All the intelligence and talent in the world can't make a singer. The voice is a wild thing. It can't be bred in captivity. It is a sport, like the silver fox. It happens.

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.

The heart of another is a dark forest, always, no matter how close it has been to one's own.

The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.

We have a saying in the Marine Corps and that is 'no better friend, no worse enemy, than a U.S. Marine.' We always hope for the first, friendship, but are certainly more than ready for the second.

We Marines believe that God gave America the greatest gift He could bestow to man while he lived on this earth -freedom. We also believe He gave us another gift nearly as precious - our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines - to safeguard that gift and guarantee no force on this earth can ever steal it away.

The young people I work with every day and serve the nation in the armed forces in general, and the Marine Corps in particular, have broken the mold and stepped out as men and women of character who are making their own way in life while protecting ours.

I remember driving to North Carolina when I was a little girl in a snowstorm to get down to my mom's family in the Carolinas. There were chains on the car - it was the late sixties - and we were just singing in the car. Christmas carols.

If you have an issue with homosexuality, then it comes to your own fear and your own darkness.

The fact that religion plays such a part in how people vote troubles me, troubles me as a minister's daughter. Because I always felt that the separation of church and state was what our forefathers and foremothers really fought for.

I think everyone understands grief, the journey it takes us on, whether it's the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, a disappointment. Some people don't deal with it, the power of it. Some do. Some feel the weight of it and it informs their choices. I've had to open up to grief in different contexts.

I think there's a time as a writer when you want to see the best things in life, and you go out wherever you go with your dreams as a writer or a composer.

You'd think that in this age, especially in the 21st century - especially with all the technology and all the discoveries that we've made - that we would figure out how to tackle abuse.

Tori's my legal name. My niece and nephews, they all call me Aunt Ellen, because I went by my middle name years ago, before I turned 18.

In our minds, love and lust are really separated. It's hard to find someone that can be kind and you can trust enough to leave your kids with, and isn't afraid to throw her man up against the wall and lick him from head to toe.

I think even in a good marriage, especially if you stay together long enough, there are going to be events that happen.

A key to keeping your husband is getting him to miss you. That keeps a marriage fresh.

When I was little, my mom tells me, I used to say things like, 'Mom do you hear the string section? Do you hear the string section?' And she would look at me and say, 'No honey, I don't know what you're talking about.'

I became a mom at 37 and having a child has been an emancipation for me.

My father was a minister and so rock music was banned in our house.

The key things are about power and about growing up and realizing as you grow up that there are consequences for the choices you make, especially when you get seduced by power.

I have a great relationship with my mother-in-law. We're both Leos, we understand each other.

When I play live, it's a conversation that we're all having with the song, and the audience... their response and relationship with the songs is as valid as my relationship with the songs.

You can be self-empowered and still learning about how you think about things daily.

I have so many different personalities in me and I still feel lonely.

If I was writing songs just for me I'd only play them in my living room, alone.

Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.

I don't know if the average person really has faith in Washington anymore.

Being stylish is about enjoying your life and expressing yourself and your inner light.

I had a very strict upbringing with my dad and was very close to my mum, who was extremely loving.

Well, I have a lot of food references in my work.

She discovered with great delight that one does not love one's children just because they are one's children but because of the friendship formed while raising them.

Always remember that the most important thing in a good marriage is not happiness, but stability.

Faulkner is a writer who has had much to do with my soul, but Hemingway is the one who had the most to do with my craft - not simply for his books, but for his astounding knowledge of the aspect of craftsmanship in the science of writing.

It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.

The problem with marriage is that it ends every night after making love, and it must be rebuilt every morning before breakfast.

It always amuses me that the biggest praise for my work comes for the imagination, while the truth is that there's not a single line in all my work that does not have a basis in reality. The problem is that Caribbean reality resembles the wildest imagination.

Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can only be felt if you don't set any condition.

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.

Even when I'm sick and depressed, I love life.

The idea of a soulmate is beautiful and very romantic to talk about it in a movie or a song, but in reality, I find it scary.

I realize how unique my path has been. And I'm thankful for that.

You keep learning all the time.

It's a courageous thing to do something that doesn't have rules or limits.

Life is like the ocean, it goes up and down.

Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. It's the best part of the day.

Success is what you do with your ability. It's how you use your talent.

People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.

Winning is the science of being totally prepared.

Forget the past - the future will give you plenty to worry about.