Shirley Manson

Humans all want to beat the clock but nobody ever does.

Selling millions of albums is a sign you've infiltrated the culture.

And then there's all these other creeps that surround your band and suck off you like leeches and try to manipulate you and your business. You have to watch like a hawk. I'm always ready to fight. I see it very much as a battle.

Mozart was a punk, which people seem to forget. He was a naughty, naughty boy.

I plan on doing as much in my life as I possibly can.

I like the feeling that I'm giving young women self-confidence. It sounds so cliched, but it can be very moving.

I'm fairly in control and I don't like to flirt particularly. I mean, obviously if I meet someone who I think is hot, of course I'll want to flirt with him, But in general I don't use it in day-to-day life.

I feel the same way I did when I was in school. I'm having the same insecurities.

I want to hear an alternative viewpoint, and I don't want girls to be defanged and declawed and pretty and mute.

No, I like being a role model because I know how much comfort my musical idols brought me.

What makes a woman stylish is what she has to say and how she chooses to live her life.

I don't find any kind of tension very productive, I find it destructive, actually.

You don't really hear a female perspective on the radio, because so many of the songs are being written by men.

I wanted to put out a solo record because I was stuck on a major label and sick of it.

I refuse to step inside the ring and fight like a gladiator against my own. I'm not playing that game. Any woman who has survived a year or more of making music has my undying respect.

I have a temper on me that could hold back tides.

I think it's a great thing to have failed in life and then pulled yourself up by the boot straps and actually done something, because then you appreciate it more.

I was a redhead and a middle child; both can make you feel excluded. It's like fighting to be included, in the swim of things. After a while you start to develop a bit of a victim mentality, which isn't great for a happy life.

I am a contradictory mess but I see it as my prerogative to change my mood like the weather.

I was always embarrassed because my dad wore a suit and my mother wore flat pumps and a cozy jumper while my friends' parents were punks or hippies.

I think women in pop have been declawed and defanged, and they're just meant to look pretty and sing pretty.

I am not a sexy woman, I'm not beautiful, I'm not a sex kitten, I don't flirt with people, yet I've been tagged more of sex symbol than women who truly are and I that's solely because I don't reveal too much: people are curious.

In terms of fitting in, you know, I don't have a lot of armor up. I'm a raw nerve and it's really uncomfortable for a lot of people.

If you have any opinions at all or if you're even remotely verbal then they're going to call you fiery.

I know lots of people who've never been lucky enough to get to this stage in their life. And I'm not gonna hide it for anybody.

That's a difficult question, because to consider yourself a rebel is sort of ridiculous.

I'm afraid of happy people. They're chemically unbalanced.

My solo album is dead and buried. We had the funeral. It was sad and I cried a lot but it made such a beautiful corpse that we had an open casket.

I am laughably aggressive, and the rest of the band is very laid back, so we mix well.

I feel privileged, to be honest.

At the end of the day, though, the band members have to be strong. It's down to the individuals in the unit. Listen to me, I'm talking like I'm in the army and this is my squadron.

A lot of celebrities just want money, fame, power, fancy cars, houses all over the world and have people bow down to them. To me, that's frightful behaviour.

I would say I'm pretty well at ease with my sexuality, but I'm an individual before I am a female.

A lot of people these days are not music lovers - they just want to be famous which is a very different thing to what I grew up believing in.

I've got no timetable. I'm sort of sick of timetables, to be honest.

Possibly because I grew up not feeling very confident about my own physical appearance, I developed internal devices so that I could integrate into society.

I couldn't feel good about myself hanging out in Armani clothes when my girlfriend can't even pay her heating bill. I'd feel foul and I'd be embarrassed.

I am greedy, and most importantly, game for what's next.

I mean, I tend to do my own thing, and that usually crosses purposes with everyone around me.

I have a lot of very close girlfriends and sisters - I'm from an all female family. My father often quips that even the cat was neutered!

It's unhealthy for people to never express any kind of negativity or doubt. To have balance, you need to address that side of your thoughts as well as the positive. Otherwise, you tend toward crazy.

I just want to live my life a little freely and not adhere to any schedule - just make music and have fun.

You have to watch all sides of your advancement, you have to make sure people's bodies and minds are healthy and their morale is cool before you can really go out and play great music.

We're living in a time when people are struggling to appear perfect.

Starbucks is my main fix and it's usually you people working in there - sometimes they're actually shaking. It just makes me feel horrendous because I've been in that situation.

It's definitely an intrinsic part of my makeup that makes me want to see black when everyone else is seeing white.

The sensation of never feeling good enough or pretty enough will always be there. It's a constant dialogue, and you just learn to be more powerful than that other voice. When you hear it come up, you shut it down.

People don't associate red hair, pale skin, and freckles with beauty.

I think young artists are always inspiring because they are coming at worlds from a different point of view.

It's everywhere, constant criticism of women's appearance in magazines and online. It's not easy to navigate.

No, I'm not Shirley the girl, I'm the woman on MTV with the big boots.

I've got a lot of stamina and I enjoy people, so having lots of people around doesn't freak me out.