"In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it"
"I prefer an ugly truth to a pretty lie. If someone is telling me the truth that is when I will give my heart"
" want some day to be able to love with the same intensity and unselfishness that parents love their children with."
"The worst mistake of a woman is to go to the kitchen, because then she never gets out of there."
"I can't hire other people to write songs for me. I have to write them myself."
"I admire a person who, for the love of art, is able to take off their clothes in front of a camera. But I'm not capable, I'm too cowardly for that".
"It's not easy to work with me, I recognize that. It's not easy if those people aren't as perfectionist as I am".
"The worst frustration for a singer is choosing a career in making music and then not being able to make music because you're always giving interviews".
"Everyone can know what is in my heart because I find it hard to conceal myself"
"I always believed that women have rights and that there are some women that are intelligent enough to claim those rights. There are some others that are stupid enough not to"
"My brain, I believe, is the most beautiful part of my body".
"Writing songs has a therapeutic effect, and it either kills off love or wins the heart of the lover"
"I'm Colombian and nothing will change that."
"It doesn't bother me to talk about my private life, it doesn't bother me to talk about anything. My life is like a glass of water, transparent"
"Videos come definitely after the music has been created, but I have always felt, and especially today, that videos are vital in the album process. I think that we live in a very visual era and if you make a mistake with a video, those images will accompany the song forever. There is no way to divorce the image from the music once the video has been filmed and exposed."
"I don�t think it�s offensive at all. She�s beautiful, she�s very sweet, and she�s a very talented woman in the entertainment world, very successful. But I do believe that it is very logical that at this moment in my career, when I am entering new territory, people who didn�t know me from before are associating me with artists that are already know and established. And that�s pretty normal. But I think that it�s a temporary thing, and I think at some point when people start to know a little bit more about myself and my music, they will understand that my music is different." (about comparisons to Britney Spears)
"I�m not a model for anyone and the truth is, I never even tried a hit of pot. I�m not saying that I�ve never ever felt curious, but I feel that if I were doped up I would not even be able to smell, or eat, or breathe, or sing. And I don�t want to start using crutches when I know that I can walk. Drug addiction is a loss of freedom. If I don�t want to jeopardize myself with a man, I�m going to jeopardize my life even less."
"Me and my fans understand each other pretty well. If I let the critics in this relationship, it would be a love triangle. I try not to read too much about what they say, just to not get intoxicated with other people�s points of view. I have to stick to myself, and stick to what I believe in."
"I love Salvador Dali. I�m a fan of his melting watches. I love surrealism because that�s probably the movement that is most connected to thoughts and dreams and the consciousness of human beings."
"I�m a believer. I try to be near God, because when I feel that there�s a certain distance, everything begins to look like a blur. It makes the road somewhat smoother. When I feel that I�m without God, I have to make an effort to drag my feet to keep on going."
"I love the history of art and history in general. Sometimes I feel I was born in the wrong era. There was more creativity in the air when people was still discovering new worlds."
"It's very hard to give advice because I'm still learning a lot. I had to discover my call, my vocation, and follow it. I had to be very determined and stubborn sometimes in order to prevent myself from becoming a puppet in people's hands. Be sure of what you want and follow it, and keep close to your family. That has been very instrumental for me."
"The stage never felt strange to me. It always seemed like my territory. Like the lion in the jungle. I�m the little lion of that wooden stage. I feel that I am the owner of that little stage for the minutes that I�m allowed to be on it. It always feels like it�s the first time, at least to me it does."
"I don�t like to explode. When something explodes, nothing is left but ashes."
"I think languages are bridges, I�m so glad that God gave me the opportunity to write in English and to get closer to so many countries that have no access to the Spanish world. I will continue to write in Spanish, but this is definitely a gift I�m trying to use in the best way possible."
"Of course I am trying to make my accent not bother anyone, but I am not going to drive myself crazy trying to pretend I am an American girl when I am from Colombia."
"There is a bridge between me and my new audience at the moment, and I want to cross it. I want to show them who the real Shakira is. I want to inspire thoughts and ideas. Pop music is the most effective vehicle to reach the masses, and I�ve always seen myself into this kind of role a messenger."
"I grew up in a country as a victim of violence. When you grow up in a place so close to cruel realities, you grow up with an opinion. You learn to walk with a stone in your shoe, and every time you get a chance to remove it, you do. I do it by using my music and art as a vehicle of communication."
"Supposedly, all the promotional material is made to expose the artist. But sometimes I feel that I end up buried in the lights, makeup, curlers, stylists and makeup artists. The real vehicle (when) my artistic personality comes out . . . is mostly through my music and live performances."
"I can play the guitar like Alanis, and I can have the hair color of Britney and, yeah, I have a Latin butt like J. Lo. But that doesn't mean that I'm one thing or the other. I think I have my own thing that even I don't know how to describe."
"When I sit down to write songs, what I see are images, understand? Images and ideas. Afterward comes the music part, which to me is like skin, I should feel it with my body. Later I try to marry both things, and get the both of them to get along. I believe that the most fun part of music is this, the creation."
"When the opportunity to do the crossover came about, I knew immediately what the magnitude of the project would be and what could be accomplished. To me, every artist that comes out of her country has a big flag draped over her shoulder; and in many parts of the world, there are so many cliches and bad interpretations like that Latinos are riding around on horses with big sombreros or something. This is a magnificent opportunity for me to represent Colombians and Latinos in general."