I always had the sense that nothing was never good enough - striving for perfection. My mother and I had a sort of typical mother-daughter relationship.

I was just ice skating. I had no concept of that. In those days you couldn't see the judges. I was this little person on the ice and they were just people that would stand around the boards.

I was a bratty little sister. I was the youngest of three, and I often felt as though I didn't fit in.

To be the world's best, you have to beat the world's best.

If you are a complete perfectionist, then the truth is that this ice skating business will drive you a little crazy!

If I'm on skates, I feel at home no matter what I'm doing. If they wanted me to sing and dance I think I could do it just becauseI was on skates. When I'm not on skates, though, I feel very strange.

I think I dreamed about competing at the Olympics, maybe hoping to win a gold medal. Not that I ever thought that I would, but I dreamed about it.

I wouldn't say that there's ever been an Olympic champion that didn't deserve to win an Olympic Gold Medal.

Every time you go out on the ice, there are slight flaws. You can always think of something you should have done better. These are the things you must work on.

I hated to read. My mother could not get me to read. I’m going through the same thing with my daughter now. I love to read now, but I don’t remember reading.

It's different today than it was then. In those days we were strictly amateurs. If I had wanted to stay in for the '80 Olympics, my parents couldn't have afforded it.

God is my spiritual Father.

I intend to bring you strength, joy, courage, perspicacity, defiance.

The most striking feature of contemporary culture is the unslaked craving for transcendence.

Budget for 2015 provides for 11.7% expenditures growth

You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.

What you think of a name depends so much on the people you know by that name.

Both light and dark are eternity. Human beings assign relative values to colors, but beyond the relative, there just is - what in Zen we call "suchness".

Nobody likes a celebrity DJ for the sake of style, so I don't do that - I try to be good at what I do. It's all about resetting, it's my escape. It is work, it's a job, but I just love doing it.

A good forgettery is a happier possession than a good memory.

Real optimism is aware of problems but recognizes the solutions.