I got married because I wanted to do something that was more than I understood, because my feelings were more than I understood.

Some teachers should be put in prison for the way they either take advantage of women in their classes or destroy fragile egos. Be careful who you ask to help you when you're in the arts.

I feel the most alive when I'm singing. I also get to be the mail man for some of the most beautiful lyrics ever written.

Singing in Yiddish was a great thrill for me and came about through Joe Papp, the founder of The Public Theater.

When I'm on the road with concerts, people ask me to autograph my CDs, but more and more they come up with the cookbooks.

Arthur Miller said one of my favorite lines ever, that he had the mother say to her two sons about a very unstable father in Death of a Salesman. She said, "Attention must be paid." It's one of the most resonant lines that I think he ever wrote, and I think attention must be paid to the truth.

Everything I experience influences everything I do.