I have, my whole life, been healing the girl inside, the part of me that struggles about being a female in the world. That's why I write about the things I write about.

There's hope. It doesn't cost a thing to smile. You don't have to pay to laugh. You better thank God for that.

Life is a journey, not a destination; there are no mistakes, just chances we've taken.

Eating is not one of the things that I do now to deal with pain, because I don't ever want to do that. But I isolate myself, that's what I do.

The songs that I've written about Africa, and AIDS and HIV and about the power of humanitarian love, those songs, I'm gonna sing them because I know that it's real.

There is one relationship I was in that I learned a lot from. I learned a lot from the situation about myself and about relationships and about love, about how to relate to people, about forgiveness and the stuff that comes with being in a relationship.

Break the Shell”: “Child, it’s time to break the shell Life’s gonna hurt but it’s meant to be felt You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself You cannot fly until you break the shell.