There are people out there who want to provoke me and bring back the old Mary but I'm not giving them the satisfaction.

I know who I am. I am not perfect. I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world. But I'm one of them.

I listen to gospel music.

I don't know. Only God knows where the story ends for me, but I know where the story begins. It's up to us to choose, whether we win or lose and I choose to win.

I have to have lemon and honey. I have to have apple cider vinegar, Braggs. And I have to have either Red Vines or Twizzlers. These things, you know, are the things that help my vocal performance.

There's so many things that life is, and no matter how many breakthroughs, trials will exist and we're going to get through it. Just be strong.

If you're looking for inner peace from the outside world, you're not going to get that. The inner peace starts with looking at you from the inside.

Negative words are powerful boomerangs so be careful what you say about people and yourself.

When you come from so many damaged places you don't ever want to spiral back there, so you gotta continue to check yourself.

Believe in yourself when nobody else does.

When life is real, it's not going to be smooth.

Everybody was sorry. Sorry was easy. Sorry was for suckers.

When set out to create order, they create only misery.

That's life. Life is the ultimate game, and its rules were made to be broken

I desire an special interest in your prayers that my faith fail not in the day of adversity.

Imagination does not stir at the suggestion of the feeble, much diluted stuff that is too often put into children’s hands.

This is not something insignificant. This is real. This is happening, and this is ours.

As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.

That each day that you love, honor, and respect your own unique point of view, you're a step closer to finding a fortune.

Any story worth telling is worth embellishing.

You know, real life doesn't just suddenly resolve itself. You have to keep working at it. Democracy, marriage, friendship. You can't just say she's my best friend. That's not a given, it's a process.