I wanted to be a jockey. I'm serious. First time I got on a horse, I loved it. That's what I wanted to be, but my dad asked me to start performing with my family.

I'm convinced that we Black women possess a special indestructible strength that allows us to not only get down, but to get up, to get through, and to get over.

People do see me as sweet and innocent. Not to say that I am not those things. But I have other sides to me.

Competition is great. And as long as it's friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it's cool.

I don't believe in luck. ... It's persistence, hard work, and not forgetting your dream.

I can be happy with who I am, not what I should be, or what I might have been, or what someone tells me I must be.

Believe in yourself. Have faith in yourself because no one else is going to.

It has taken me most of my adult life to come to terms with who I am. To do that, I had to break free of attitudes that brought me down.

In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.

The greatest achievement to any human being is to love God, yourself, and others.

Every body type is different - that's what makes you unique. What makes you special is you, and you are different from the next person.

Men never cling to their dreams with such tenacity as at the moment when they are losing faith in them and know it but do not dare yet to confess it to themselves.

We change whether we like it or not.

If you have used colour throughout most of your artistic life, try just black and white... it will take your painting to another dimension where tone and form in all its permutations reign supreme.

Obamacare, without a single Republican vote, cut $700 billion out of Medicare.

When American presidents prepare for foreign wars, they lie.

A good character is the only guarantee of everlasting, carefree happiness.

Never had a cup of coffee in my life. Dr Pepper is my caffeine delivery system of choice.

We have either to progress or to degenerate. Our ancestors did great things in the past, but we have to grow into a fuller life and march beyond even their great achievements.

We've all been put to sleep by somebody who's told us all these wonderful facts that didn't matter because information without emotion is not retained.

You can't be a first-world economy in the 21st century if you haven't laid the groundwork to seize the opportunities.