I just think the reassurance and the steadiness and the hands-on kindness can make a huge difference.

And the ones that know you so well are the ones that can swallow you whole.

But where do we come up with this notion of a woman in which the less space you take up, the more you're worth?

As I said in one of my songs, we're still abolishing slavery, but nobody says it's a good thing. Nobody justifies it.

There was this moment in 2003 when I was asked to do a fundraiser for someone who was speaking out against the Iraq war when nobody was. I said, "I will do a fundraiser for that guy." And then my friend John Hall, from the band Orleans...He ran for Congress in my district and won. I did a bunch of fundraisers for him.

And I'll act like I have faith, and like that faith never ends, but I really just have friends.

For my 50th birthday I just want to make it all make sense [being exactly half introvert], and then a couple of weeks later do the blow-out with all my friends.