I was one of five out of 100 people who passed the test, which just proved to me how little Americans are taught geography.

The first question [American college kids] asked me was, 'What state is Kuwait in?' They thought Kuwait was in America.

If you've ever seen album covers for Arab female pop stars, it looks like the designer was paid five dollars to make them, and the extreme femaleness is astounding.

I'm fascinated by evil queens. They're very alluring and repellent at the same time, and I'm into that dichotomy.

The vast majority of women musicians function under singular names like 'Cher' 'Madonna'. They have to get married almost immediately to preserve their honour.

There are very few pop people I'm interested in working with.

I feel like there is an emphasis against teaching geography in American schools. Americans don't say, "I'm going to Germany." They say, "I'm going to Europe."

I've never been to China. I only know what the West is telling me about China.

I had a story-telling mother; she's written novels and short stories. So I feel like maybe I'm staying alive by telling tales.

My music doesn't exist in a vacuum; there's a script and there's an actor and it's about to come together.

I still think you people need to be curious [in order to absorb the culture]. You need to search Uzbekistani pop music.

Heartbreak is stupid and impossible. Hearts don't break. Hearts squeeze, they wrench, they ache, they shrivel. Hearts pull apart in wet chunks like canned tomatoes.

You cannot be a great writer in a shop where words are sold in tens and twenties.

moral indignation is a pleasure, often the only pleasure, in many lives. It's also one of the few pleasures people feel obliged to force on other people.

I used to lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy-store.

I don’t want traffic behavior, I want social behavior.

Everyone goes through adversity in life, but what matters is how you learn from it.

I envy stupidity, stupidity is eternal.

Rock stars are like prophets. There's something about somebody who can get up on a stage and sing. And then when they write you songs, forget it, okay?

I waited a long time out in the world before I gave myself permission to fail. Please don't even bother asking. Don't bother telling the world you are ready. Show it. Do it.

Love is not a mere emotion or sentiment. It is the lucid and ardent responses of the whole person to a value that is revealed to him as perfect.