I have a reoccurring dream that I'm in the ocean in New Zealand and everything is completely upside down, because it's on the other side of the planet.

Cheating is bad. That's a big mistake I've made, and I've really hurt people. I've never lied about it, though. I've always been honest.

In my head, I wanted to be Madonna, but the music I was writing on paper was not what you'd choreograph dancers in costumes to. It was more coffee-house stuff.

No matter what, I always have expensive designer shoes. It's all about the shoes for me.

I think one day I'd like to win an Oscar.

I'd like to go the Cher route and act and sing and write and have a TV show and do it all.

I'm a really visual artist, and I love writing treatments for music videos, photo shoots, fashion, and all the visual parts that go along with making an album.

In real life I'm pretty easy going and pretty chill, I'm not the party girl who will go wild and crazy necessarily.

I tend to get a little quirkier and crazier with my lyrics and come from a different angle when I'm writing for myself.

When I write for myself, I just get to be myself.

It's nice to really have the freedom to write what I want.

Just always be honest about your feelings. If everyone did that then the world would be a much simpler place.

...men aren't in touch with their emotions, and don't share enough [?]

I wanted to hurt in a way I understood.

Percy: You just hit the lord of the titans with a blue plastic hairbrush.

Of course, the kids who had never heard of a person called Ben E. King were then aware of the name associated with the song. That gave a tremendous lift to me as an artist.

I view the experiences that I have had - both the tough ones and the pleasant ones - as gifts.

God strikes not as an enemy, to destroy; but as a father, to correct.

I like art that trusts its audience, that's written for readers who like to work hard. I like art that knows its readers are up to the challenge of interacting with difficult material.

Genius is its own end.

It's living - a broad spectrum of living - that teaches you how to live, not philosophy. Philosophy teaches you how to think.