“My father worked hard, but we were still very poor; and I didn’t want anybody arguing about money, so I became the entertainer, the one who wanted everyone to be happy. I didn’t want there to be any problems.”

I have three girls, and I say the same thing to them. I’m not involved in their careers because I’ve learned that it’s important for them to stand on their own two feet. They’ll feel better and prouder of themselves if they do.

The first time I heard a Billie Holiday record, I thought, ‘What’s so great about Billie Holiday?’

I know that my fans want to know who I’m sleeping with, but it’s really none of their business.

If I’m with a man I’m soft and buttery.

It takes a long time to get to be a diva. I mean, you gotta work at it.

I don’t judge people by their sexual orientation or the color of their skin, so I find it really hard to identify someone by saying that they’re a gay person or a black person or a Jewish person.

I don’t care about vacations. I go away and I come back real quick because I like my work. I really like my work to consume me.

I’m not really a songwriter – I’m an interpreter. So in a sense I am an actress first and foremost. I act out the songs, and I lead with my heart.

It has always been, and still is, my intention to build a playground in Central Park.

One thing you cannot control is nature.

My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities.

When I’m working I actually forget to eat. I don’t eat sweets because I don’t care about them. I have no real secrets. I just realize that as I get older I should stay strong so I exercise more.

My problem is that people have been writing books about me.A lot of things that people write about you are incorrect, but you don’t fight about it.

I was brought up in this part of Detroit that they used to call the ghetto.

People can take your name and write a book about you and they make money off of it. How is the public supposed to know you’re not authorizing that book? As soon as you make a big stink about it it only makes the book sell more.

I have never gotten into the label thing.

We can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.

It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.

Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.

Bend like the willow, winds gonna blow you hard and cold tonight. Life as it happens, nobody warns you, willow hold on tight.

And so, when I was a young writer I always worked hard on imagery.

They tell me that it will be hard to find a man strong enough to love my own strength and independence, and not worry about being Mr. Diana Ross, but I disagree. I know absolutely that that man is somewhere out there.

Autism doesn’t have to define a person.

And when they don’t come to fruition and nobody sees them, there’s a part of you that dies a little bit. It’s like, ‘Ah! But I worked so hard!’ But that’s the business.