I didn't want to be an artist.

The downside of videos is that it will put my vision in front of other people, so they might not get the chance to create their own.

Sensitive, humbug. Everybody thinks I'm sensitive. Wait until they hear my new album.

I went to London and performed in Eric Clapton's concert at the Royal Albert Hall. I'll work with him any time he asks me.

There is a downside to having one of the biggest-selling albums ever.

Eric Clapton is my dream guitarist.

I didn't want to be an artist.

In my career I have never felt that my being a woman was an obstacle or an advantage. I guess I've been oblivious.

I listen to both oldies and contemporary stations. I enjoy listening to current stuff because there's an energy to it that's inspiring.

I'm a songwriter first.

I think Madonna has a great deal of intelligence and capability. I have a lot of respect for her. She's taken her career and maximized it with intelligence and creativity.

All I needed to do was sing with conviction, speaking my truth from the heart, honestly and straightforwardly, and to offer my words, ideas and music to the audience as if it were one collective friend that I'd known for a very long time.

Everybody understands friendship, and friendship is different than love - it's a different kind of love. Friendship has more freedom, more latitude. You don't expect your friend to be as you think your friend should be; you expect your friend just to love you as a friend.

Had my grandparents not emigrated when they did, I might have been born Jewish in Eastern Europe during World War II, or I might not have been born at all. Instead, I was born in 1942 in New York City.

I just sort of try to be a good person; try to write music that lifts people and makes me feel good to sing.

I only wanted to be a songwriter. I never wanted to be a singer. And I never wanted to be famous.

I used to hate the sound of my voice.

I was taking singing lessons, and they'd say, 'Your voice is too hoarse. You have to do more exercises.'

I write heavily under the influence of James Taylor.

I've had a remarkable life. I seem to be in such good places at the right time. You know, if you were to ask me to sum my life up in one word, gratitude.

My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue, an everlasting vision of the ever changing view.

My name at birth was Carol Joan Klein. It would take me five decades to appreciate my surname and the history that came with it. Along the way, I would add an 'e' to Carol and acquire several more surnames.

My one area of vulnerability was I didn't know how to have a healthy relationship with a man.

My parents always told me I could be anything I wanted to be.

Sometimes I get a lyric, and the lyric, you know, comes off the page, and goes into my brain and comes out with a melody. Other times, I may create a melody first.

When I wake up every morning, I smile and say, 'Thank you.' Because out of my window I can see the mountains, then go hiking with my dog and share her bounding joy in the world.

When I was younger, I was kind of fearless. I think it takes more courage to do things when you know more. I was completely naive, and I was like, 'Why can't I do anything I want to do?'

Youve got to get up every morning with a smile on your face And show the world all the love in your heart Then people gonna treat you better Youre gonna find yes you will That youre beautiful as you feel.

I'm like a plant, I reach for the sun.

Being a cover artist is not like being a real artist. That's just copying what someone else did.

The artist need not know very much; best of all let him work instinctively and paint as naturally as he breathes or walks.

What an artist learns matters little. What he himself discovers has a real worth for him, and gives him the necessary incitement to work.

Beauty, like truth, is relative to the time when one lives and to the individual who can grasp it. The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power of conception the artist has acquired.

I'm inspired by nature. Other artist's work is important for developing my perception.

There is only one position for an artist anywhere; and that is upright.

The difference between a bad artist and a good one is: the bad artist seems to copy a great deal; the good one really does.

To say that an artist sells out means that an artist is making a conscious choice to compromise his music, to to weaken his music for the sake of commercial gain.

What do you say when someone has truly inspired you? How do you express to an artist how deeply their work has affected you?

An original artist is unable to copy. So he has only to copy in order to be original.

When I say artist I mean the man who is building things - creating molding the earth - whether it be the plains of the west - or the iron ore of Penn. It's all a big game of construction - some with a brush - some with a shovel - some choose a pen.

You have to find what makes you stable in the storm. Then, no matter what's happening round you, no matter what the hype or the publicity, you can still manage to make leaps in your work as an artist.

The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another... and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.

I've always felt that if one was going to take seriously this vocation as an artist, you have to get beyond that decorative facade.

Art is a private thing, the artist makes it for himself; a comprehensible work is the product of a journalist. We need works that are strong, straight, precise, and forever beyond understanding.

The most colorful section of a bookstore is the display of SF books, with art by people like Wayne Barlow, who is a terrific artist.

Arguably, no artist grows up: If he sheds the perceptions of childhood, he ceases being an artist.

Let not a man do what his sense of right bids him not to do, nor desire what it forbids him to desire. This is sufficient. The skillful artist will not alter his measures for the sake of a stupid workman.

I so much appreciate it when anybody tries to make something and tries to be an artist - I'm happy to see the work.

The artist is seen like a producer of commodities, like a factory that turns our refrigerators.