I really enjoy being single again. I spent a lot of time in a relationship and the nearer we came to the end, the more difficult it got. You don't see things clearly as long as you're still involved.

I like being a strong, independent woman, and to be honest, I was never afraid to be on my own.

My dad's Irish music was such a huge influence.

In fact, I'd just like to own something. Everyone thinks I'm glamorous, rich and famous but all I've got is some recording equipment and a battered old BMW.

I always want to bring emotion across in a straightforward way. I don't want to get histrionic when I'm singing. For me that's just not interesting; it goes too far down one road.

The older you get, the more you realize you're drifting toward a direction, and sometimes your significant other drifts into an opposite direction. You can't blame anybody for it.

There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love and always will be

It's great to just disappear, grab a suitcase, switch the answering machine on and just go somewhere else.

Inside everybody's hiding something.

And we danced, and we drankAnd I've seen something you probably never got the chance to seeDon't worry, MaryCause I'm taking care of DannyAnd he's taking care of me

I write about the things I feel strongly about.

I can find God in nature, in animals, in birds and the environment.

That God has managed to survive the inanities of the religions that do Him homage is truly a miraculous proof of His existence.

At fifty, that is in 1880, I formulated the idea of unity, without being able to render it. At sixty, I am beginning to see the possibility of rendering it.

A righteous person is one who lives for the next generation.

I wasn't used to children and they were getting on my nerves. Worse, it appeared that I was a child, too. I hadn't known that before; I thought I was just short.

I want the Arabic Granada, that which is art, which is all that seems to me beauty and emotion

Envy, like flame, blackens that which is above it, and which it cannot reach.

I consider myself a Chicagoan. I came here to study at the Art Institute in 1951 when I was 18 years old, and I've been here ever since. I still think Chicago is the best city in the country.

I'm just trying to get rid of all the mystery surrounding me and let people see what I'm thinking. So they can understand me and stop assuming things about me.

Morals - all correct moral laws - derive from the instinct to survive. Moral behavior is survival behavior above the individual level.