“I worked in a Chinese restaurant.”

You know, I can’t remember my good reviews. I remember negative ones. They stay in my mind.

I never liked stardom. It’s weird to me. I only like the creative process. I only like the work.

Success to me is having ten honeydew melons and eating only the top half of each slice.

I do have friends that are Republicans, and we have very spirited conversations on a whole range of issues. I am often baffled by why they are Republicans, but I enjoy the dialogue and can move beyond politics to find common ground in my personal relationships.

I like simple things. Elastic waists, so I can eat.

The result [Republicans winning the Senate] would be devastating for reproductive choice, the environment, civil liberties, Social Security and health care, as well as corporate accountability.

I don’t feel like a legend. I feel like a work in progress.

I hear these melodies. I hear horn lines and string lines. That’s what’s fun about recording with an orchestra.

I’m sure that I don’t know everything I want to know. I have so much more to learn.

My friend Quincy Jones says we won our first Grammys together in 1963. I have no recollection. I don’t even remember the room. When he showed me the picture, I remembered what I wore. But it’s like awards don’t mean anything.

It’s like an American tradition. A person gets successful and then he’s supposed to change for the worse. It’s silly.

The dream – you never achieve it. The excitement of life lies in the hope, in the striving for something rather than the attainment.

Issues of foreign policy have a place in every election for President.

Everyone has a right to love and be loved, and nobody on this earth has the right to tell anyone that their love for another human being is morally wrong.

I’m not that ambitious any more. I just like my privacy. I wish I really wasn’t talked about at all.

Myths are a waste of time. They prevent progression.

Chinese government is very clearly losing power in every aspect, but trying to fix up all the problems or potential problems.

I think I’m just a traveler. When you walk across a river and there’s no bridge, you build one. I’m used to having to deal with Chinese Communist ideology.

The relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.

To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.

Everyone thinks the Chinese government selected me. Never ever. I was selected by Herzog and de Meuron.

I taught a lot of art history, especially Chinese, Japanese, and Indian. But the painting classes came back. The nudes came back. Not so much the still lifes.

I’m, I guess you could say, the Chinese-speaking, banjo-picking girl.

For most Americans, my Chinese music feels like a novelty and it’s not what it is for me.