I do say things that I think will shock people. But I don’t do things to shock people. I’m not trying to be the next Tupac, but I don’t know how long I’m going to be on this planet. So while I’m here, I might as well make the most of it.

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

I always have been an activist for things that were just authentically a part of my life, that I felt connected to.

What people see on court is another side of me; it’s not me.

I like to be myself, and I don’t pretend. For instance, I don’t dress up for occasions; I am what I am.

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

Why do I not seek some real good; one which I could feel, not one which I could display?

I don’t know if it’s changing already with ‚Joanne,‘ but my intention is to bring people together that don’t know each other and that would maybe feel awkward, but somehow be brought together by the music. That’s what I wanted to do. Because that is pure and authentic to my family history and what I stand for.

Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.

I don’t want to be fake. I’m just being me. And I have the power to break stereotypes and whatever useless rules that society puts on us.

For a creative writer possession of the ‚truth‘ is less important than emotional sincerity.

I feel like I have a job to do, like I constantly have to reinvent myself. The more I up the ante for myself, the better it is in the long run. I try to interact with my fans as much as possible. It’s good that the person I’m being onstage isn’t really an act. It’s really me.

You start to become successful, and everybody starts to drive your money train to the bank, and they’re not thinking anymore about what you want as an artist or if any of that even matters to you. It genuinely upsets people in my life that I don’t care about money, and that’s not my problem.

I didn’t come to Hollywood. Hollywood came to me. A lot of people wish they could say the things I say. Everyone out here is so phony, it’s sickening.

It’s important for me to let my fans know I really don’t care. I’m confident.

I’m a human being. I’ve got opinions, I’m not always right, I’m not always on time, I don’t always say things in the proper way, but my intentions are always extremely pure.

In my father’s generation, the product was 80 percent of what you were putting into the world, and your personal life was 20 percent. It now seems that 80 percent of the product I put out is silly, made-up stories and what I’m wearing.

I’m afraid that people who know me as I usually am will discover I have another side, a better and finer side. I’m afraid they’ll mock me, think I’m ridiculous and sentimental and not take me seriously. I’m used to not being taken seriously, but only the ‚light-hearted‘ Anne is used to it and can put up with it; the ‚deeper‘ Anne is too weak.

I write from my soul. This is the reason that critics don’t hurt me, because it is me. If it was not me, if I was pretending to be someone else, then this could unbalance my world, but I know who I am.

Even if you have a terminal disease, you don’t have to sit down and mope. Enjoy life and challenge the illness that you have.

Where is the man who has the strength to be true, and to show himself as he is?

I don’t know that you can put a label on growth. I’m just me.

None of the records I make are ever a deliberate construction – they’re always an expression of who I am at the time and where I am in my life.

The hardest thing for – not only an artist but for anybody to do is look themselves in the mirror and acknowledge, you know, their own flaws and fears and imperfections and put them out there in the open for people to relate to it.

I think carrying moral baggage is very dangerous for an artist. If you have a duty, it’s to be true and not cover up the cracks.

This above all; to thine own self be true.

I’m not really concerned with portraying this tough warrior – I mean, that’s part of my job and I take that very seriously. But I don’t have anything to hide, and I’m not concerned with what people think.

All I can do is try to create my own brand and have people appreciate me for that.

I have all the emotions that everyone has; it just appears that I don’t.

I’m different from any other designer, businesswise, in that I’ve built this company up and I own it. I never had business hype behind me to promote my image… My image is real… I have never had marketing people telling me what to do.

There’s poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley but also makes a record in a garage. I don’t like doing what people expect me to do.

It’s very important for Christians to be honest with God, which often, you know, God is much more interested in who you are than who you want to be.

Old is authentic. Old is genuine. Old is valuable.

The truth is, I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let men sometimes fool themselves.

My fans don’t feel like I hold anything back from them. They know whatever I’m going through now, they’ll hear about it on a record someday. They’ll hear the real story. There’s a little bit of lag time. It’s not as instant as going on a gossip blog. But it’s much more accurate.

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.

I do believe in God. But you won’t find me visiting temples every now and then. I believe in self-realization. Peace of mind matters a lot to me. What’s the point in doing something just for the sake of it? I’d rather do something I like doing as long as I’m being true to myself.

Many people look at me and think they know me but they don’t at all. This is the real me. I am a humble person, a feeling person. A person who cares about others, who wants to help others.

Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!

If you’re trying too hard to be the girl next door, you’re not going to be.

There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa.

It’s easier to aim to please and say what others want to hear than to form an opinion and fight for it, even if it means taking a risk or losing your job.

I want to grow old without facelifts. I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made.

Those outside the church expect followers of Christ to live differently, yet today many in church are chasing after the world – not to win them, but to be like them.

One day, I’ll be listening to a bunch of Ray Charles, the next day it’s nothing but Red Hot Chili Peppers. The next day it might be Tupac all day.

The people who truly know me know what I’m like. There have been people who try to say things that aren’t fair, and I check them. And then they don’t like me because I checked them.

I’m not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I’ve always been a freak. So I’ve been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I’m one of those people.

I don’t need you to be funny. I don’t want to be entertained.

I love that I can talk to my fans through Twitter, to cut out the middle man. Because I’ve done interviews where my words have gotten twisted, so it’s nice to be able to have things coming straight from me.

The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them.

I want people to understand they have to live their own lives the way they want to and not just do what we do.

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.

If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.

The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.

To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets.

I always felt that if I was going to do a movie, I wanted it to be authentic.

I don’t really have a gimmick or a ‚thing.‘ I’m one of the few artists who gets to be himself every day.

The fact is that when you do something from your heart, you leave a heart print.

You are only afraid if you are not in harmony with yourself. People are afraid because they have never owned up to themselves.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.