I was a pop-music junkie. My parents were into Frank Sinatra and Doris Day. They weren't too excited when I had Aretha or the Stones pumping.

Listen to the Bee Gees and you can learn to be a great writer.

When I look at myself, I'd like not to have hair on the top of the ceiling.

I looked a little pasty. But hey, at least I didn't wet myself!

The thing that's tricky is sometimes the best voices - just because someone hits the big notes and sounds amazing - it doesn't necessarily mean they make the greatest artists.

I have breakups that I can credit to every song. In my twenties, I picked people who would create that dysfunction and drama, so I could draw upon it.

Songwriters tell the truth.

Some of the best songs that artists perform year after year are ones they hated.

I felt like I got more comfortable on "Idol" when I just started being myself and not trying to be what I thought I had to be.

I don't go to record stores to look at my albums, but it's always a thrill to see them.

Look at someone like Ke$ha. I wouldn't say she's got the most rangy, incredible voice, but she's got a thing. She stands for something, and people are buying into that.

Beauty... Is what you are after a lifetime of struggle in the face of hostility, surviving, and standing scarred and unafraid, triumphant before your enemies.

As great as is the light above us, greater by far is the light within.

We won't let history define our future. Our actions will do the talking. Our determination will turn doubters into believers.

I don't worry about how accurately I convey my personality. I learned early on that it's almost impossible to accurately portray yourself.

I want to live in a place where strangers rush to help someone in distress.

A rocket is an experiment; a star is an observation.

My wife is really sentimental. One Valentine's Day I gave her a ring and to this day she has never forgotten those three little words that were engraved inside Made in Taiwan!

Sometimes a simple question could have a complicated answer.

I'm like a lion - I roar. If someone betrays me, I won't be a victim. I don't sulk, I get angry. I go immediately into retaliation. But it always comes from insecurity or pain.

I do not see why I should be polite to tyrants, who slobber of humanitarianism and think only of their own petty interests.