound corny or unrelatable.

Ten minutes before you go onstage and you begin singing that torchy blues song, you may just be drinking a glass of water and brushing your teeth and doing some deep breathing.

Singers, musicians, and songwriters don't want to use the word "acting" because we want it to be more real than that - we want it to come from us: naturally, truly, really.

I was brought up in the Christian church and I studied in the teachings of Jesus. I believed in caring for others and trying to be kind. It's something I still have to work on every day.

Things are changing. They need to change more. It should not be of any note that a woman does something, because women do everything.

Artists are able to do well in the political arena because of fame, if only they can educate themselves.

If you just take one foot in front of the other without any protection, you may end up falling off the fence.

The line is very delicate and fine between being what one might call sane or insane, well or unwell.

Feminism has nothing to do with partisanship.

Never mourn the loss of innocence, because it always brings the much greater gain of wisdom.

It seems odd that as far as I know nobody has yet been murdered for having too perfect a character! And yet perfection is undoubtedly an irritating thing!

There's no such thing as a grown up person.

When a watch goes ill, it is not enough to move the hands; you must set the regulator. When a man does ill, it is not enough to alter his handiwork, you must regulate his heart.

we are reaching the point, if we have not passed it already, where the largest public housing program in America will be our penitentiary system.

Walking through this life really is walking through fire.

Why do I ask for directions? Because I hate wasting time.

I was born a limited-government person. I've always had this streak going through me.

Every time when they would call my name I kept hearing 'New York Knicks' instead of 'Seattle SuperSonics.