A diva is someone who is a perfectionist, who does her best in her craft.

People with no humor, they're outta my life.

When I look into the crowd, I see young and old, black and white - it's amazing that I'm able to connect with so many different kinds of people.

I keep showing decade after decade that I am a real performer.

I'll perform all the way to the grave.

I love Canadians because I don't see very much racism in Canada.

I can't do some of the songs that younger girls like Mary J. Blige and Beyonce are doing. They have their own place and I have my own place.

I never thought I would be singing for the world.

You don't have to be an angel, just be someone who can give.

I'm 60, and I did 60-year-old women songs. I'm not trying to be the Hip-Hop Queen, although I am the original Hip Hop Queen.

I'm very shy in a crowd.

I just sing the stuff that makes me smile, makes me feel like I didn't sell myself out.

You've got to know business before you go to show business.

I was very shy. I'm still shy.

So if diva means giving your best, then yes, I guess I am a diva.

I'm very spontaneous.

Women are dominating the charts, and women are doing it for themselves. We're kicking butt and taking no prisoners.

So if anybody wants to get me something, get me 60 crabs - one for each year. I don't want no diamonds, I don't want no shoes, I don't want no party. I want some crabs.

All I can tell you really is if you get to the point where someone is telling you that you are not great or not good enough, just follow your heart and don't let anybody crush your dream.

I'm no different than you.

I've had 60 years of ups and downs, and all of the downs that I've had, I'm happy that I've had them because it's taught me to appreciate all the ups.

A diva is someone who is a perfectionist, who does her best in her craft.

I was a shy kid with a broom handle that I pretended was a microphone.

I don't feel as though I have to prove anything to anybody.

I have to go 150 percent or nothing at all.

I decided to always sing in the back with the chorus and never went up front because I had trouble performing.

I truly respect the people who are working. If they want an autograph from Patti LaBelle, they are going to get it. I have never separated myself from them. I never think you are better than the next one.

Keep the faith, don't lose your perseverance and always trust your gut extinct.

Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent.

George McGovern - and I campaigned very hard for his election - was not, in the summer of 1971, a strong feminist ally. But he did come around.

I never felt entitled to anything. I'm the hardest worker I know.

Remember, many Republicans didn't vote for Mitt Romney. He didn't inspire people.

In life, loss is inevitable. Everyone knows this, yet in the core of most people it remains deeply denied - 'This should not happen to me.' It is for this reason that loss is the most difficult challenge one has to face as a human being.

This policy of containment is not a winning strategy. We need a policy to defeat and destroy ISIS once and for all.

When you're younger, you see the people who are in power and think they must have that position because of some degree of skill. And as you get older, you realize it's not true, that most people in those positions are absolutely inept. And this naturally makes you feel better about yourself.

The President sends us a billion-page paper that shows how he would spend the money if he were spending the money. He doesn't have the authority to spend the money. He doesn't spend $1 of the money.

I've always had a close connection to both rock and classical music.

I think there's enough room in country music for everybody.

I'm not an ace at small talk.

Social media is an amazing tool, but it's really the face-to-face interaction that makes a long-term impact.

In Dreams... well, I was slightly overcompensating with that. I was a bit like a director for hire, so maybe I was putting too much imagery that was familiar to me into it.

The influence of Steven Spielberg to my career is unquantifiable. Every day on the set with him is a master class in filmmaking.

I did once seriously think of embracing the Christian faith. The gentle figure of Christ, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek - I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man.

Choose to be optimistic. It feels better.

Actors always lie about horse-riding, and it ends terribly. I can horse-ride... ish.

It took me a while to get back to 'The Queen of the Night.' I was angry with it as an idea because I felt like it had sort of ruined my life by taking so much attention away from 'Edinburgh.' So it essentially languished in a drawer until 2004, when I pulled it out, dusted it off, and thought, 'Oh, I actually really like this idea.'

With an audience it's now, there are no editors around. It's just me and the audience and it's what I like best.

I would kiss you, had I the courage.

Shifting toward management meant greater responsibility and influence, but it also meant giving up programming day-to-day in my role, which was hard because it took me out of my comfort zone.