Madonna Ciccone

“Where you record is very important. It can't be too nice, it can't be too expensive, it can't have a view to an ocean or a field.”

“In this business, my business, I get to meet all kinds of incredible people, fascinating people, glamorous people and sexy people and highly intellectual people. And you meet them and you go 'interesting, interesting, interesting'. They're interesting, but not very many people stop you in your tracks.”

“In England especially, I've found that if you bring up King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson at a dinner party or a social gathering, it's like throwing a Molotov cocktail into the room.”

“Obviously, I feel a great sense of responsibility being a good parent and raising my children. I don't take that job very lightly. Who they are, what they become and what they contribute to the world is very important to me.”

“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.”

“I get strength from my art - all the paintings I own are powerful.”

“I've always danced and exercised. I can't imagine not doing it. I'll be Martha Graham in my 90s doing contractions on the floor.”

“I want to give a child a life who wouldn't be given a life. I want a child that nobody else wants.”

“Growing up, I didn't feel cool; I didn't fit into any crowd.”

“I wear the Jewish star, but I'm not - I haven't converted to Judaism, and I'm not - I'm not - I'm not Jewish in the conventional sense because the Kaballah is a belief system that predates religion and predates Judaism as an organized religion.”

“I think that everyone should get married at least once, so you can see what a silly, outdated institution it is.”

“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.”

“I think the biggest reason I was able to express myself and not be intimidated was by not having a mother. For example, mothers teach you manners. And I absolutely did not learn any of those rules and regulations.”

“Part of the reason I sort of shot out like a cannon out of Michigan and left home at such an early age is because I had to feel independent.”

“I have my work and my faith... If that's boring to some people, I can't tell you how much I don't care.”

“The thing about dancing - what it taught me all those years - is it gives you an amazing sense of discipline in forcing yourself to do things that you know are good for you but you don't really want to do.”

“My physical transformations - like changing my hair - are usually a reflection of what's inspiring me at the moment.”

“I don't like rooms you never use or that are wasted space but I also like a sparseness and a cleanness.”

“Men are such power-seeking creatures, and they usually kill people to get to the throne.”

“I'm ambitious. But if I weren't as talented as I am ambitious, I would be a gross monstrosity.”