I think it’s important to show people, especially young people, that it’s okay to have a personality. And that they can express themselves however they like.

Say what you think, Love who you love.

Before the ’80s, no girl would ask to click a photograph. That was modest and demure.

For me, aggression means not to be shy and to do what your mind tells you.

Music is my therapy, my outlet, and my way of expressing myself.

There are probably seven persons, in all, who really like my work; and they are enough. I should write even if I were the only patient reader, for my aim is merely self-expression.

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time

I write to create a world where I am free to be myself, where I can explore the depths of my imagination.

Among American citizens, there should be no forgotten men and no forgotten races

I don’t want to live in a hand-me-down world of others’ experiences. I want to write about me, my discoveries, my fears, my feelings, about me.

To the extent that a man is untrue to the law of his being, he has failed to realize his own life’s meaning

I used to tell myself that I will always be myself.

A lot of people always question, ‘What else can she do, what else can she do?’ And I’m going to show you

I’m my own competition, I’m competin’ with myself.

There is only one form of political strategy in which I have any confidence, and that is to try to do the right thing and sometimes be able to succeed

Art is the expression of the self; the more complicated and restrictive a method is, the lesser the opportunity for expression of one’s original sense of freedom.

I am. I think. I will.

Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.

Rap is just somebody getting something off his chest. That’s all it is.

The better you get, the less you run around showing off as a muscle guy. You know, you wear regular shirts – not always trying to show off what you have. You talk less about it. It’s like you have a little BMW – you want to race the hell out of this car because you know it’s just going 110. But if you see guys driving a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, they slide around at 60 on the freeway because they know if they press on that accelerator they are going to go 170. These things are the same in every field.

I don’t want to try to piggyback off of anybody else.

To me, respect comes first

I don’t really believe in any fashion rules. I think fashion is a form of self-expression, wear whatever you want

Language is the exact expression of thought and this is only achieved with one’s own language, which does it in a perfect way

I’m a writer first and a singer second.

Remember that life is neither pain nor pleasure; it is serious business, to be entered upon with courage and in a spirit of self-sacrifice

He who seeks freedom for anything but freedom’s self is made to be a slave

The most decided men of character are often those whose inferiority in talent prevents them from being self-confident

The Fawn and His Mother A YOUNG FAWN once said to his Mother, “You are larger than a dog, and swifter, and more used to running, and you have your horns as a defense; why, then, O Mother! do the hounds frighten you so?” She smiled, and said: “I know full well, my son, that all you say is true. I have the advantages you mention, but when I hear even the bark of a single dog I feel ready to faint, and fly away as fast as I can.” No arguments will give courage to the coward

Every man for himself

The one who learns to live with his guilt lives to see another sunrise

I wanted to be myself. I wanted to be a free person.

There is so much coldness because we do not dare to be as cordial as we are.

To understand the world, one must not be worrying about one’s self.

Working conditions for me have always been those of the monastic life: solitude and frugality. Except for frugality, they are contrary to my nature, so much so that work is a violence I do to myself

You don’t have to lie, just tell her to ignore when I’m lying

Seeing is better than being blind, even when seeing hurts.

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.

Being different is a talent. You illuminate what makes you special in the sea of sameness around you.

I’d rather be poor and happy than rich and alone

You can wear whatever you want as long as you believe in it.

I’ve had enough, this is my prayer. That I’ll die living just as free as my hair.

Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance

When you’re around me and really see that all I do is live and breathe for my work, it’s not strange, it’s just Gaga.

I’m beautiful in my way ’cause God makes no mistakes. I’m on the right track baby, I was born this way.

It’s never a bad thing to ask for help if you need it or to tell somebody how you feel, showing your vulnerable side doesn’t make you weak, instead, I like to think of it as a chance to become stronger.

I listen to music before every race. Generally, there will be a song I’ll get into over the weekend, and I play it all weekend, particularly when I’m getting ready for a race.

I want to concentrate on winning things with Barcelona and Argentina. Then if people want to say nice things about me when I have retired, great. Right now, I need to concentrate on being part of a team – not just on me.

I’m a free bitch baby.

As artists, we are eternally heartbroken.

I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I’d fail. I said to him, ‘Someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the fucking deli without hearing or seeing me

You laugh at me because I’m different; I laugh at you because you’re the same.