I’m over being a pop star. I don’t wanna be a hot girl. I wanna be iconic. And I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot. I feel like I’m highly respected, which is more important than any award or any amount of records. And I feel like there comes a point when being a pop star is not enough.

Anybody can be good in the country. There are no temptations there.

I don’t want to make money; I want to make a difference.

I seen a lot of artists be hot for a minute, and then that’s it, and somebody else come in.

We are continually shaped by the forces of coincidence.

If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.

I am, as a character, at times, a little overbearing. I recognize that.

Every time somebody speaks of my honesty, there is someone who quivers inside me.

I never wanted to be Marilyn – it just happened. Marilyn’s like a veil I wear over Norma Jeane.

When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.

I always try to do as much as I can do. I’m never a person that does not enough, because I’d regret not doing enough and think I probably could have done more. I probably go too far and have to reel myself back in, which works in some things, and other things it doesn’t work.

I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness.

I hate to be smart.

‚Fame‘ exhausts me.

I intend to inspire people with my story: motivate young people that grew up like myself, or even not like myself. Just, you know, go through the human experience.

Don’t get the impression that you arouse my anger. You see, one can only be angry with those he respects.

To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the making of bread.

You can never get enough of what you don’t want.

Never marry someone in hope that they’ll change later.

We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.

The essential lesson I’ve learned in life is to just be yourself. Treasure the magnificent being that you are and recognize first and foremost you’re not here as a human being only. You’re a spiritual being having a human experience.

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.

Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.

Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offense.

In all my work, in the movies I write, the lyrics, the poetry, the prose, the essays, I am saying that we may encounter many defeats – maybe it’s imperative that we encounter the defeats – but we are much stronger than we appear to be and maybe much better than we allow ourselves to be. Human beings are more alike than unalike.

Avoid popularity if you would have peace.

A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.

It’s better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone – so far.

Overall there’s going to be things I’m not great at.

We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time, and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living.

It has been hard for me to find it, but I have found love.

In search of my mother’s garden, I found my own.

The first step on the way to victory is to recognize the enemy.

Like it or not, there are a lot of dance teachers in this country who respect me, whether they personally like me or not.

The things that transfixed you as a child, that you found most exciting was not a passing fancy, but a message about what you’re supposed to do.

Don’t talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.

I am a part of everything that I have read.

The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.

The superior man is distressed by the limitations of his ability; he is not distressed by the fact that men do not recognize the ability that he has.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

At the end of the day, I understand that life has road blocks, and life is like school – you’ll be tested; we gotta pass it.

I never could get over the fact that The Pixies formed, worked and separated without America taking them to its heart or even recognizing their existence for the most part.

The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession but carrying a banner.

People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore.

If we don’t plant the right things, we will reap the wrong things. It goes without saying. And you don’t have to be, you know, a brilliant biochemist and you don’t have to have an IQ of 150. Just common sense tells you to be kind, ninny, fool. Be kind.

Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.

When I’m getting to know someone, I look for someone who has passions that I respect, like his career. Someone who loves what he does is really attractive.

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.

The things most people want to know about are usually none of their business.

One of my proudest moments is I didn’t sell my soul for the sake of popularity.

We are second-hand people. We have lived on what we have been told, either guided by our inclinations, our tendencies, or compelled to accept by circumstances and environment. We are the result of all kinds of influences, and there is nothing new in us, nothing that we have discovered for ourselves: nothing original, pristine, clear.

It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.

Adventure is not outside man; it is within.

It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.

You have to be able to accept failure to get better.

I can’t tell anybody else how to run their life or their business, but I really believe I’ve got a good bead on myself.

It is a great piece of folly to attempt to make anything out of my early life.

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

Create a ladder of values and priorities in your life, reminding yourself of what really matters to you.

Little minds have little worries, big minds have no time for worries.

The post of honour is a private station.