Shakira

Live your life to the fullest.

It's incredibly liberating to spend an hour talking to someone and not caring about what you sound like. It's about understanding myself. Sometimes I'll speak to my therapist for an hour a day. It's become part of my routine.

Writing songs has a therapeutic effect, and it either kills off love or wins the heart of the lover.

The truth is that I'm more afraid of marriage than of death.

I now talk to different cultures, and I hope that I can bridge those gaps and differences between us. It's an adventure, a dream... I feel like I'm on an anthropological mission.

I want some day to be able to love with the same intensity and unselfishness that parents love their children with.

I didn't expect babies to need so many diapers. Nobody told me they needed to be changed so often.

Seeing me in love is a constant state: there are no questions, as the answer is simply there.

Fame isolates people from reality. That happens to many artists, and I don't want it to happen to me.

I'm lucky to have family around me. Otherwise, I'll be taking the risk of falling in love with myself.

Success happened little by little for me. I tasted the flavor of fame in small doses: I started at 10 years old when I won a music contest; I was performing at birthday parties, company meetings.

My dad is a writer, and to see him always in front of a typewriter gave me the inspiration to write. He was my idol, my hero. I wanted to be just like him.

You can't achieve anything in life without a small amount of sacrifice.

I'm more afraid of marriage than death.

The relationship I have with my Hispanic fans is very deep and intricate.

I tried to give my career a shot from Barranquilla, but the musicians would never show up. It was just not taken seriously.

All through my twenties, I spent more time worrying what I didn't have than thinking about what I did have. I wished that I was taller, had longer legs, slimmer hips, a smaller bottom, even straighter hair.

I remember the first time I saw the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video. I will never forget that day. I just wanted to see Kurt Cobain's face. I had a feeling he was very cute. But, I couldn't see his face. When I finally did see him, he was even cuter than I imagined!

When you feel complete, you don't need to get married, and you don't think about it.

I love food, and I'm a chronic over-orderer at restaurants.

'Elixir' means magical potion, so I wanted to depict the kind of bottle that was used in ancient times, but that looked modern and chic as well. I also wanted it to have a golden tint to evoke the memories of sands and sunsets.

The worst frustration for a singer is choosing a career in making music and then not being able to make music because you're always giving interviews.

Sensual is everything that refers to the delight of the senses. And that's what artists do, is stimulate the senses in any possible way.

With pregnancy and nursing, the hormones mean your skin tends to be more sensitive to the light, so it's very important to use sun block every day.

I was five years old; I got addicted to being on stage. I felt like it was the most wonderful place on Earth, performing in front of an audience, who in this case were a bunch of classmates, kids my age.

People think I like to expose my body. But I don't. It's just because the dance moves require it.

I am a person who has many dreams. But as soon as I accomplish one, I move on to the next. That's my fatal, absurd nature.

I'm a multi-faceted woman and person, like all women are - there's no black and white. We have shades of grey in the middle. And even many more colours that other people don't see!

I pefer an ugly truth to a pretty lie. If someone is telling me the truth that is when I will give my heart.

In their 20s, women try to be somebody they're not and try to turn themselves into something different. Now I'm in my 30s; I'm very happy with who I am.

I know that youngsters want to find something in common with each other and feel closer to each other ideologically through bridges such as the Internet.

It doesn't bother me to talk about my private life, it doesn't bother me to talk about anything. My life is like a glass of water, transparent.

Both the IDB and Fundacion ALAS believe that the future of prosperity and equality that we hope for has to start today with higher investment and higher quality in Early Childhood Development programs throughout the region.

I admire Madonna because she always did whatever she felt like doing. She went through some controversial periods when people rejected her, but she kept on reinventing herself.

I admire a person who, for the love of art, is able to take off their clothes in front of a camera. But I'm not capable, I'm too cowardly for that.

The worst mistake of a woman is to go to the kitchen, because then she never gets out of there.

I do feel that I have to use my voice for those that don't have one. I have to do the best I can in my own work to represent my culture, represent the women of my country, of Latin America. What we stand for. What we're made of.

The thing is, my dad's always been more of a bookworm; he was interested in more intellectual pursuits, but nobody can escape the passion that football stirs.

Guys don't like women telling them what to do. It reminds them of their mothers, or something like that.

I am trying to make my accent so it won't bother anyone, but I am not going to drive myself crazy trying to pretend I am an American girl when I am from Colombia.

In Colombia education is sometimes considered a luxury not a human right. And its not a priority in the agendas of many leaders.

Gerard is just like me, but two meters tall. We're very alike; it's not for nothing that we were born on the same day, it's just that he was born 10 years later... he's a happy guy, healthy here, in the head.

Brazil is a country I hold very dearly. I've got followers there who I've been interacting with for years, as well as fellow artists like Ivete Sangalo, and it also has huge figures like Pele. I'd love to go to that World Cup - I'm not sure in what capacity, but I'll definitely be there. I know that nobody wants to miss it, least of all me.

I wish that one of my children will be like the Australian guy from the Discovery Channel show. The crocodile hunter.

What I do is I remove my makeup every night, use a little bit of Vitamin C serum, and that's it, pretty much. Of course, I use my 3D White products!

Becoming a mom forced me to re-prioritize and make room for the things that are most important, while recognizing that there are things I can let go of, and the world won't crumble around me.

I think, that if you can prove the existence of God, it can only be proven through love.

I do take advantage of, you know, feeling sensual and feeling sexy. And I think that is tremendously empowering and is not diminishing in any way. I fell that any woman who is in control, who is in touch with her femininity and sensuality, is a woman that is empowered.

I would love to have eight or nine kids with Gerard - my own futbol team.

I started my own Pies Descalzos/Barefoot Foundation when I was 18. We provide education to vulnerable children in Colombia and other developing countries. I am an avid believer that education - and especially early childhood development - is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

I believe that every single one of us, celebrity or not, has a responsibility to get involved in trying to make a difference in the world. Our generation faces many challenges, some of which were passed on to us by the past generations, but it's up to us to find solutions today so that we don't keep passing our problems on.

My videos represent the artist in me very well, but not the kind of woman I am.

I'm just a consequence of the great musical momentum and the great changes we are going through in the world.

In Colombia, education is sometimes considered a luxury, not a human right. And it's not a priority in the agendas of many leaders.

Everyone can know what is in my heart because I find it hard to conceal myself.

We've built six schools in Colombia and do work in South Africa and Haiti. We teach 5,000 students.

I thank God that I'm a product of my parents. That they infected me with their intelligence and energy for life, with their thirst for knowledge and their love. I'm grateful that I know where I come from.

I can take the spotlight that shines on me and shift it towards those issues that are infinitely more important than my own issues.

I would sing anywhere they would invite me. That's how I made my first pesos. I used to sing at beauty pageants, local events of every sort.

I never thought it was fair for an 8-year-old child not to be able to afford shoes, or to wander the streets having to beg for money. To know that child's joy would end soon, when they realised there was no future.

In the full light of day, I don't want to think about the sunset.

I like to see people's eyes when I'm singing to them.

For a while, I could only wear sweat pants because I was that intermediate size that you're not a small, you're not a large.

I feel like I'm not on Earth just to shake it and shake it endlessly, you know?

I'm like a mosquito, I love humidity. I don't sweat.

If it was up to me, I would just wear jeans and t-shirts, even to red carpets, but then no one would photograph me, so that would make me very sad. So you know, I've gotta keep up with the rest of the female population and sometimes try a little harder.

We need to provide higher quality and innovative early childhood development programs all throughout Latin America.

I'm Colombian and nothing will change that.

From a psychoanalytical point of view, we start discovering the world through our mouths in the very first stage of our lives, when we're just born.

I don't go out without make up. I'm a woman, you know.

The Summit of the Americas is an excellent platform to raise awareness and secure commitments from heads of state and different sector leaders regarding Early Childhood Development.

I have gone through a lot of things, everything that you can imagine in life, but the best has been Gerard and Milan.

I love reading about history. Sometimes, I feel I was born in the wrong era. There was more creativity in the air when people were still discovering new worlds.

Birds dont just fly they fall down and get up Nobody learns without getting it wrong.

You want to be skinny and have a good body? You have to work out every day and say no to certain foods.

I feel a real sense of duty to use the voice and the platform I've been afforded by my fame to speak out for those whose voices don't get a chance to be heard.

I feel like there is a part of me that represents a minority in the U.S., a minority around the world. People who struggle, people who want to succeed with drive and ambition.

The worst mistake of a woman is to go to the kitchen because then she never gets out of there.

I think my dad is the only Arabic descendent who is an unsuccessful businessman.

I know what it's like to feel that fear and the need of affirmation and appreciation. To build confidence in yourself is the toughest thing.

You can't achieve anything in life without a small amount of sacrifice

I think a fragrance is all about sensations and imagery, and can evoke visions, feelings and thoughts.

Writing in English was a major challenge. I didn't want other songwriters to write for me. I wanted to preserve the spirit of my songs in Spanish. I am the same Shakira in English as I am in Spanish.

Providing all Latin-American children with the education and early childhood development that they need is in the best interest of all, so it has to be a priority for all of us, not only the government and civil society, but also the business sector.

You feel that there is an avalanche coming when you meet the right person.

I always believed that women have rights and that there are some women that are intelligent enough to claim those rights. There are some others that are stupid enough not to.

I think, if you can prove the existence of God, it can only be proven through love.

I just think that it's very helpful to have a map of your psyche, because when you have a map, you know where to go.

In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it.

It's not easy to work with me, I recognize that. It's not easy if those people aren't as perfectionistic as I am.

I have two kids, a career, and a man that takes a lot of my attention and time.

At the age of eight, I discovered that I could write songs. My dad used to take them to the notary and register them so that nobody could steal them from me.

My therapist taught me why I behave in certain ways and not to feel so pressured.

I have no idea where I want to go musically, but I'm fine that way. I don't need to be faithful to any concept, you know.

I started the Pies Descalzos foundation in Colombia when I was 18, and since then I have been very involved in the crusade for education.

I'm double-jointed. I can put my legs over my head, which freaks people out.

I'm barefoot whenever I can be.

I'm a closet nerd. I love to study history and visit museums.

I have so many people out there that celebrate with me when they know that I'm happy. And they hate it when they know that I'm suffering because someone has hurt me.

A man's car is like an extension of their ego and their manhood.