“I’ve got a good man. He takes care of me. I don’t have to be scared of anything because I know he will kick every ass… disrespect him and you’ve got a problem.”

I think over the years, being a mother, I’ve matured in so many ways.

I’ve turned down a lot of arena dates because I’ve done the big-arena thing. Now, I want to do something where people can feel me and I can feel them.

I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.

Never let your heart take precedence over reason, otherwise you will have problems.

Being around people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, all these greats, I was taught to listen and observe.

If you say my eyes are beautiful, it’s because they are looking at you.

No one makes me do anything I don’t want to do.

What’s in your soul is in your soul.

She’s my teacher, my adviser, my greatest inspiration.

In grammar school some of the girls had problems with me. My face was too light. My hair was too long. It was the black-consciousness period, and I felt really bad.

I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside.

My mother taught me beauty really lives in places like a smile.

Growing around great musicians, you just can’t help it. I identified with it immediately. It was something that was so natural to me that when I started singing, it was almost like speaking.

I like being a woman, even in a man’s world. After all, men can’t wear dresses, but we can wear the pants.

I’m an old-fashioned girl. And I love gospel. I like things that lift me up, inspire me.

My name is not Susan, so watch what you say. If you still need her, then be on your way.

I don’t have time to put up with the politics. Who’s a Democrat? Who’s a Republican? Who’s liberal? Who’s conservative? Man, can my daughter just go to a school and not get killed? Can these people get a good job? That’s what I’m concerned about.

I have a woman’s instinct and it’s always a good one.

Someone once told me that God figured that I was a pretty good juggler. I could keep a lot of balls in the air at one time. So He said, “Let’s see if he can juggle another one.”

I always ask my dad why wasn’t I a lefty? Even when I was younger I wanted to be lefty. I could have been really good.

Leadership is not bullying and leadership is not aggression. Leadership is the expectation that you can use your voice for good. That you can make the world a better place.

A governor can be a very good friend to people. A governor can be a formidable force.

I think that the longer I look good, the better gay men feel.

Drummed into me, above all, by my dad, by the whole family, was that without your good name, you would be nothing.