RuPaul

“People don't know how to place me in their consciousness. They think, 'Oh, you must be here to make me look good. That's what gay guys are, right? You're an accessory for my straight life.' Just because your limited view is that everyone's there to serve you and that you're the only person in the world. It doesn't work that way.”

“It's hard to get intimate with an audience.”

“It's true in everything, not just in drag: To be a success, you have to understand the landscape. You have to know thyself, and you have to know your history so that you can draw from people who have figured out the equation you are faced with. It's not rocket science.”

“I think our culture is moving forward - slowly. And also, as we move forward, we're witnessing some of the old stalwarts rejecting that forward motion.”

“'The Wizard of Oz' is my favourite. It explains what life on this planet is about. Although Dorothy reaches Oz, she finds she had what she needed to go back to Kansas all along, but the Good Witch tells her that she had to learn it for herself. All of the answers to the meaning of life are there.”

“Drag is involved with changing identities and not taking identities too seriously at all. That's why drag is such a hard sell to a network - or anyone, really - because it's up against the ego.”

“Never forget that the most political thing you can ever do is follow your heart.”

“If you look at their voting habits and their eating habits, you realize people are stupid.”

“In the great tradition of Paris Is Burning, bring out your library cards! Because reading is what? Fundamental!”

“Young people need to know there are ways for them to navigate this life.”

“I think drag is universal, no matter who does it. I mean, yeah, I am homosexual, but I think everybody likes to toy with their image. I love those guys. I love Milton Berle and Flip Wilson and all those people.”

“I love games. My favorite thing on this planet to do is to play games. And if you don't enjoy games, then you're really missing the point of what this life is.”

“I loved 'Carol.' I thought it was a beautiful film.”

“I had mentors, growing up in gay life - older gay men who told me about our history and the history of art and culture - but somehow, the younger generation missed out on that synergy.”

“I enjoy being creative.”

“If you've worked in a factory, and you haven't learned how to do something else, you're obsolete. That's just nature.”

“It's very easy to look at the world and think this is all so cruel and so mean. It's important to not become bitter from it.”

“I try to do three active things a day because I have to fit into costumes that are very tight.”

“The secret of success in every field is redefining what success means to you. It can't be your parent's definition, the media's definition, or your neighbor's definition. Otherwise, success will never satisfy you.”

“I have always worked and did my work on the fringe, where I have feel very comfortable.”