Cristina Saralegui

“If I have to be compared to somebody, it is to Martha Stewart.”

“For me, the American promise isn't just an idea or a theory - it's my life story.”

“I'm one of the highest-paid television people in the world. I feel like I've made a difference in my viewers' lives, that I've been influential.”

“To realize the American dream, the most important thing to understand is that it belongs to everybody. It's a human dream. If you understand this and work very hard, it is possible.”

“You need to put easy, nice, tranquil thoughts in your head before you go to bed. You know what I do? I read metaphysical books. The good stuff stays in your brain once you go under.”

“How proud I am to be compared to Oprah. I really admire her. She's a minority woman and she's done all this by herself... I'm very happy to be Oprah with salsa and not Donahue in drag.”

“My hope is to see Tom Cruise jumping on my couch.”

“In my house, we speak Spanglish to the dogs, to the grandchildren, to the kids.”

“I'm very, very Spanish. I have fat cheeks on both ends. I'm sitting on my Spanish part. And it's my heart, the way I am, the way I speak. It has nothing to do with the way I look.”

“Being a professional woman, I function the best when I don't distinguish between work and play.”

“America was the place that said, 'It doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter what your last name is, it doesn't matter if you drink cortaditos, or lattes, or coffee with milk. Here, if you work hard, anything is possible.'”

“I have gotten into a lot of trouble in my life for being brutally honest. Sometimes I put both my feet in my mouth. But like Elton John, I'm still standing.”

“I love beating the men. When I beat 'em in the ratings, when I beat 'em in the salary, I always say, 'One more for the girls.'”

“I am a Cuban mother, and you do not let your cubs get into trouble without you trying to help them all the way.”

“We Latin women are liberated from the neck up, not the neck down.”

“I was the only person at Univision who had complete creative control of my own show, by contract. They didn't like that. I was the executive producer; I owned the studio where we taped. I decided who went on my show and who didn't.”

“Like most Latinas, I'm not afraid to speak my mind.”

“People would write me hate letters. How dare I try to represent Hispanics when I was so white? I tried to make them see it was racism.”

“I am not a person of faith. I'm a Catholic. I was brought up Catholic, but I'm not a church-going sort of girl. I'm very spiritual. I pray every night. I believe in Heaven and Hell, but I'm not a person that goes to church, like, every Sunday.”

“You have to eat right. That does not mean that I don't drink Cuban coffee. That does not mean that I do not have two cigarettes a day - that's what I'm down to. I drink wine - you know, I'm normal. But I do eat well.”