I'm more contented and at peace with myself now than I was as a box-office queen. I'm less uptight. I've even reached a stage where it doesn't shatter me if somebody prints something bad about me.

Words are what make the song. I get a personal vision about what the lyrics are about.

If you can instill a love of reading in your children, they will be ahead of the curve at school and in their lives in general. Their imaginations will be stimulated. I thank heavens for the father that gave me that to begin with.

If somebody can act out one of the books as a play, if they can see a play, film, or television show that's related, that can be so stimulating for them. Anything that makes children engage and think - and love what the story is about - can only bring the most enormous rewards.

If you just literally stand still for a while, listen and think, things will eventually get sorted out.

All love shifts and changes. I don't know if you can be wholeheartedly in love all the time.

I thought it was all a flash in the pan. It wasn't until Broadway came along that I felt I had really made it.