“If a song’s about something I’ve experienced or that could’ve happened to me it’s good. But if it’s alien to me, I couldn’t lend anything to it. Because that’s what soul is all about.”

Being the Queen is not all about singing and being a diva is not all about singing. It has much to do with your service to people. And your social contributions to your community and your civic contributions as well.

I’ve always felt that rock & roll was very, very wholesome.

My heart is still there in gospel music. It never left . . . I’m gonna make a gospel record and tell Jesus I cannot bear these burdens alone.

As a parent you try to maintain a certain amount of control and so you have this tug-of-war … You have to learn when to let go. And that’s not easy.

Falling out of love is like losing weight. It’s a lot easier putting it on than taking it off.

Yes, I’ve always been fashion conscious.

R&B is not a fad; it’s the truth.

The milk of kindness flows through my body, I shall follow Jesus to the Taco Bell and give thanks.

Music changes, and I’m gonna change right along with it.

If you disrespect everybody that you run into, how in the world do you think everybody’s supposed to respect you?

I’ve been around long enough for people to know who I am and what my contributions are. They know me as more than just an artist. I think they know me as a woman as well.

Parents have to really talk to their children before they leave home.

We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right.

I know people I feel are extremely talented, but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard any geniuses.

I saw the Supremes when they were still singing in little black skirts and white blouses.

I love producing, writing. I rarely write with other writers unless I have a real great respect for them. Like Burt Bacharach, or Carole Sager, or Stevie Wonder. Somebody like Smokey – like that. Otherwise, I choose to write alone.

Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. What you believe about Life will be your experience of Life.

Heaven is the experience of being completely present to all that is, all that you are, and all that you have to give. Are you choosing to live in heaven or suffer in hell?

Trust nothing but your own experience.

To experience emotional freedom, we must accept, surrender, and let go of our wounds. We must be willing to take responsibility for what we’re holding on to, which is usually a hurt or pain from the past that leaves us feeling victimized.

When we experience the power of the Self, there is an absence of fear, there is no compulsion to control, and no struggle for approval or external power.

Trust in the process you are now experiencing. Life is on your side. It is showing that to you now, though you may not be able to see it clearly at this time.

As you let go of the complications, emotional toxins, and everything else that isn’t serving you, you will be free to experience the happiness that exists in simplicity.

Religion asks you to learn from the experience of others. Spirituality urges you to seek your own.