Life is a game and true love is a trophy.
My cheeks explode when I smile. That's why I have to look so nonplussed.
There's no life without humour. It can make the wonderful moments of life truly glorious, and it can make tragic moments bearable.
I like to make the mundane fabulous whenever I can.
Being uncool is being pretty much the coolest you can be.
I may not lead the most dramatic life, but in my brain it's 'War and Peace' everyday.
I am undefinable. I don't fit into any particular category.
I'm definitely a fan of juxtaposition. Using the most beautiful line to say the most horrific thing - I think one of the main things in songwriting is definitely friction between the words and the melody.
I've developed into quite a swan. I'm one of those people that will probably look better and better as I get older until I drop dead of beauty.
I believe a lot of our lives are spent asleep, and what I've been trying to do is hold on to those moments when a little spark cuts through the fog and nudges you.
Places that have experienced great defeat experience a kind of rebirth, which I think America has to do - unless we want to get more decrepit. I don't think we have to destroy the place totally.
Some people go to Berlin to get more cutting edge; I went and started wearing lederhosen and going to visit baroque palaces.
There is this church that I go to a lot in New York. I'm not religious but I love lighting candles and stuff. I find it useful.
I think we could all be a bit more elitist.
I am ridiculously high-maintenance.
Looking back, one of the things I love most about my mom was that she never, ever relented. She stuck to her guns right up until the end. She wasn't abusive, but she was never that thrilled that I was gay.
I've written songs for Shirley Bassey, Marianne Faithfull, and Linda Thompson. I sort of focus on these wonderful, aging divas. But maybe that's because I think I'm Christina Aguilera.
Premiering a new opera is probably one of the hardest things in the world to do, and opening nights of any opera are always pretty stressful.
The moment something happens to one you love, it's twenty times more intense. You experience pain and enlightenment on a much vaster scale.
I would love to have a number one hit. The truth is if I don't get one, I'll be fine, but at the same time, the truth is that I'm dying for one, as well.
