I was constantly around all those religious images and to me, angels exist. I feel we were definitely guided and helped and I'm always referring to them in my work.

You are more powerful than you know; you are beautiful just as you are.

Be strong, believe in who you are; be strong, believe in what you feel.

It was tough being a single mom. It was tough being in a divorce with children. Very, very hard.

Don't let anyone tell you that you have to be a certain way. Be unique. Be what you feel.

The sign says do not enter, no trespassing allowed. With visions of redemption I walk against the crowd.

We are getting older, and we are getting wiser, and we are getting freer. And when you get the wisdom and the truth, then you get the freedom and you get power, and then look out. Look out.

I can be a rock star with a television show and still have a self-esteem problem. So it's nice to have your dad go, 'Hey Melissa, I'm proud of you - you're doing good.'

There will always be someone else with a different view than you. I appreciate them and would never say that they are wrong. I hope that they would give me that courtesy also.

I feel my heart break to see a nation ripped apart by it's own greatest strength - it's diversity.

There's a point when your tape of life runs off the reel and there's this stillness of your own - I got to know myself.

Poetry, Shakespeare and opera, are like mumps and should be caught when young. In the unhappy event that there is a postponement to mature years, the results may be devastating.

I wasn't writing stories with the intention of creating a particular collection. I simply wrote stories, and then discovered common themes among a good number of them.

We learn from history that man can never learn anything from history.

I don’t believe in failure; I believe there are setbacks that are put into our path to teach us something and move us in a different direction.

I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did.

People who annoy people are the luckiest people in the world.

I mean in recent years, I think you've only got to sell thirty or forty thousand to get a #1.

I write the things that I find most attractive in women. I like intelligence, I like passion - give me a little fire, be strong, don't be wishy-washy, do the right thing.

I'm opposed to a lot of the time that we as a civilization have come to spend looking at screens. For my money, life is much delicious damn near everyplace but inside that screen.

A girl's legs are her best friends...but even the best of friends must part.