I Think That Its An Artist's Responsibility To Have A Point Of View. Society Takes Its Cue From Popular Art. People Need Something To Look To, Something To Provoke Them Into Questioning Whether They Completely Hate Something Or Completely Love Something.

-Madonna Ciccone

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I Think That Its

Madonna Ciccone

Topic

Art

Hate

Responsibility

More From Madonna Ciccone

Hanging A Noose On My Door Reeks Of Cowardice And Fear On Many, Many Levels.

Doors

Levels

Cowardice

Harder Is Better! Post Work Out! Foot In The Ice Bath. A Girl Has To Make A Living! #hardcandytoronto. #addictedtosweat

Girl

Ice

Feet

As An Artist Myself, I Know What It's Like To Put Your Heart And Soul Into Something. You Can Feel The Presence Of Another Person.

Heart

Artist

Soul

No Matter Who You Are, No Matter What You Did, No Matter Where You've Come From, You Can Always Change, Become A Better Version Of Yourself.

Inspirational

Change

Inspiring

That Consciousness Is Everything And That All Things Begin With A Thought. That We Are Responsible For Our Own Fate, We Reap What We Sow, We Get What We Give, We Pull In What We Put Out.

Fate

Giving

Consciousness

I Feel Like Everything I Do Makes People Feel Really Uncomfortable.

People

Uncomfortable

Feels

I Want To Keep Growing And Living Life To The Fullest For As Long As I'm On This Planet.

Live Life

Long

Growing

Until I Learned To Love Myself, I Was Never Ever Lovin' Nobody Else.

Honesty

Love Myself

You Don't Have To Have A Language In Common With Someone For A Sexual Rapport. But It Helps If The Language You Don't Understand Is Italian.

Italian

Helping

Common

Children Always Think They Did Something Wrong When Their Parents Disappear.

Children

Thinking

Parent

Sexism - You Can't Be Sexy And Intelligent. It's Not Allowed.

Sexy

Intelligent

Sexism

My Work Gives Me A Sense Of Purpose That I Never Really Had Before - It Gives Me A Lot Of Joy, And It Would Be Wonderful To Invite Other People To Get Involved.

People

Giving

Joy

Let’s Forget About Time And Dance Our Lives Away

Forget

Our Lives

The Ultimate Moment Where I Most Felt Like A Rebel Was In St. Petersburg, Russia [in 2012 During The Mdna Tour] When I Was Told They Were Going To Arrest Anyone Who Was Openly Or Obviously Gay And They Came To My Shows And I Spoke Out Against The Government.

Gay

Russia

Government

I Do Not Support Hamas! I Support Human Dignity And Respect! I Support Sharing! I Support Peace! #ceasefire

Support

Ceasefire

Dignity

I Don't Think I Have To Introduce Myself, Unless You Don't Recognize Me With My Clothes On.

Thinking

Clothes

Introducing

When You're 25, It's A Little Bit Easier To Be Daring, Especially If You Are A Pop Star, Because Eccentric Behavior Is Expected From You.

Stars

Littles

Eccentric

Catholicism Is Not A Soothing Religion. It's A Painful Religion. We're All Gluttons For Punishment.

Pain

Punishment

Catholic

I Hadn't Been Onstage In A While. The Last Time Was Pre-children. And Before I Went On [at Roseland], My Kids Were Backstage, And I Thought, This Isn't How I Usually Do It. I've Got Kids, And I'm Thinking, This Is Weird. It's Weird Juggling Children On Your Knee While You're In Your Rhinestone Outfit. And I'm Thinking, Okay, I'm Gonna Go Out And Do A Show And I'm Gonna Be Superwoman! But I'm Not Really, `cause I'm A Mom. It's All Very Strange.

Mom

Mother

Children

I Panic Every Time I Put Out A Record. I Think Every Artist Does.

Artist

Thinking

Doe

The End Of A Long Week With Viking Leader Aka Dj Virgo Aka Avicii! So Many Great Songs! #icantwait #revolution

Song

Aka

Long

My Goal From The Very Beginning Was Just To Write Good Songs That Don't Require Any Production To Be Felt Or Understood. I Wanted To Be Able To Sit In A Room With A Guitar And Play The Song From Beginning To End And Have It Be As Impactful As If You Heard The Studio Version With All The Bells And Whistles.

Song

Writing

Guitar

The Fact Of The Matter Is That You Can Use Your Beauty And Use Your Charm And Be Flirtatious, And You Can Get People Interested In Your Beauty. But You Cannot Maintain That. In The End, Talent Is The Only Thing. My Work Is The Only Thing That's Going To Change Any Minds.

People

Mind

Use

Never Forget To Dream.

Inspirational

Dream

Women

I Refuse To Act The Way Someone Expects Me To.

Way

Refuse

My Father Was Very Strong. I Don't Agree With A Lot Of The Ways He Brought Me Up. I Don't Agree With A Lot Of His Values, But He Did Have A Lot Of Integrity, And If He Told Us Not To Do Something, He Didn't Do It Either.

Strong

Father

Integrity

I Became An Overachiever To Get Approval From The World.

World

Approval

Overachiever

I Like To Be Provocative. I Like To Make People Think. I Like To Touch People's Hearts. And If I Can Do All Three Of Those Things In One Fell Swoop, Then I Feel Like I've Really Accomplished Something.

Heart

Thinking

People

Life And Love Inspire Me. I Think Reinventing Yourself Is Vital To Your Survival As An Artist And A Human Being. I Know It’s Cliché To Say About Me At This Point, But It’s True. My Curiosity Definitely Is The Driving Force In My Life And Career. When You Stop Learning, Engaging And Growing, You’re Dead.

Life And Love

Artist

Thinking

Things Were A Lot Simpler In Detroit. I Didn't Care About Anything But Boyfriends.

Dating

Care

Detroit

Nowadays New-york Is Not The Exciting Place It Used To Be. It Still Has Great Energy; I Still Put My Finger In The Socket. But It Doesn't Feel Alive, Cracking With That Synergy Between The Art World And Music World And Fashion World That Was Happening In The 80s. A Lot Of People Died.

Fashion

Art

New York

I Won't Be Happy Until I'm Famous Like God

Music

The Cross Is A Very Powerful Symbol And It Symbolizes Suffering, But It Also Is Connected To A Person Who Was Loving And Sharing And His Message Was About Unconditional Love. I Tried To Take A Powerful Image And Use It To Draw Attention To A Situation That Needs Attention. For Me, We All Need To Be Jesus In Our Time. Jesus' Message Was To Love Your Neighbor As Yourself And These Are People In Need.

Jesus

Powerful

Love You

In Some Respects I Will Never Die. Because Art Is Immortal. What We Leave Behind And What We Create - The Energy That We Put Out Into The World Is Eternal.

Art

Energy

World

For Me, A Male Image That I'm Really Moved By Is Somewhere Between Of Oscar Wilde Type Of A Male: The Fop, The Long Hair, The Suits, Too Witty For His Own Good, Incredibly Smart, Scathingly Funny - All That. But Then My Other Ideal Is More Like The Buddhist Monk - The Shaved Head, Actually Someone Who Sublimates Their Sexuality.

Witty

Buddhist

Smart

I Think There Are Just As Many Assholes Meeting The Old-fashioned Way As There Are Meeting In The New Hookup Culture.

Thinking

Culture

Way

Romance Should Be Spontaneous, But In My Career I'm Totally In Control.

Careers

Romance

Spontaneous

We've Made So Many Advances In Other Areas - Civil Rights, Gay Rights - But Ageism Is Still An Area That's Taboo And Not Talked About And Dealt With.

Gay

Rights

Made

I Think They Probably Got It On, Jesus And Mary Magdalene.

Christian

Religious

Jesus

I'm Liking The Idea More And More Of Just Standing Up With A Microphone And Talking.

Talking

Ideas

Microphones

I Actually Always Try To Have A Moment In My Show Where I Can Just Lay Down On Stage And Talk To People For A Little While.

People

Trying

Littles

I Can't Stand When I Walk Into A Room And Everyone's Not Talking To Each Other And Just On Their Phones.

Phones

Talking

Rooms

I Know The Aspect Of My Personality, Being The Vixen, The Heartbreaker And The Incredibly Provocative Girl Is A Very Marketable Image, But It's Not Insincere. You Just Can't Take It Seriously.

Girl

Heart

Personality

Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion

Singers

Actresses

Opinion

I'm Encouraging Other People, Whether They're Professionals Or Not, To Use Their Creativity To Express Themselves, To Get A Conversation Going, To Get The Party Started, Really.

Party

Creativity

People

Because I've Taken My Clothes Off In Public Doesn't Mean That I've Revealed Every Inch Of My Soul.

Taken

Mean

Clothes

You Can Be Sexy, But You Can't Be 50

Sexy

I Hate Polite Conversation. I Hate It When People Stand Around And Go, "hi, How Are You?" I Hate Words That Don't Have Any Reason Or Meaning. Also I Hate It When People Smoke In Elevators And Closed In Places. It's Just So Rude.

Hate

People

Rude

The Definition Of S & M Is Letting Someone Hurt You That You Know Would Never Hurt You.

Hurt

Definitions

Knows

If You Have An Opinion And People Disagree With You, You Might Not Get A Job. You Might Be Blacklisted. You Might Have Fewer Followers On Instagram.

Jobs

People

Followers

All You Need Is Your Own Imagination. So Use It That's What It's For.

Imagination

Needs

Use

Getting Lit! Full Disclosure............#dancing #fun #life #livingforlove

Fun

Dancing

Disclosure

Elvis Presley? He's God.

If You Have To Ask For Something More Than Once Or Twice, It Wasn't Yours In The First Place. And That's Hard To Accept When You Love Someone.

Philosophy

When You Love Someone

Firsts

To Me Punk Rock Is Thinking Outside Of The Box, Outside Of The Program, Outside The Establishment.

Thinking

Rocks

Punk

We're Very Privileged As Americans - It's Easy To Forget About The Rest Of The World And To Think That Your Problems Are The Most Important Problems. Even Poor People In America Live Better Than Poor People Most Everywhere Else.

Thinking

America

People

If We Took A Holiday, Took Some Time To Celebrate, Just One Day Out Of Life, It Would Be, It Would Be So Nice.

Travel

Nice

Holiday

For Me, It's Either You're Part Of Creation Or You're Part Of Destruction. It's Inexplicable; It's Like Breathing, And I Can't Imagine Not Doing It.

Breathing

Imagine

Creation

With Every Breath, I'm Deeper In You.

Romantic

Deeper

Breaths

I Became Very Obsessed With Death, And The Idea That You Never Know When Death Will Arrive, So One Has To Do As Much As Possible All The Time To Get The Most Out Of Life. That Would Be A Motivating Force.

Ideas

Would Be

Obsessed

I Guess I Like To Have Fun.

Fun

Having Fun

When The Day Is Done The Most Important Thing Is Loving People And Sharing Love.

People

Important

Done

I Think They Were Scared Of Me Because I Was Different.

Thinking

Different

Scared

I Am The Result Of The Good Choices I've Made And The Bad Choices.

Choices

Made

Results

I Think Art Should Be Controversial. I Think It Should Make People Think.

Art

Thinking

People

I'm Very Grateful That I Had Work To Do. I May Have Thrown Myself Off A Building.

Grateful

May

Building

Be Strong, Believe In Freedom And In God, Love Yourself, Understand Your Sexuality, Have A Sense Of Humor, Masturbate, Don't Judge People By Their Religion, Color Or Sexual Habits, Love Life And Your Family.

Strong

Believe

Love Yourself

I've Slept With Prince.

I Think In The End, When You're Famous, People Like To Narrow You Down To A Few Personality Traits. I Think I've Just Become This Ambitious, Say-whatever's-on-her-mind, Intimidating Person. And That's Part Of My Personality, But It's Certainly Not Anywhere Near The Whole Thing.

Thinking

People

Personality

I Do Think Of Myself As A Queen, But I Don't Think I'm The Only Queen. There's Room For Other Queens. We Reign Over Different Kingdoms.

Queens

Thinking

Different

The Beast Is The Modern World That We Live In! The Material World. The Physical World. The World Of Illusion That We Think Is Real. We Live For It; We're Enslaved By It. And It Will Ultimately Be Our Undoing.

Real

Thinking

World

I Feel Just As Hungry Today As I Did The Day I Left Home.

Home

Feels Just

Today

Prince Charles Is Very Relaxed At The Table, Throwing His Salad Around Willy-nilly. I Didn't Find Him Stiff At All.

Tables

Salad

Throwing

I Don't Doubt Love For A Second. I'm Living For Love. Listen To My Songs!

Song

Doubt

People Don't Know What Kabbalah Is, And So They Jump To Conclusions. For Me, Studying Kabbalah Is Studying - Is Just - Is Asking Questions. And I Encourage All Of My Children To Be That Way, And I Think People Don't Understand That. And So They Make Assumptions And They Judge.

Children

Thinking

Asking Questions

When You Are Raised To Believe That Anything Having To Do With Sex Is Forbidden And Taboo, Then Of Course That's All You Want To Know About. That Becomes Your Complete And Utter Fascination. That Is The Surest Way To Interest A Child.

Sex

Children

Believe

It Would Be So Helpful For The Straight Community To See Men In Powerful Positions Coming Out And Saying "i'm Gay" So They Don't Have These Preconceived Notions That All Gay Men Are Smarmy Idiots Living On The Street Or Whatever It Is People Think Of Gay Men. I Think It Would Be Really Helpful And Productive.

Powerful

Gay

Men

Girls Can Wear Jeans And Cut Their Hair Short, Wear Shirts And Boots Cause It's Okay To Be A Boy. But For A Boy To Look Like A Girl Is Degrading Cause You Think Being A Girl Is Degrading

Girl

Independent

Cutting

I Guess Some People Are Brilliant Enough To Be Brilliant On Their Own And Never Doubt Anything And Come Up With Fabulous Things. But I Think It's Good To Get Into Arguments With People And Have Them Say, 'that Sucks' Or 'you're Crazy' Or 'that's Cheesy' Or 'what Do You Think Of This?'

Crazy

Thinking

People

You're Getting Angry, You Know I Can See. You're Just Jealous, Cause You Can't Be Me.

Jealous

Causes

Egotism

I Tried To Be A Boy, I Tried To Be A Girl, I Tried To Be A Mess.

Girl

Boys

Mess

I Get Strength From My Art - All The Paintings I Own Are Powerful.

Art

Powerful

Painting

I Believe In Freedom Of Expression, I Don't Believe In Censorship.

Believe

Expression

Censorship

It's Not Enough To Raise Awareness. You Have To Give People Solutions, And You Have To Invite Them To Get Involved In Whatever Way They Can, Whether That's Doing Volunteer Work Or Taking A Portion Of Their Salary And Figuring Out Where They Want That Money To Go. You Have To Find Ways To Inspire People To Get Involved.

People

Volunteer

Giving

Being Blond Is Definitely A Different State Of Mind. I Can't Really Put My Finger On It, But The Artifice Of Being Blond Has Some Incredible Sort Of Sexual Connotation.

Mind

Different

Incredibles

Bad Habits Die Hard...........❤ #livingforlove ❤ #rebelheart

Habit

Bad Habits

Dies

I Believe Women Should Own Their Sexuality And Sexual Expression.

Believe

Expression

Sexuality

I Like Talking; I Like Playing With The Audience.

Talking

Audience

A Lot Of People Are Afraid To Say What They Want. That's Why They Don't Get What They Want.

Inspirational

Inspiring

Success

I Was Used To Dancing, But Only When Someone Told You What To Do. So In The Nightclub I Was All Over The Place, I Combined Everything. Street Dance, Modern Dance, A Bit Of Jazz And Ballet, I Was Twyla Tharp, I Was Alvin Ailey, I Was Michael Jackson. I Didn't Care, I Was Free.

Dancing

Ballet

Care

Who Is My Role Model And How Long Can I Keep This Going? I Just Move Around And Do Different Things And Come Back To Music, Try Making Films And Come Back To Music, Write Children's Books And Come Back To Music.

Children

Moving

Book

Fame Is A By-product. It's Not A Goal. What Matters Is Loving Your Work And Loving What You Do

What Matters

Loving What You Do

Goal

Just Like A Prayer, Your Voice Can Take Me There.

Prayer

Voice

Take Me

But I Love The Idea - Whether It's In My Work Or Where I Live - Exploring New Frontier, And I Like Putting Myself In Strange Places And Trying To Survive And Figure Things Out And Gather Up An Infrastructure. I Like Knowing That I Could Figure Out A Way To Live Anywhere.

Strange Places

Ideas

Knowing

If You're Sure Of Who You Are It Doesn't Really Matter What People Call You, Does It?

People

Doe

Matter

On The One Hand, The Idea Of Marriage And The Sort Of Traditional Family Life Repulses Me. But On The Other Hand, I Long For It, You Know What I Mean? I'm Constantly In Conflict With Things. And It Is Because Of My Past And My Upbringing And The Journey That I've Been On.

Mean

Past

Journey

Being Poor In Africa Is Something People In America Can't Relate To. Part Of The Challenge Is Bringing That Reality To People And Moving Them. You Have To Arouse Compassion.

Moving

Reality

Compassion

If You Don't Vote, You're Going To Get A Spanking.

Vote

Spanking

Ifs

Deep In My Heart I'm Concealing Things That I'm Longing To Say. Scared To Confess What I'm Feeling - Frightened You'll Slip Away.

Love

Fear

Heart

I Don't Even Remember Why I Called Myself An Idiot. I Can Be Very Harshly Critical Of Myself. It Depends On My Mood, And Obviously It Depends On Where I Am In My Life. Yes, Embracing Myself - I'm Working On That.

Idiot

Remember

Mood

I Think All Of Us Make The Mistake Of Thinking We're Going To Change People When We Get Together. But We're Not. People Are Who They Are. And People Change In Their Own Time.

Mistake

Thinking

People

If Any Of You Have Seen My Shows, You Know That I Don't Skimp On Them And The Same Is True For The Gym. We Spend What It Takes To Make A Globally First-class Gym.

Class

Firsts

Shows

One Must Dare To Show What He Wants. You Have To Go And Ask For Things Rather Than Wait For Them To Happen.

Waiting

Want

Dare

People Have This Idea That If You're Sexual And Beautiful And Provocative, Then There's Nothing Else You Could Possibly Offer.

Beautiful

Ideas

People

A Fire Lit Under My Ass? Yeah, That's True. No Time To Waste.

I'm Not Crazy About How Sort Of Homogenized Pop Music Become. It Used To Be Much More Diverse. Maybe It's Just What's Played On The Radio Sounds Very Much The Same.

Crazy

Sound

Radio

Nos Are Just As Valuable As Yeses In The Game Of Life. In Fact, They're Essential.

Games

Essentials

Facts

I Stand For Freedom Of Expression, Doing What You Believe In, And Going After Your Dreams.

Inspirational

Graduation

Dream

I Was Sacked From Dunkin' Donuts For Squirting The Donuts Jelly All Over The Customers.

Jelly

Dunkin Donuts

Donuts

People Have No Morals, I Swear To God. The Things That People Do For Ratings! It's Unforgivable.

Swear To God

People

Moral

I Refuse To Live A Conventional Life.

Refuse

Conventional

Conventional Life

Believing In Yourself And Being Willing To Do Anything, To Walk Through The Fire, To Do What It Is That You Want To Do. Getting Out Of That Car Accident Covered With Blood To Play The Gig . . . I Mean, That's Me. That's Just Me.

Believe

Mean

Fire

Beauty's Where You Find It; Not Just Where You Bump And Grind It.

Beauty

Bumps

Grind

Are You Ready Boots? Start Walking.....never Look Back. #‎ Artforfreedom #‎ Revolutionoflove

Looks

Boots

Ready

I Grew Up In A High School Where It Was Very Conservative, And I Felt Like People Disapproved Of Me, And I Felt Like An Outsider.

School

People

Outsiders

Strong Women Leave Big Hickies

Strong Women

Strong

Bigs

When I First Moved To New York I Wanted To Be A Dancer, I Danced Professionally For Years, Living A Hand-to-mouth Existence.

New York

Hands

Years

Donald Trump Is The President. It's Not A Bad Dream. It Really Happened. It's Like Being Dumped By A Lover And Also Being Stuck In A Nightmare.

Dream

President

Lovers

A Lot Of People Saw Marilyn Monroe And Judy Garland As Persecuted And Tragic And Vulnerable, And I Think A Lot Of Gay Men Feel That Way Because Of Their Particular Predicament In Society And Not Being Accepted Completely.

Gay

Men

Thinking

Go Down Where All Life Begins, Go Down That's Where My Love Is.

Love

Love Is

I Don't Affiliate Myself With Any Specific Religious Group. I Connect To Different Ritualistic Aspects Of Different Belief Systems, And I See The Connecting Thread Between All Religious Beliefs.

Religious

Groups

Different

I Know I Can Feel Bad, When I Get In A Bad Mood, And The World Can Look So Sad, Only You Make Me Feel Good.

Sad

Feel Good

Looks

I Think The Silence Would Be Good With Me, And Not Interacting With People Would Be Okay. But Not Being Able To Move Outside Of The Space Would Be Hard. Not Being Able To Walk Around - The Stillness Of My Body, Physically - That Would Be The Challenge.

Moving

Thinking

Space

People Think They Will Wake Up One Day And I'll Be Gone. But I'm Never Going Away.

Thinking

People

Going Away

I Am Not Reinventing Myself. I Am Going Through The Layers And Revealing Myself. I Am On A Journey, An Adventure That's Constantly Changing Shape.

Adventure

Journey

Shapes

Before Doing Any Interviews I Like To Know Who I'm Meeting With And Get A Bit Of An Idea Of Their Sensibilities.

Ideas

Interviews

Meetings

If It Makes Tom Cruise Happy, I Don't Care If He Prays To Turtles, ... And I Don't Think Anybody Else Should.

Caring

Thinking

Turtles

I Have The Most Perfect Belly Button. When I Stick My Fingers In It, I Feel A Nerve In The Center Of My Body Shoot Up My Spine.

Perfect

Buttons

Nerves

I Always Thought I Should Be Treated Like A Star.

Success

Confidence

Stars

On Any Given Night, Catch Me On The Floor, Working Up A Sweat, That’s What Music’s For.

Night

Sweat

Given

I Don't Think Ultimately God Punishes. I Think We Bring About Our Own Destruction Or Our Own Creation.

Thinking

Creation

Destruction

They're Only Words, Unless They're True.

Philosophy

There's No Greater Power Than The Power Of Good-bye.

Bye

Rejection

Greater Power

I Came To The Realization That A Strong Female Is Frightening To Everybody, Because All Societies Are Male-dominated, Black Societies, Poor People, Rich People, Any Racial Group, They're All Dominated By Men. A Strong Female Is Going To Threaten Everybody Across The Board...

Strong

Men

People

I Made A Vow That I Would Never Need Another Person Ever. Turned My Heart Into A Cage, A Victim Of A Kind Of Rage.

Heart

Sadness

Needs

I Just Like The Idea Of Pills. I Like To Collect Them But Not Actually Take Them. When I Fell Off My Horse, I Got Tons Of Stuff: Demerol And Vicodin And Xanax And Valium And Oxycontin, Which Is Supposed To Be Like Heroin. And I'm Quite Scared To Take Them. I'm A Control Freak.

Horse

Xanax

Ideas

Why Did I Want To Break All The Rules? Because The Rules Didn’t Make Sense, That’s Why

Want

Break

Make Sense

I Wake Up Every Morning And It's Like When You Break Up With Somebody Who Has Really Broken Your Heart.

Morning

Heart

Broken

When My World Seems To Crumble All Around, And Foolish People Try To Bring Me Down, I Just Think Of Your Smile Face, And I'm Flying.

Friendship

Thinking

People

There Isn't A Performer On Earth That Isn't An Exhibitionist. There Isn't Any Point In Being In This Business If You're Not An Exhibitionist. And, By The Way, You Can Be An Exhibitionist And Be Very Shy As Well.

Shy

Earth

Way

Freedom Comes When You Learn To Let Go, Creation Comes When You Learn To Say 'no'

Letting Go

Philosophy

Creation

I Worked For Everything That I Got And I Worked Long And Hard Before I Got To This Point So When I Got It I Thought I Deserve It.

Long

Hard

Deserve

Unbelievable, George Michael Has Died At The Age Of 53. Rip.this Dreadful Year Goes On And On.so Sad, A Real Talent.

Real

Rip

Years

Power Is A Great Aphrodisiac And I Am A Very Powerful Person

Powerful

Aphrodisiac

Persons

I Ran To The Forest, I Ran To The Trees. I Ran And I Ran, I Was Looking For Me.

Philosophy

Tree

Forests

I've Studied Kabbalah, As You Know, For Many Years, So There Are A Lot Of Things I Do That One Would Associate With Practising Judaism. I Hear The Torah Every Saturday. I Observe Shabbat. I Say Certain Prayers. My Son Was Bar Mitzvahed. So This Appears Like I'm Jewish, But These Rituals Are Connected To What I Describe As The Tree Of Life Consciousness And Have More To Do With The Idea Of Being An Israelite, Not Jewish.

Prayer

Son

Years

No One Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself. Do The Thing You Want. Don't Wait For Someone Else

Waiting

Want

Know Yourself

Don’t Just Stand There, Let’s Get To It, Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It...

Art

Media

Entertainment

I Am Very Proud To Be Italian.

Italian

Proud

Whenever I Do My Live Shows, I Feel Artistically Inspired And Excited Because I Get To Do And Say A Lot Of Things That I Can't If I Just Make A Record. A Lot Of Times It's The Only Way People Are Going To Hear My Music Because You Don't Get To Have Your Music Played On Top 40 If You're Above The Age Of 35.

People

Age

Records

I Don't Know What Our Government Does Except Put Us Into Debt And Blow Up Other Countries.

Country

Blow

Government

When I'm Hungry, I Eat. When I'm Thirsty, I Drink. When I Feel Like Saying Something, I Say It.

Inspirational

Inspiring

Drink

Having Children Made Me Go Down A Road Of Serious Introspection And Self-examination. I Think It's Informed And Hopefully Enhanced My Creativity.

Children

Creativity

Thinking

You Gave Me Back The Paradise That I Thought I Lost For Good You Helped Me Find The Reasons Why It Took Me By Surprise That You Understood You Knew All Along What I Never Wanted To Say Until I Learned To Love Myself I Was Never Ever Lovin' Anybody Else.

Paradise

Reason Why

Love Myself

In America It Is Not Considered To Be Mentally Ill When A Woman Advances On Her Prey In A Discotheque Setting With Hardy Cocktails Present.

America

Cocktails

Prey

Isn't Everyone Just Travelling Down Their Own Road Watching The Signs As They Go?

When We Take A Picture, We Have A Negative. We Put The Right Solution On It And, Suddenly, The Picture Comes To Life. So What Do We Do? We Take The Negative And Turn It Into A Positive.

Photography

Negative

Turns

Who Needs A Smile When A Tear's So Full Of Love?

Tears

Needs

My Father Was Very Strict With Me, And I Kept Seeing A Disparity Between Their Freedom And My Lack Of It, Or How I Had All The Responsibilities And They Had None. And The Catholic Church, All Of The Rules, And Why Did I Have To Wear A Dress When They Could Wear Pants? I Would Say To My Dad: 'will Jesus Love Me Less If I Wear Pants? Am I Going To Hell?'

Jesus

Dad

Father

Suffering Is A Big Informer, A Big Catalyst For Creation. You Take Your Sadness, Your Despair, Your Sense Of Injustice, And You Put It In Your Work.

Sadness

Suffering

Despair

Music Makes The People Come Together.

People

Together

Truth Is Never Far Behind.

Truth Is

Adages

Behinds

There Are Any Number Of Things That Would Be Detrimental To Your Career. Everyone's Really Afraid.

Careers

Numbers

Would Be

Making Records Is Not How It Used To Be! #stillwerking

Records

Used

Used To Be

I Felt Very Awkward And Out Of Place In School. Not Popular, Not Attractive, Not Special In Any Way And I Was Longing For Love And Approval From Someone.

Self Esteem

School

Awkward

I Learned A Lot About Humility And Patience, Keeping My Mouth Shut.

Humility

Mouths

Humility And Patience

I Loved Nuns When I Was Growing Up. I Thought They Were Beautiful. For Several Years I Wanted To Be A Nun. I Saw Them As Really Pure, Disciplined, Above Average People. They Had These Serene Faces. Nuns Are Sexy.

Beautiful

Sexy

Growing Up

I Think Most Children Who Are Adopted Ultimately Want To Meet Their Biological Parents And Often Do. I Think That Is An Important Journey For Children Who Are Adopted To Go On.

Children

Journey

Thinking

Oh Sure, I Have Lots Of Fears. My Job Is To Conquer My Fears. The Irony Of Being A Performer Is That I Have Huge Insecurities. Each Of Us Is Responsible For What Happens In Our Lives. When Good Things Happen, We Take Ownership, But When Bad Things Happen We Often Don't Take Responsibility. There Are No Mistakes Or Accidents. Consciousness Is Everything And All Things Begin With A Thought. We Are Responsible For Our Own Fate. We Reap What We Sow, We Get What We Give And We Pull In What We Put Out.

Jobs

Mistake

Responsibility

I Have To Get Way More Vocal And Become A Little Bit Less Mysterious.

Littles

Way

Mysterious

I Was More Of A Dancing Kid Than A Singing Kid. I Mean, I Sang In School Choirs And I Sang In School Musicals, But I Was Much More Interested In Dancing Than Singing.

School

Mean

Kids

I Wanted To Be A Nun. I Saw Nuns As Superstars. When I Was Growing Up I Went To A Catholic School, And The Nuns, To Me, Were These Superhuman, Beautiful, Fantastic People.

Beautiful

Growing Up

School

Everyone Who Knows Me Thinks I'm A Bit Of A Work Nazi.

Thinking

Nazi

Know Me

There's No Borderline For The Things That I Can Say, Do, And Create.

Borderline

I Can

And I'll Remember The Love That You Gave Me, Now That I Am Standing On My Own, I'll Remember The Way That You Changed Me, I'll Remember.

Way

Remember

You Changed

Ultimately It Boils Down To The Same Thing All Relationships Boil Down To: Eating Humble Pie. I Sometimes Eat Quite A Lot. But, However Bitter It Might Taste, It's The Best Pie. It's On The Menu Constantly For Both Parties.

Party

Humble

Pie

I Really Want To See Everything. If It's Around Me And It's Part Of My Show, I Need To Be A Part Of All Of It. From The Creation Of The Music, To The Surface Of The Floor, To Everyone's Hairstyle, To The Details With The Buttons And The Bows And The Snaps And The Zippers. All Of Those Things!

Zippers

Buttons

Details

Filmmaking Is Such A Collaboration. At A Certain Point, I Suppose You Do Have To Let Go And Trust The People You're Working With.

Letting Go

People

Collaboration

'jesus' Message Was To Love Your Neighbour As Yourself, And There Are People In Need. I Hope That People Got That Message.

Jesus

Live Life

Love You

If You're Going To Be An Artist, Real Life Is Your Inspiration.

Real

Inspiration

Creativity

There's No Law That Says That You Cannot Be A Spiritual Person And A Sexual Person. In Fact, If You Have The Right Consciousness, Sex Is Like A Prayer. It Can Be A Divine Experience. So Why Do They Have To Be Disassociated With One Another?

Spiritual

Sex

Prayer

Everyone Has A Self-destructive Nature In Them. It's Whether You Feed It Or Not. You Don't Have To Be A Pop Star To Feel Connected To Destruction Or Self-destruction. But Self-destruction Is Self-obsession, And Self-obsession Is Not Really Possible If You're Engaged In Raising Children. And If You Have A Spiritual Life, You're Constantly Being Asked To See Yourself As One Small Fragment In The Bigger Picture.

Spiritual

Stars

Children

People Want To Hear The Dirt. But This Is Not Really Anything I Want To Talk About.

People

Want

Dirt

I Shouldn't Have Stayed So Long Away. Every Time I Come Here, I Get So Supercharged With Energy. I Truly Believe That Israel Is The Energy Centre Of The World. And I Also Believe That If We Can All Live Together In Harmony In This Place, Then We Can Live In Peace All Over The World.

Believe

Israel

Long

Hey You! Don't Be Silly! Put A Rubber On Your Willie!

Silly

Hey

Rubber

My Daughter's Birth Was Like A Rebirth For Me.

Daughter

My Daughter

Birth

I Was Working With Toby Gad, Who Spent A Lot Of Time In India. There's A Sitar [in "body Shop"] And The Song Has A Very Indian Flavor To It. I Liked The Idea Of The Body Of A Car As A Kind Of Sexual Metaphor - What You Do To A Car, What You Do In A Car - Drive. So, Lots Of Innuendos, And Lots Of Fun.

Song

Fun

Ideas

Brushing My Grilzz Before I Booty Pop. A Woman's Work Is Never Done!

Booty

Done

Pops

Manipulating People, That's What I'm Good At

People

I Don't Care Anymore If People Dress Like Me, Now I Want Them To Think Like Me.

Thinking

People

Dresses

I Don't Care If You Hate Me Or Love Me, As Long As I Make You Think.

Hate

Thinking

Long

I Love The Art Form, But Working In Film Can Be A Disheartening Experience.

Art

Film

Form

Sometimes You Want To Go For A Walk And You Don't Want To Be Watched. You Just Want To Be Anonymous And Blend In. Especially When I Travel, I Feel That Way, Because I Can't Really Go Out And See A City The Way Other People Can And I Miss Out On A Lot.

Travel

Cities

People

My Heart Goes Out To The Families Of Innocent Children Who Were Killed Today In Pakistan!! I Do Not Accept A World Where Kids Are Killed For Wanting An Education! This Violence And Ignorance Has To Stop!!!! It Starts With All Of Us Treating All Human Beings With Dignity And Respect!!

Children

Heart

Ignorance

I Don't Like To Be Provocative For The Sake Of Being Provocative.

Sake

Provocative

I Always Acted Like A Star Long Before I Was One.

Stars

Long

Celebrate Me For Who I Am, Dislike Me For What I Ain't (...) Put Me Up On A Pedestal Or Drag Me Down In The Dirt (...) This Is Who I Am, You Can Like Ir Or Not, You Can Love Me Or Leave Me Cuz I'm Never Gonna Stop

Who I Am

Dislike Me

Pedestal

Effeminate Men Intrigue Me More Than Anything In The World. I See Them As My Alter Egos. I Feel Very Drawn To Them. I Think Like A Guy, But I'm Feminine. So I Relate To Feminine Men.

Men

Thinking

Guy

Losing My Virginity Was A Career Move.

Sexy

Moving

Careers

Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.

2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.

2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.

2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.

3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.

3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.

3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.

4. Proper Usage of Quotes

4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.

4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.

4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

5. Common Mistakes to Avoid

5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.

5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.

5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.

6. Quotes in Different Contexts

6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.

6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.

6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.

7. Punctuation and Formatting

Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:

Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.

Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.

Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes

Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.

Conclusion

Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.

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