I don't feel one's personal medical condition is everybody's business. It just isn't something you advertise, and it's not open to discussion.

It really is an honor if I can be inspirational to a younger singer or person. It means I've done my job.

For many years, I've wanted to do one, and I've always mentioned it to the chieftains, and they would say things like, 'Oh well. Christmas albums don't sell,' and things like that. But that's not the point. Christmas albums are important. The music is important. The season is important.

Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.

There is no way in the world anyone else could do my wedding other than myself, along with whomever I select to do various things.

We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right.

Everybody wants respect. In their own way, three-year-olds would like respect, and acknowledgment, in their terms.

I love producing, writing. I rarely write with other writers unless I have a real great respect for them. Like Burt Bacharach, or Carole Sager, or Stevie Wonder. Somebody like Smokey - like that. Otherwise, I choose to write alone.

Women absolutely deserve respect.

Falling out of love is like losing weight. It's a lot easier putting it on than taking it off.

I am doing what I love to do, and you cannot beat that, especially when the audience appreciates what you prepare for them. It's very, very gratifying.

I used to have hamburgers coming and going, especially when I was on the road. Now, occasionally I will still have that quarter pounder because I love fast food, but you have to keep it to a minimum. I am now opting for salads and just healthier lunches.

The love of my life? I'm much too young to answer that question.

I love 'Anne of Green Gables.' I have for years. That's one of my favourite things. She's such a can-do kind of girl; that's why I'm crazy about her.

The duet with Frank Sinatra, 'What Now My Love,' is one of my favorites.

I love Wal-Mart, and not just because my record is there. You can get some things there that you cannot find at Saks or Bergdorf's or other upscale stores.

When God loves you, what can be better than that?

Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I'm using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me to use. I'm happy with that.

I remember singing around the house to records that were playing. All kinds of music. And the great James Cleveland was often in our house, and I grew up with his sound as well.

Columbia was a wonderful label for me. Wonderful. The records I made there garnered me an audience. I won a number of polls during the years that I was at Columbia. The Downbeat Jazz Poll. Leonard Feather, who was a huge critic back in the day, different polls that he had. The Playboy poll, a number of polls. So the music was great.

I think women and children and older people are the three least-respected groups in our society.

I don't think I was a catalyst for the women's movement.

Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening.

Music changes, and I'm gonna change right along with it.

I like writing and don't confine myself to just the words or just the music. But I don't particularly write songs with myself in mind.

We didn't have music videos. You weren't an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error.

I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.

Politics are not my arena. Music is.

I like Beyonce's music - some of it, not all of it.

As long as it's good music. I love all music. It's got to be constructed properly.

Prince is gone. But the music will go on.

I love all music.

Men don't like eating out of cans. And I don't like eating out of cans too much, either.

Men have always been gentlemen to me - responsible people with healthy attitudes.

I haven't had the occasion to meet Adele. She lives in England. So when I'm flying, or when she comes over here, perhaps we'll have a chance. I think she's a very fine singer, a very strong writer and performer.

My faith always has been and always will be important to me.

Parents have to really talk to their children before they leave home.

Many of my friends were there at Motown. The studio was only a few blocks from where my dad's home was, where we lived.

I loved going to church. I enjoyed being a part of the choir and just doing things in and around the church. But as a young girl, I certainly enjoyed watching and listening to my dad.

I was in my dad's church, his Baptist church, and I think the first song I ever performed was 'Jesus Be a Fence Around Me.'

I wanted to design a line based on Hollywood's Golden Era. I talked with Stephen Burrows and with Willi Smith and with one or two other people, but it just seems like such a hard field to break into. I need someone like Calvin Klein's manager to get behind me!

Now, occasionally I will still have that quarter pounder because I love fast food, but you have to keep it to a minimum.

I donate heavily to the church and various churches in the Detroit community and food banks.