But once you strip that down, you realize it's all about a voice, like a Norah Jones - that's inspiring to me.

Well, honey, I had the million dollar houses, I had the car, I had the horse, I had the barn; I had everything. Was I set free? I didn't even know what that meant.

My tastes and inspirational artists were always rather eclectic and diverse.

I have to be very careful about diet and exercise.

And I'm also looking for a comeback record and it has to touch a lot of people.

I've had enough boyfriends and enough issues. I'd seen enough train wrecks.

I came out the box and for seven years I had a huge career. And then it's done, it's dumped. But I ain't gone, and I refuse to be gone.

I smoked some pot as a kid, but I just never did drugs.

By the second tour I had rice cakes and hummus with me, and I was jumping rope in my room.

All you needed back then was a blow dryer and a dream.

But once you strip that down, you realize it's all about a voice, like a Norah Jones - that's inspiring to me.

Did people think I sounded black? Totally, but that was a marketing tool as well, but also this is how I grew up and these are my influences.

My current mantra is that sometimes we need teachers in our lives. I never had that in my life, parents and stuff like that; I tried to stay on the outside of them or anybody that had that kind of influence.

I'm not looking to go out there and make a rhythmic Timbaland track.

I started working out with a trainer and I immediately saw results.

I just try to get out of my own way because if anyone is their own worst enemy, it's usually you.

This is one hell of a business I picked to be in.

Plus, I am paranoid by nature. I need to be in control.

My first tour I was on the road for 18 months. You're just out there promoting.

When I first came out, like a lot of the artists at that time, I had a very polished, very overproduced sound.

So when I'm working out I do things extreme.

If anything changes shape or takes off without me, I'll come after you and kill you. I'm too type A.

If we were truly in the studio making a record, it would have been more time consuming, and certainly I would have been more involved in the writing process.

That's really my goal now. I'm trying to be a positive role model to my kids and to just enjoy this ride, because it's hard. It's hard to enjoy it when you're in it.

Ive had enough boyfriends and enough issues. Id seen enough train wrecks.

SO WHEN I'M WORKING OUT I DO THINGS EXTREME.

I think we all have blocks between us and the best version of ourselves, whether it's shyness, insecurity, anxiety, whether it's a physical block, and the story of a person overcoming that block to their best self. It's truly inspiring because I think all of us are engaged in that every day.

But once I acclimated and really used fame for what it was offering me as a tool to serve my life purpose of inspiring and contributing, then it started to get fun again.

You usually can't tell what's inspiring until you look back on it.

I want to be inspiring to myself, to my kids, my family, and my friends.

I got to work with one of my heroes, Johnny Depp, and to see how he goes about business, which was really inspiring for me at this stage in my career.

It's always a combination of physics and poetry that I find inspiring. It's hard to wrap your head around things like the Hubble scope.

The white spruce forest along the banks is most inspiring, magnificent here. Down the terraced slopes and right to the water's edge on the alluvial soil it stands in ranks.

So it doesn't have to be happy music to be inspiring.

The bottom line is, it's a great script and that's very inspiring and makes you want to overcome whatever technical difficulties you come up against.

I've only had good experiences with actors. Starring next to them and directing them, for the most part they're all inspiring, special people.

Remembering is painful, it's difficult, but it can be inspiring and it can give wisdom.

I know the pressures of being the daughter of a great actress. But it's inspiring. You learn so much that other people don't get to learn until later on. My father being a director, I learnt a real work ethic.

Sofia is so active, and she made The Virgin Suicides, which I thought was great - all these things are inspiring to me, not in terms of creating a particular dress, but just in terms of knowing that there is this type of woman out there.

And as a character, what I found very inspiring about playing Dharma, especially at that time, is that the women on television were more neurotic than they were free. And I thought, this is a rare bird and this is unique on television and I think it's really refreshing.

Some ways of using our thinking are really inspiring. There are people who use their thinking to race cars. People use their thinking to build rockets to the moon. It's all just a use of your thinking.

Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration.

I really struggle with that feeling of helplessness. That's why I really try to get my blogs, and even myself, to point to the positive and look at all the inspiring things that are happening.

When you first start doing it, being on tour is inspiring, because you've never been anywhere.

In this case they're doctors. But having passion for your work and to take risks in order to better human kind. That's a pretty big theme. It's pretty inspiring.

Books have become our dearest companions, yielding exquisite delights and inspiring lofty aims.

I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring.

Dr. King is so inspiring, so impressive, so moving as a human being.

Putting out my album on my own label has been a great experience for me. It's been very inspiring. It's like a new start for me and having all this creative freedom is so liberating and exciting.