Alicia Keys quotes:

I'm a very positive person, but this whole concept of having to always be nice, always smiling, always happy, that's not real. It was like I was wearing a mask. I was becoming this perfectly chiselled sculpture, and that was bad. That took a long time to understand.

When I was a kid, I'd practise Chopin on piano - and I love Chopin! He's my dawg! Then I'd go out on the stoop and blast the radio. I'm from New York, the concrete jungle. Hip-hop influenced me from day one.

I'm inspired by artists and musicians. There are so many wonderful and talented people in the world. I love discovering new music, new writers, or new art.

A Minor is one of my all-time favorite keys to play in. It's a very moody key, and also 'A' is the first letter of my name. It just represents the songs through my eyes.

I feel the presence of a higher power. I believe that what you give is what you get. It's universal law. I believe in the power of prayer and of words. I've learned that when you predict that negative things will happen, they do.

What breaks my heart is suffering of any kind. Too often, our world is divisive and cruel where it needs to be uniting and loving.

The last thing I want is to walk into my house after a long day and see all the Grammys and awards. It would make me feel weird.

I lived with my mom in a really small apartment. My bedroom was like in the living room. That's why I still love to sleep on couches now.

There's too much darkness in the world. Everywhere you turn, someone is tryin' to tear someone down in some way; everywhere you go, there's a feeling of inadequacy, or a feeling that you're not good enough. I want to bring a certain light to the world.

I've learned that while I'd be a fool not to stay open to the advice and experiences of the smart, amazing people in my life, I also need to listen to what I have to say.

I definitely want to act, but I also want to score movies, and I have this idea to fuse classical music with other styles that would give it a different perception.

My mixed-race background made me a broad person, able to relate to different cultures. But any woman of colour, even a mixed colour, is seen as black in America. So that's how I regard myself.

I'm not ashamed of what I am and that I have curves and that I'm thick. I like my body.

Things can be really empty in this world, and I don't just mean the music world. It can become a very meaningless place if you don't really understand: 'who am I? Why am I here? What am I doing?' To feel fulfilment and have a deeper level of understanding, personally, that is the most important thing.

I think I grew up really fast; I grew up in this really fast-paced business, and I never understood what it meant to take a break or take time off or recover, and I paid for it.

I want to continue to produce film, television, and theater, and to make the most amazing music that I've made in my life.

I love Bono. I really respect what he has done for Africa and how he has used his fame to do good in the world. I hope I can do half as much in my life.

I love children and I love family and I love that interaction. Because I had a really close relationship with my mother, I understand that deep powerful love, and it's so beautiful. To be a mother to a child is the most brilliant gift; it's gorgeous.

I grew up in the middle of everything. I walked the streets alone, I rode the trains alone, I came home at three in the morning alone; that was what I did.

I don't have a ton of friends, but the friends I have are great ones. I don't have huge family, but the family I have is a great one.

When I'm on stage, my interaction with the audience is something that really makes me come alive. It's a feeling like no other. The energy of the crowd fuels something new inside.

I've always been very private, maybe because I discovered my mother, who is a wonderful lady, is very emotional.

It's not until I hear songs that I've done, that I realize how much of an inspiration music from the '60s and '70s has been.

I've stepped more into my womanhood, I'm a mother now, I'm having a beautiful relationship as a wife and as a friend.

I feel more like I'm a person who has so much to offer in different capacities that it would be a danger for me not to give myself a chance to spread my wings in all different directions.

But when I first fell in love with the piano, I knew it was me. I was dying to play.

I fell in love with the piano. I knew it was me. I was dying to play.

I'm the cofounder of Keep a Child Alive. We provide medicine for families affected by HIV and AIDS in places like Africa and India.

My parents weren't married. It wasn't like my dad up and left. I maintained a steady relationship with my grandparents. My dad's mother is my nana, and I'm closer to her than almost anybody in this world.

When I had nothing else, I had my mother and the piano. And you know what? They were all I needed.

Music is funny. I shouldn't even ever talk about music, because you can have all the ideas in your head, and it never goes exactly the way that you think it's gonna go.

Mozart would play a counterpart with his left hand while using his right to mock it. It was blue, dark, shadowy - and it made me feel something. That's when I realized music was inside me.

Soul music is timeless.

Some of the greatest artists did their best work when they got political.

I always want to stay focused on who I am, even as I'm discovering who I am.

Most times, your blessings are also your curses. And for me, I have this ability to express myself so clearly with pen and paper, but when it comes to expressing myself verbally, I put up a big wall.

I feel like the majority of the fear that I had or that we have we hold from other people. They're like people that we trust; they're their fears. All of a sudden we think that they're our fears.

I've stepped more into my business and really... taken control for how I want that to be.

I'm a very caring person.

My music comes from many, many, many places. My emotions, my feelings, my thoughts, and conversations I have with people I know who influence me.

If I want to be alone, some place I can write, I can read, I can pray, I can cry, I can do whatever I want - I go to the bathroom.

I don't think even when you find a person, you can be completely honest, ever. There's still pieces of you that you don't give away. I do believe you always need that place where it's just you, your thoughts, no one else's judgment or anything.

I would hate to make music and people love me for something that isn't me.

And I love kick boxing. It's a lot of fun. It gives you a lot of confidence when you can kick somebody in the head.

I know people who've gone to jail. It don't mean you stop loving them! They deservin' love just as much in there, and maybe they needin' it more.

I love my heritage! I have my mother, who is an Irish-Italian, and my father who is African, so I have the taste buds of an Italian and the spice of an African.

How terrible would it have been if I had come out with some watered-down version of who I am? People fell in love with the real me, and I still feel blessed that that was how the journey began.

A lot of times I watch TV and I watch film and there's so many things I'd love to talk about that I feel don't get the opportunity to be shown. Sometimes things become very stereotypical and one-sided, and I feel like it's such a colorful world.

I really like to live my life in a low-key fashion.

I see what happens when one gets very attached to material things. That's just not what my life is.

I'm very happy with my body.

I'd rather not have anything than be a liar.

I really appreciate Frank Ocean's lyrical style, I appreciate the way that he can kind of draw you into this personal space, but it's still lyrical. It's almost poetic, in a way, but it's very personal at the same time.

When I first started getting into the business, a young woman in a music game that was mostly men, I did feel inadequate.

I love the written word so much, I know it's gonna flow naturally.

Not because I'm trying to be fabulous, but I love those big crazy Jackie O shades.

I see what happens when one gets very attached to material things. That's just not what my life is."

Adam Levine and I remade the Rolling Stones' classic Wild Horses, and it is right up my alley, that whole style. It has a style of its own but still stays very true to the classic arrangement, and I love it.

Everything's gonna be alright.

I promised myself that I'd never actually admit to listening to 'New Kids on the Block.'

When I was younger, studying classical music, I really had to put in the time. Three hours a day is not even nice - you have to put in six.

You can't really compare people. That's one of the biggest lessons I've learned, because comparing yourself to someone else really stops you from being who you are.

I acted before I sang. And I did The Cosby Show, and things like that. But the music kind of came first. And it was a part of my essence. So I knew that I would evolve into this world.

To be able to help a 13-year-old kid from the Bronx follow her dreams just by letting her know she's not forgotten in this crazy world - that's why I got involved with Frum Tha Ground Up.

Some people want it all But I don't want nothing at all If it ain't you baby If I ain't got you baby Some people want diamond rings Some just want everything But everything means nothing If I ain't got you, Yeah

Gangsta rap was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. Gangsta rap didnt exist.

As a lyricist, you love to hear other great lyrics or other great concepts.

I have this vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycle jacket. When I put it on, it has this supercool feeling to it.

He broke my heart, and now it's raining, just to rub it in...

I have my mother who is an Irish-Italian, and my father who is African, so I have the taste buds of an Italian and the spice of an African.

I've always valued the input of the people I love. So in the past, whenever I'd make a decision - what to wear to an event, whether to pursue a job opportunity - I'd consult those closest to me, like my mother, husband, or manager.

Yes I was burned but I called it a lesson learned. Mistake overturned so I call it a lesson learned. My soul has returned so I call it a lesson learned...another lesson learned

Simplicity makes me happy.

My mom is definitely my rock.

Here's my pet peeve: The not-so-unstated rule that all women are only to be treated as sexual objects and gawked at-you know, sitting up against a car, washing something, bending over, licking something. That just drives me crazy.

At the end of the day, so many things that we hold so much value with, it just doesn't even mean anything. I really try to stay focused on being really positive.

The element of fire to me is very powerful because of what it symbolizes, how it symbolizes a strength. It symbolizes something that's unstoppable. You can't get through it, you know.

Love me like you'll never see me again.

Sometimes I feel good, at times I feel used. Loving you darling, makes me so confused.

I've always been strong-minded, but I wonder.

Still when I'm a mess I still put on a vest With an 'S' on my chest Oh yes, I'm a Superwoman

Cause I am a Superwoman, Yes I am, Yes she is, Even when I'm a mess, I still put on a vest, With an S on my chest, Oh yes, I'm a Superwoman, ... And all my sisters, Coming together, Say yes I will, Yes I can

My mom always said, 'Don't date a guy who thinks he's prettier than you.'

Once people see this 'Unplugged,' I just want them to feel the spontaneity, to feel passionate... I want you to see another side of me, that's free, and feel where my head is, where whatever happens, happens. I want you to feel inspired.

I just wanted to be who I was, which was like so many other girls I knew. We grew up in the city, had a hard edge and obstacles to overcome, but we were still young and beautiful. I didn't want to be all dressed up, all made up - I wanted to be myself, which hadn't been done before.

We are all one. We're not as separate as we oftentimes think.

I was tired and I had overworked myself and burnt myself out. So I went to Egypt by myself. When I saw what was built there, it made me understand how powerful we are, that we can create anything. And I felt like I needed to create things that were timeless too.

I believe Aids is the most important issue we face, because how we treat the poor is a reflection of who we are as a people.

From the beginning, I've had to juggle and weigh the silly things people say - and I've learnt that they're meaningless, and they're mostly inaccurate. So I don't worry about it, because there's nothin' for me to deal with.

I have solid decent people around me, and I believe that is all it is, because you will get destroyed if you have people bringing you down.

Failure isn't an option. I've erased the word 'fear' from my vocabulary, and I think when you erase fear, you can't fail.

I'd rather believe in my own choice and see it all go wrong than do something I'm not fully convinced of and later feel guilty about it.

We have the potential to help people out of poverty, out of disease, out of slavery and out of conflict. Too often, we turn the other way because we think there's nothing we can do.

There's something so powerful about being my own gorgeous, beautiful, individual, unique self.

Wait, I'm deciding to be my own individual self. And it looks nothing like what anyone else is doing.

Everything you want to be, you already are. You're simply on the path to discovering it.

My mother was raised very, very strict Catholic in the Midwest. There was so much fear and intimidation [in the faith]. So, growing up, I was always looking for my connection. I've found myself praying before meals, before bed; there's always been this gratitude for things that are bigger than me.

Your life can become the background for the art you create.

You have to identify what you care about and why you care about it. It has to be personal. It has to be something that fires you up or means something to you, or it's not going to drive you.

Empower us women and we will change this whole entire world.

Be driven, be focused, but enjoy every moment, because it only happens once.

It's when we become afraid of everything and worried about everything that you are never going to reach your highest potential.

There is this fallacy about how women are catty, that we're all in competition with each other. I'd say: As opposed to getting swept up in jealousy, use that pang to give you an indication of what you are looking for.

How you look is your statement, because it's a claiming of yourself.

Create the world you want, and fill it with the opportunities that matter to you.

You're stronger, and you're better, and you're ready for whatever.

I think conveying the emotion of the collective "we" is pretty incredible. Especially in tumultuous times like we are in now.

Life is going to be a constant peeling back of layers, a constant unlearning of what we've been taught or believe to be true. I think that I've come to terms with the fact that that's just going to happen for the whole duration of my life. I feel really good about being able to look myself in the face and say, "Oh, who are you now?" And that might change.

Love will come find you, just to remind you of who you are.

How far you go depends on what you want for yourself, how much you're willing to leave on the floor, and how much you wanna face the fears you have inside of you. It's everything we're all dealing with every day.

You can be very fulfilled as a mother, but that can't be the only way you are fulfilled. What about being a woman? What about being yourself? Your awareness of what's happening in the world? It lives altogether in a way that makes a whole. I guess I'd say I'm the wholest I've ever been.

If we took the time to learn more about different places and people, perhaps we would have more empathy for each other.

The more you know the stronger you become, the closer you feel to yourself, and the farther you can go.

I pray to give thanks and to recognize all the good things that are in my life even during times of great change, confusion, or frustration.

Sometimes you need to start again, in order to fly

You're at your most purest, most innocent, pure state when you're doing something you've never done before. You're scared a little, you're a little vulnerable, you're kind of trying, and then you're also better, because you're trying harder than you maybe would try.

We listen so much to everybody - more than ever, because we have a kabillion voices whose opinion we can access - and we care so much if everybody agrees with us. To bust through all of the noise is very challenging.

It's the unknown that makes me feel the most vulnerable.

I love being a mom. And I think what I love the most is the way it makes me think about what's important and what's not important. What to fight for and what to just be cool with. What it is that I'm teaching through example and what it is that I was taught that I don't want to teach.