Gloria Estefan

“We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take.”

“We protect aspirin bottles in this country better than we protect guns from accidents by children.”

“A lot of the way I sing is playing off other musicians. It's what I love to do the most.”

“If there's ever been a dark moment in my life... well, I wanted to check out. Music was a big escape.”

“People tend to forget that celebrities are human beings. We live our lives. We try to do what we love, which is music. And to share it with everyone in our job usually is to entertain and to make people forget their troubles.”

“My inspirations include the Beatles - love, love, love them - Elton John, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder.”

“There are so many difficult things we're living through in the world today, so many horrible events, but we cannot let them stop us. No matter what happens, I feel you must move forward with optimism and not get totally sideswiped.”

“Music has been so healing in my life, so the fact that my music could be that for someone else is the best gift of my whole career. People have told me that they got married to my music, divorced to my music, and played my music while they were having their baby.”

“In the United States, if you believe in yourself and you're determined and persevere, you're going to succeed.”

“When I was a teenager, I was fat. I was shy. I wore glasses. I had a big eyebrow and hair all over my body. They were years of torture.”

“I'm a writer and this is what I love to do.”

“I hold 'Mi Tierra,' my first Spanish-language album, very close to me because that was all done in my native tongue and won me my first Grammy.”

“As an entertainer, my job is to help people have fun.”

“My family was musical on both sides. My father's family had a famous flautist and a classical pianist. My mother won a contest to be Shirley Temple's double - she was the diva of the family. At 8, I learned how to play guitar. I used to play songs from the '20s, '30s and '40s in the kitchen for my grandmother.”

“I don't want anything from Cuba. I want them to be free and enjoy the things I enjoy.”

“I wanted very badly to be a mum. I'm a very maternal person. But at the point that I met Emilio I was focusing on a career. I never would have thought that I would get married at 21 and much less be a mum by 23.”

“Fashion is nice, but it's for the fans. If it were up to me, I'd be in a sweat suit!”

“You've got to believe. Never be afraid to dream.”

“I have great genes. Thank you to my mom and dad for that one.”

“I gotta tell you, my nature is not to be the center of attention.”