Pregnancy was probably the best and the hardest thing I'll ever go through. I know for a lot of women, it can be wonderful and relatively easy.

I never thought that I would have love again, but it's amazing how the universe brings love to you.

Marilyn Monroe Productions was the first female-owned production company in Hollywood. She paved the way for women in Hollywood, and every single woman owes something to her for that, whether they agree with her image or not.

One day I promised God that if he would give me my voice back I would never smoke again. I got three octaves back after quitting.

I am very insecure about my looks, and I always have been because of being mixed race.

I really don't do karaoke because it becomes a vocal performance rather than fun, like, 'Let's just sing this song and be silly.' It's not fun for me.

My mother is Irish, my father is black and Venezuelan, and me - I'm tan, I guess.

Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff.

I arrange flowers in my spare time. Well, when I have spare time, that is.

Time is irrelevant to me. I never wear a watch.

I'd rather be onstage with a pig - a duet with Jennifer Lopez and me just ain't going to happen.

I'm not one of those people that goes into details of my personal life on national TV to get attention. Some things are better left unsaid.

Never, never listen to anybody that try to discourage you.

Since having the babies, I realize that 90 percent of losing weight is my diet.

I think the greatest gift to me is that I can express myself in songs. It helps me get through some of the hardest times of my life. It also helps me celebrate some of the best times.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel... hopefully its not a freight train!

I wrote my own anthem: it's called 'Mariah's Theme.' It's on the 'Rainbow' album from '99. Back in the day.

I'm not vain, I'm insecure.

People are like, 'What is your whole obsession with butterflies?' I'm like, 'I'm not obsessed. I like them. Can't anybody like something?'

I've seen other artists put out movies that went straight to DVD, and no one cared. Maybe their own fans bought the thing, and that was fine.

Forget the image, forget the ensemble, forget the rumours, forget the short skirts, the big hair, whatever! I owe this to the fans and I will never forget you so I want to accept this award on behalf of all of you.

I don't think anyone knows as much about what's right for me as I do.

I love giving gifts. It's almost like I don't open my gifts until, like, three days after Christmas 'cause I want to give everyone else their presents.

Especially since I started studying acting, I feel like I'm always super-aware of my emotions and my feelings and what's going on with me at every moment. I definitely think I wasn't very present prior to that.

If you see me as just the princess then you misunderstand who I am and what I have been through.

I understand people want to hold on to their roots.

I've seen the real extreme diva behaviour and I don't think that's who I am.

I work myself into the ground. But I think I'm a nice friend and a good person, and I try to do my work as best I can.

I really rebel against authority.

My brother and sister had a much worse childhood, I think, because they were older, and they had to deal with a lot more racism because they grew up in the '70s and I grew up more in the '80s. So they had to deal with crosses being burned on their lawn and their dogs being poisoned.

I hope to be around past the 90's. I don't want to just be categorized as one of this era. My goal is to have a career that stands.

I think I have to remain eternally oblivious to age. Honestly, when you put a number on it yourself, it's just like, Why? Why do that?

I could do my own nails... I went to beauty school in the 11th grade. But why would I do that now?

The best part of making music, for me, is collaborating and working with new people and fresh sounds and all those things that gets people excited to continue in this business that we all love so much.

I'm actually a really good cook, and people don't believe this about me!

Being biracial is so much a part of who I am that it's almost, 'Let it go already.' It's intrinsic to me. I think a lot of my fans relate to me because they felt different.

A lot of rappers don't have to go through what I had to go through as a singer. I was always in a bubble that they put me in, but I was always punching out. It was a tough line to walk.

Honestly, everybody gets talked about. Some people control their press a little more than others. Some people feed the press and move it the way they want to. I don't do that.

You really just want to know that somebody loves you for you. Sometimes you feel like an ATM machine with a wig on it.

I'm a very good laundress when I have to be.

If critics have problems with my personal life, it's their problem. Anybody with half a brain would realize that it's the charts that count.

I don't mind being compared to Whitney, there are people miles worse to be compared to.

My heart has never been broken, I've never broken anyone else's.

I think certain people like to torture me because they think I've had it easier than I actually have and they think: 'Oh, she's got this, she's got that, she's always had everything perfect,' and it's sooo not true.

I've been blessed to live my dream more than half my life, so I want help give that back to someone else.

My father identified as a black man. No one asked him because he was clearly black. But people always ask me. If we were together, people would look at us in a really strange way. It sucked. As a little girl I had blond hair and they'd look at me, look at him, and be disgusted.

Whatever you're going through in your life, don't ever give up.

I do all of my own stunts in videos. The Jet Ski scenes, the fight scenes, all of them!

I'm very hard on myself and I have too many issues.