Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another.
Be strong, believe in freedom and in God, love yourself, understand your sexuality, have a sense of humor, masturbate, don't judge people by their religion, color or sexual habits, love life and your family.
I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.
I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.
I know I'm not the greatest singer or dancer, but that doesn't interest me. I'm interested in being provocative and pushing people's buttons.
When I'm hungry, I eat. When I'm thirsty, I drink. When I feel like saying something, I say it.
One thing I've learned is that I'm not the owner of my talent; I'm the manager of it.
I want to be like Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, and John Lennon... but I want to stay alive.
Catholicism is not a soothing religion. It's a painful religion. We're all gluttons for punishment.
I like to change. A new lamp, a piece of art, can transform a room.
I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name. How could I be anything else but what I am having been named Madonna? I would either have ended up a nun or this.
I like to think I'm a role model for women. But I also don't like to just limit it to women. I like to think I'm a role model for human beings in general.
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.
With all the chaos, pain and suffering in the world, the fact that my adoption of a child from who was living in an orphanage, you know, was the number one story for a week in the world. To me, that says more about our inability to focus on the real problems.
Imagine if someone like John Lennon or Bob Marley, Sid Vicious, Picasso, whomever, were doing their work, and some corporation, some CEO, some branding entity was saying to you, 'Well, you can do that, but you've got to remove this aspect of your work.' There would no longer be that purity anymore.
When I first came to New York I was a dancer, and a French record label offered me a recording contract and I had to go to Paris to do it. So I went there and that's how I really got into the music business. But I didn't like what I was doing when I got there, so I left, and I never did a record there.
I hate being called a pop star. I hate that.
I think my biggest flaw is my insecurity. I'm terribly insecure. I'm plagued with insecurities 24/7.
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.
My physical transformations - like changing my hair - are usually a reflection of what's inspiring me at the moment.
