"Nobody was listening when I learned how to play music. But there's something about being on stage, talking to the audience, looking at them and smiling, that's always been difficult for me. I'm a lot more comfortable now, but there are still moments of awkwardness."

"I've been told the weirdest things: 'Yeah, I love taking a bath to your music!' or 'I gave birth to my daughter while listening to your music.'"

"Sometimes when you're trying to do a record too close to home, you can get really distracted."

"I didn't think it was fair to my music to label me as the daughter of somebody - I didn't think it described me very well and I didn't think it had anything to do with my music."

"In politics, madame, you need two things: friends, but above all an enemy."

"I am leaving because I have to fight simultaneously a potential recurrence of cancer the Democratic leadership, a health care bill that's going to destroy this country, my opposition to it and a belief that my party has become what it became - what it campaigned against."

"Since this war began our sympathy has gone out to all the suffering people who have been dragged into it. Further hundreds of millions have become involved since I spoke at Limerick fortnight ago."

"I pinch myself because of the understanding that I've been blessed with a real rare opportunity that few Americans ever get - to serve their government and their people at this level."