My mother taught me beauty really lives in places like a smile.

Being around people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, all these greats, I was taught to listen and observe.

Sometimes you'll laugh. Sometimes you'll cry. Life never tells us, the when's or why's. When you've got friends, to wish you well. You'll find your point when. You will exhale.

I've got some good saints out there - that's right - that pray for me constantly. You've gotta have that! You do.

I broke my heart for every gain, to taste the sweet I faced the pain.

Nobody likes to be picked on. Nobody.

I've always been a thin girl. I'm not going to be fat, ever. Let's get that straight. Whitney is not going to be fat, ever. Okay?