I know that New York is big, there are huge buildings, but in fact, it's quite small and contained.

I'm not dismissing prostitutes, but a lot has changed. This so-called gentrification, it can never be stopped.

I'm from a middle class family but my father squandered all the money, so I didn't really run around with rich people. I was very judgmental towards a lot of them.

Some people will never be able to get their real self, but that's fine, because their fake self is also part of them.

You can't judge people by their cover.

We're all competent in different ways, we've just got to find a way to push ourselves up more.

Obviously you live life for yourself and have your choice to believe what you want to believe in, but I know that the Bible can be used to appreciate life.

Poetry itself is music. I'm just lucky that I can convert it into music.

That's how I always try to start my thoughts. I write them down first, eventually it turns into a poem, and if I feel like composing something to it, then I do that.

Happiness is overrated and money can't justify it.

When I started singing about my life and what I was going through, I felt more confident. It was my own life, I was being myself, I was telling people what was happening.

What manner of mind considers this holy estate [pregnancy] which women are privileged by the Almighty to attain as a slur upon the social conscience?

Diplomats and politicians, blowing with the wind. No substance, no beliefs, no real friendships.

Kissing don't last: cookery do.

Our society's strong emphasis on dieting and self-image can sometimes lead to eating disorders. We know that more than 5 million Americans suffer from eating disorders, most of them young women.

Christians are a polyphonic people.

Economic privation proceeds by easy stages, and so long as men suffer it patiently the outside world cares little.

Our relationship, our shared support, our consistency, is unrivaled by any other connection.

Eisenhower had the clearest blue eyes. He would fix them on you. In my every interview with him, he would lock his eyes on to mine and keep them there.

Sometimes you need to transport your idea to an empty landscape and then populate it with fantastic looking people.