- You don't have to hold onto the pain to hold onto the memory.
- We all have the need to feel special.
- In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.
- [on the day her father told her to stop calling him Dad] I will never forget that. I was really young, about 6 or 7, and as a kid, that was very hurtful to me. I went through a lot, from age 15 to about 19 years. I was very young. I used to hurt so badly that I'd ask God, "Why, what have I done to deserve this?".
- [on her 1997 recording "The Velvet Rope"] We're all driven to premieres or nightclubs and seen the rope separating those who can enter and those who can't. Well, there's also a velvet rope we have inside of us, keeping others from knowing our feelings. In this album, I'm trying to expose and explore those feelings. I'm inviting you inside my barrier. During my life, I've been on both sides of the rope. At times, especially during my childhood, I felt left out and alone. At times, I felt misunderstood... But no human heard those feelings expressed. They stayed buried in the past. But now the truth has to come out, and for me, the truth takes the form of a song.
- [1993 interview in Rolling Stone magazine] It made me so happy. On my song "Whoops Now", I even used the lyrics, "I'm out in the sun having fun with my friends". There's also The Turtles' "Happy Together" and The Association's "Windy" and Simon and Garfunkel's "Feelin' Groovy". Those songs are all precious moments to me. They're about just plain feeling good.
- I was very independent growing up, but there were things that were bothering me that I never told anybody. I would talk to our animals at home. We had fawns that Michael [brother Michael Jackson] and I raised until we weaned them and we'd feed them every morning. And I would talk to them... I felt they understood me. We had four dogs, and I would climb in the bushes and sit down and speak with them... and that's how I dealt with my life in the very, very beginning, when I was a kid.
- I was never pushed into the religion by my mother or anyone else. I made up my own mind when I was old enough. I am not a religious person, but I am spiritual. But I don't believe in things like guilt. I believe in a higher power. I believe in inspiration.
- [on René Elizondo] I've been very fortunate to have found someone who has been so incredibly caring... I don't think anybody else would have stuck around because I had some really difficult times... and I know he probably would wake up and say, "Okay, who is she today?". I think anyone else would have said, "You know what? I am out of here because I cannot take this." But he was there, right by my side the entire way.
- I set out to please myself, hopefully in the end, the listeners will enjoy what I've created.
- If I wasn't singing, I'd probably be, probably an accountant.
- Dreams can become a reality when we possess a vision that is characterized by the willingness to work hard, a desire for excellence, and a belief in our right and our responsiblity to be equal members of society.
- [on Jermaine Dupri] You know that it's something different when your whole family falls in love with him, when your brothers and sisters love him. And with me having eight brothers and sisters, there are some major eyes on him. And they all adore him. So that's really good.
- [on people disapproving of Jermaine Dupri] People need to stay out of other people's business. Honestly, how can they say what is a good match for me and what is a good match for him? They really don't know us. That's for us to decide. They need to stay out of other's people's business and deal with their own issues.
- Getting back to that child and giving the child what the child may have missed - the reassurance of a nourishing and accepting love, a love that says you are special - is hard work. It can be scary, but like the song says, we have to deal with the past to live completely -and freely - in the present.
- Life is a journey, and I'm still walking it. And, like everyone, I'm going to have some days that are better than others, some days that are tougher than others. But I'm in a much happier place, the happiest place I've ever been in my life, and that's why it feels so good to me, finally being able to say I do like who I am.
- We are a nation with no geographic boundaries, bound together through our beliefs, we are like minded individuals sharing a common vision, pushing toward a world rid of color lines.
- To a world sick with racism, get well soon.
- We had the kind of night were morning comes to soon... we used the light from a flickering candle across the room to make the kind of shadows that only one thing could make... love.
- Pain like water it dry away so love come in without pain how can love think about.
- I kinda see everyone as competition. I'm a very competitive person. But I think that's good. Competition is great. And as long as it's friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it's cool.
- I also experienced serious rejection. I auditioned for dozens of commercials, for example, but was never chosen. That might have devastated other children, but somehow my attitude was "Well if I don't get this one, I'll get the next." Looking back, I see I had a built-in toughness.
- There was also loneliness. I had few friends. Work consumed me. in some ways, it still does.
- I was sheltered by my parents, work and school. I walked out into the world and saw things I'd only read about. I learned the hard way. It was scary, but I saw I had two choices - sink or swim. I swam. And discovered I could actually make it to the shore, all on my own. Not that I wasn't frightened or didn't experience moments of panic. I did.
- Being from a famous family is a blessing. I'm challenged to live up to the expectations. I'm happy, grateful for what I've inherited and excited about what I want to contribute.
- The pain is necessary. Sometimes pain is the teacher we require, a hidden gift of healing and hope.
- After my disillusionment, I felt hollow inside, as though someone had scooped out my soul. It took a while, but deep within I discovered a core of determination I never knew existed. That's when I got serious about myself and my career. I saw what I needed to do, and I did it.
- All kids rebel. My way was to dye my hair half pink and half blue. It was a mess.
- Freedom means choices.
- My dad taught us that there's no greater distance than that between first and second place.
- Self-expression is my goal, I want to be real with my feelings. Singing and dancing-and all the joy that goes with performing- come from my heart. If I can't feel it, I won't do it.
- A lot of times I felt so alone. But I also thought there has to be other people that have experienced either what I have, or close to it.
- Another side to me is this very sexual being. When I look back on my life, it's always been there. It's been there since I was 10 years old, having the imagination that I had.
- I am the baby in the family, and I always will be. I am actually very happy to have that position. But I still get teased. I don't mind that.
- I love working with organizations. I love giving. I want to do more of that. You got to give back. I love helping people, especially children.
- People do see me as sweet and innocent. Not to say that I am not those things. But I have other sides to me.
- Big sisters and brothers... I am telling you, it never changes.
- I've never been into what am I going to do next, trying to reinvent myself.
- I have a pretty bad temper. But you have to really push me to see it. But everybody has their things.
- I had a pretty sexual imagination for a kid.
- [on her Disney tattoo] I have a tattoo on my most private part of Mickey and Minnie Mouse involved in a sexual act. It's my sense of humor. My boyfriend thinks it's terrible. He loves Disney too much, but I just laugh. It's fun.
- [on her tattoos] All the tattoos are real and especially the one that's on my wrist. I put it there to remind me of the difficult time that I had in my life since the last album, the examination, self-examination and self discovery. It's from South Africa...and it means "to go into your past and deal with your past in order to move into the future".
- [on Aaliyah] I've loved her from the beginning because she always comes out and does something different, musically.
- [on creating "The Velvet Rope" album] Singing these songs has meant digging up pain that I buried a long time ago. It's been hard and sometimes confusing, but I've had to do it. I've been burying pain my whole life. It's like kicking dirt under the carpet. At some point there's so much dirt you start to choke. Well, I've been choking. My therapy came in writing these songs. Then I had the find the courage to sing them or else suffer the consequences - a permanent case of the blues.
- [Rolling Stone, 1993] Sex isn't just fire and heat, its natural beauty. Doing what comes naturally. It's letting go, giving and getting what you need. In the age of AIDS, it certainly requires being responsible. On a psychological level, though, good sex, satisfying sex, is also linked with losing yourself, releasing, using your body to get out of your body. Well, for the first time, I'm feeling free. I love feeling deeply sexual-and don't mind letting the world know. For me, sex has become a celebration, a joyful part of the creative process.
- [on dating, 2001] I always have to do the asking. I don't mind, because I've gotten used to it. But I do sometimes wonder why I have to do it.
- I have so much more confidence in myself now than I ever did before.
- [In her self-help book "True You", 2011] It has taken me most of my adult life to come to terms with who I am. To do that, I had to break free of attitudes that brought me down.
- [In her self-help book "True You", 2011] You can never be happy until you understand why you're doing what you're doing.
- [In her self-help book "True You", 2011] I can be happy with who I am, not what I should be, or what I might have been, or what someone tells me I must be.
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