“I go to bed every night and the list of what I’ve accomplished is astounding.”

I sing songs that I have lived or I write them because I have lived them. I think the believability factor is key.

I may not be Einstein but I know dumb plus dumb equals you.

I’m so happy now. I love that I’m in a relationship right now… I want a life… The past five years or so I’ve found my groove and my balance.

The hardest thing about being in this business is just being able to be yourself. People act like there’s this one set of rules to follow to be a pop star and I think, ‘Well, you say I’m a pop star, so maybe that’s not true.’

I’ve never been more nervous in my life than singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.

Life’s too short to be a pushover.

Really, what I try to instill in my fans is to be healthy and happy. I have no desire to be super-skinny.

If I can wake up everyday before I die and know that I don’t have to serve anyone food or drinks, I will be happy!

My mom and I are like sisters. We kind of grew up together. She always treated me as an adult. I never had curfew. She’s a workaholic, like I am. We’re not super family-oriented people, you know?

I live on a ranch in Texas and do my own thing. And I don’t care what anyone has to say about it. My joke is that the only people I’m trying to please are myself and my fans, because they’re the ones buying my records. And I have the best, most loyal fan base ever.

I’m cute – and God I hate that. Because that’s not cool. I’m like your niece, and nobody wants to date their niece. It’s the chubby cheeks. The whole reason people voted for me on American Idol is because I’m an everyday, normal girl.

And more so now, since having a family – I don’t seek out any other acceptance.

People are really concerned about my relationship status. When I tell people I’m happy being single, they don’t believe me. They say: ‘You have to be miserable being alone’.

I was a poor kid, and my mom was a single mother of three.

This is my life; these are my fingerprints; I’m unique; this is what I want to do. You worry about your own front porch and what’s happening in your own world.

I’ve loved my 20s, but I would never repeat them.

Nothing great in the world was accomplished without passion.

We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.

We have an innate desire to endlessly learn, grow, and develop. We want to become more than what we already are. Once we yield to this inclination for continuous and never-ending improvement, we lead a life of endless accomplishments and satisfaction.

You just have to keep pushing. When someone hates on you – IT DOESN’T mean they dislike you. They have this fear of themselves not being able to accomplish their dream SO they bring down others to keep them satisfied.

A couple in love is like a pair of scissors. Two useless pieces of metal, until they are inextricably connected at the core so that they can move together as one and accomplish great things.

How much more respectable is the woman who earns her own bread by fulfilling any duty, than the most accomplished beauty!

The price of life is effort; the acme of effort is an accomplishment; the reward of accomplishment is joy.

The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set.