“My parents wanted me to be a lawyer. But I don’t think I would have been very happy. I’d be in front of the jury singing.”

Until you value yourself enough and love yourself enough to know that, you can’t really have a healthy relationship.

I honestly wear myself out walking around, fixing this and fixing that. Maybe that’s why I like to work so much – so I can just get to that moment where I’m like, “Whoa.” I have to be super tired and knocked out to stop!

I like to cook Puerto Rican food. That’s what I grew up on: rice, beans, meat, some Italian-American food. I know my way around the kitchen.

You have to take care of yourself, your body, your mind, take care of your soul-be your own keeper.

If anyone can figure out how to balance my celebrity and my dual careers in music and film, it’s me. I don’t feel frightened; I feel challenged.

You have to remember the value of your individuality – that you have something special and different to offer that nobody else can.

I have my own high standards for what I want in a partner and how I want to be treated. I bring a lot to the table. I’m not talking about material things but what I have to offer as a person – love and loyalty and all the things that make a good relationship.

For me, love is the never-ending question. It is confusing. It is the answer, but it is also inundated with contradictions and complications.

You get what you give. What you put into things is what you get out of them.

You’ve gotta do things that make you happy. As women, we tend to give away a lot. We take care of a lot of people, and we can’t forget to take care of ourselves.

Once you have a lot of success, you become a target in many ways.

People used to believe their life-or at least their life as a performer-was over at 28 or some ungodly age! God, when I think of myself back then, I had no idea who I was. I think I’m barely getting that under control now.

You like the way I dress The way I wear my hair Show me off to all your friends Baby, I don’t care Just as long as you tell them who I am Tell them I’m the one that made you give a damn.

And at the end of the day, I just want my work to speak for itself.

Mommy. It’s just the one thing you don’t want to mess up.

I judge people on how they smell, not how they look.

What we truly desire is happiness, which is truly found without desire.

Get addicted to your happiness, not your pain.

I’ve learned that we should be glad God doesn’t give us everything we ask for.

Oh you mad? I thought that you’d be happy I made it.

We pray everyday. We read the bible everyday, so everybody’s happy.

I miss you when you’re not there. When you’re happy, it makes me happy. But I could say the same thing about Charlie, Jacob. You’re family. I love you, but I’m not in love with you.

All happiness depends on courage and work. I have had many periods of wretchedness, but with energy and above all with illusions, I pulled through them all.

I’m happy; I’m a happy person.