I have to take care of myself. It's about self-preservation.
I'm a huge dog person; I love to hug and kiss them.
Music is as integral to me as my own DNA. My life has become a continual soundtrack, with music underscoring the most powerful and even the most banal moments of my life.
My professional life shouldn't be an influence on whether I spend time at home. My career is my whole life's blood. It's my calling.
One of my favourite books of all time: 'The Great Gatsby'. I just think it's so well written.
In a fit at the bookstore one day, I bought all my favourite composers' biographies: Schubert, Massenet, Wolf. I've still not had a chance to read them; it breaks my heart. But when you travel so much, you just can't take that many books with you.
I feel very fortunate. I feel like an Olympian. When I watch the Olympics, I cry because I have been through that journey.
I spent my first 10 years in the Commonwealth. I come from cricket, crumpets, cucumber sandwiches, the Queen.
What I see as specially English is the charm - everyone is so polite. Being restrained is part of the charm. And I love the sense of humour - it takes me back to Australia. The English are great at making fun of themselves. They're so self-effacing.
I know there are lots of regional accents in England, but I can't tell them apart and I'm not really aware of class. I don't pay any attention to those boundaries. I'm a California girl.
I think of myself as an Olympian. I have had a dream since I was a very small child. And because I have parents without whom I couldn't have realised that dream.
To be a famously successful opera singer. I wanted that since I was eight.
I sang with a voice that was natural, and I liked the way I produced that sound. I thought of my other friends, that they were singing and dancing, but they didn't have this. I was special.
My parents kept me very grounded.
My Mozart career began as a teenager in Los Angeles, singing arias from 'Le Nozze di Figaro' and 'Don Giovanni.'
Mozart is my first strength.
One of the things I loved about my childhood was that I didn't feel like I lost my innocence too young, like some children these days.
I believed in Santa Claus until I was 12!
My dad's in banking, my mum manages the American branch of a Swiss vitamin company; they're really busy, but they still come to all my premieres.
My mother actually does most of my shopping for me. I love fashion, but I don't really love shopping.
