Gloria Estefan quotes:

I'd love to have a program like 'Dr. Laura.' I studied psychology at the University of Miami, and when I rode the bus home from school, perfect strangers would strike up conversations with me and end up telling me their life stories. I think they could sense that I was studying to help people. That, or I have a face like a priest.

My family was musical on both sides. My father's family had a famous flautist and a classical pianist. My mother won a contest to be Shirley Temple's double - she was the diva of the family. At 8, I learned how to play guitar. I used to play songs from the '20s, '30s and '40s in the kitchen for my grandmother.

My inspirations include the Beatles - love, love, love them - Elton John, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder.

I have great genes. Thank you to my mom and dad for that one.

I wrote poetry, which got me into lyrics. Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Elton John pulled me into pop. I started singing with a band - just for fun - when I was 17. And pretty soon, I was thinking I could sing pop in English as well as Spanish.

I hold 'Mi Tierra,' my first Spanish-language album, very close to me because that was all done in my native tongue and won me my first Grammy.

We protect aspirin bottles in this country better than we protect guns from accidents by children.

Family has always been the number one priority no matter what happens anywhere else.

My mom was a source of strength. She showed me by example that women, regardless of how difficult life may get, can do it all.

In this life, I'm always going to choose the positive.

The Internet has been a blessing and a curse. The curse we know: A lot of people appropriating your intellectual property without paying for it. But I think it's important to realize the blessing of the Internet, which is that everybody has a voice and you can break through, even without a record company.

Having felt people's love and support first hand through difficult moments in my life makes me feel it's our responsibility to help one another.

We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take.

The reason I'm not more political is because I have music. And from a young age, I needed it. After prison, my father came to America, joined the Army, fought in Vietnam - and was exposed to Agent Orange. He died a slow, horrible death. Music was my escape.

All I tell artists is, 'Do what you love. Never let anybody talk you into changing what your musical idea is just to try to get a hit, because you're chasing your tail that way. It's not going to happen, and if you're successful, you have to do it the rest of your life. Stay true to it and do it for the sake of the art.'

My mum had a very strong moral code, which I kind of came with. I never really had to be told what was right or wrong - I knew. I was very mature from early on and I was a very good girl, so she never had any trouble with me.

When I was a teenager, I was fat. I was shy. I wore glasses. I had a big eyebrow and hair all over my body. They were years of torture.

You know, it's funny how songs continue to grow and evolve and become a new and deeper reflection of your life.

Being Latin parents makes us extremely expressive with our affections.

My mom was an amazing singer and music was a big part of my life, so I grew up listening to Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini; I used to watch 'The Andy Williams Show' on TV. I was very musical, so I was watching stuff that most kids my age wouldn't be interested in.

I have a very open line of communication with both my children.

The sad truth is that opportunity doesn't knock twice.

Music has been so healing in my life, so the fact that my music could be that for someone else is the best gift of my whole career. People have told me that they got married to my music, divorced to my music, and played my music while they were having their baby.

My job as an entertainer is to take you some place else. I love exploring different genres of music to please my fans.

If there's ever been a dark moment in my life... well, I wanted to check out. Music was a big escape.

Sometimes my mother had difficulty communicating with me about certain topics.

Once you know the Romance languages, singing in those languages is so sexy and sensual. I do have a global audience, so why not?

I gotta tell you, my nature is not to be the center of attention.

I've been offered a lot of things that celebrities do that I wouldn't do, like perfumes, lines of clothing and this, that and the other.

There are so many beautiful things that are a part of the world, and I've always looked at life that way; I've always tried to put on a smile and a brave front, not just for my kids but in my own life and all the difficulties that I've gone through.

My mother had a beautiful, soothing voice that made me melt.

Whatever it is your heart desires, please go for it, it's yours to have.

The responsibility of carrying and bringing a new life into this world is one that cannot be taken lightly.

I spent 15 years on the road between touring and recording and I never saw anything. I want to enjoy life.

And, because of the life that I shared with these two amazing women [her mother and maternal grandmother] and the hardships and struggles that I saw them overcome, I learned an invaluable lesson: and that is that women can do anything we set our minds to . . . and then some!

I thought it would be lovely to use [pet bulldog] Noelle as an example to teach the importance of being who you are. For me it's important to inspire children in a positive way, and at times they understand more messages through entertainment than when one is talking to them directly.

I only used my whole life one perfume: and it's Cartier's Le Must.

The separation of families to me is very close to my heart because we lived that as immigrants. I strongly feel that we all connected, and having felt people's love and support first-hand through difficult moments in my life, makes me feel it's our responsibility to help one another. I am privileged to help in some way, and I will always take that opportunity.

For the rest of my life, the one song that people will remember -- regardless -- is "Conga" . . . I never get tired of singing it. It never gets old for me.

My Conga people [fans] will find me anywhere I go.

When I went to do "Carson" that night, they wanted us to do two songs, but we were a brand new band. "Conga" hadn't even hit the top 10 yet. They go, "Do you think you could do something that people know, because we want you to do a second song, but not two originals, because we don't want to lose the audience, just in case."

It is so important for me to keep authentic Cuban sounds alive. All of these great artists have changed the landscape of Latin music and it's an honor to have them on this album ["90 Millas," released in September of 2007]. I believe this album will expose a new generation to the richness of Cuban music.

Of course in Miami, not denouncing Fidel Castro at every turn is almost as bad as saying Gloria Estefan can't sing.

My grandmother would shanghai pilots at the Havana airport so they'd bring me cartons of mango baby food -- the only kind I'd eat. I learned to eat peach later. And in every carton, she'd slip in a Cuban record.

Then [after Castro dies and her triumphal return to Havana], at last, I could sing for my people.

It's a universal story, it's an immigrant story, and it's a love story. In the United States, if you believe in yourself and you're determined and persevere, you're going to succeed.

A woman's exterior beauty is a reflection of her internal peace and happiness.

I tell him [husband Emilio] you are lucky I am not a jealous woman, because look at the women he's worked with: Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Thalia, Madonna. These very sexy women. I trust him.

We kiss and hug our kids a lot! And even now when our son lives 3,000 miles away, we talk every day, sometimes several times.

This blend of musicians on '90 Millas' is historically significant on a number of levels. This is the first and quite possibly the last time that all of these legendary artists will play together on one CD.

Esperando (Cuando Cuba Sea Libre) is probably one of the most personal songs from the new [September, 2007] CD, "90 Millas" . . . as it really speaks about the celebration, nostalgia and emotion that will happen the day Cuba is free. If we're to move forward in Cuba, we really have to have a lot of forgiveness for each other and look towards the future.

The secret of a long marriage is shaving your legs every day . . . because it shows you still care.

One of the most beautiful things we can give our child is music education.

I make the best pancakes you'll ever have! And I claim that title gladly. On Saturdays I make them for everybody.

[After a poor prognosis for recovery from her doctor following her 1990 bus accident] I said if it is up to me, I'm going to be OK.

[My mother] closed the school the next day [after a visit from Castro's soldiers], because she knew that the purpose of education was the broadening and opening of children's minds. And she couldn't be a party to the systematic closing of minds, borders, freedoms and ideals.

The sad truth is that opportunity doesn't knock twice. You can put things off until tomorrow but tomorrow may never come. Where will you be a few years down the line. Will it be everything you dreamed of. We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take.

I have a twenty-month-old baby [girl], [and] a sixteen-year-old boy same maturity level.

As an artist, you dream about accumulating enough successful music to someday do just one greatest-hits album, but to reach the point where you're releasing your second collection of hits is beyond belief.

You've got a new Spanish-language album out now ["90 Millas," released in September of 2007], and the single ["No Llores"] is #1 on the Billboard Latin chart.

My mom was definitely very strict with me.

[My first children's book] is very subliminal, let's put it that way. It even has a bit of a metaphysical little message in there [about how] we're all somehow connected and we all have a responsibility toward each other. Although you may feel alone in the world, you definitely are not.

The library takes me away from my everyday life and allows me to see other places and learn to understand other people unlike myself.

I've got nine dogs, eight birds, turtles, fish and I had wallabies at one point.

My son traveled the world with me on every tour. He wasn't a lover of school, so it was easy with him. I had a tutor on the road, keep him at the same level, so when he'd pop back home he'd go right back in.

I left Cuba when I was two years old. They took away my country, they stole the most intimate thing a human being can have. How could I forget that Fidel Castro was the person who did me so much harm?

I'm careful what I put out there into the universe, musically. I don't take it lightly.

As an immigrant, I appreciate, far more than the average American, the liberties we have in this country. Silence is a big enemy of morality. I don't want our blunders in history to get repeated.

Touring is hard. It's really hard on the singer, especially, because your body is your instrument and you have to be so good, it's like boot camp out there; I can't do anything - just sleep, sing and be very healthy.

Apparently Pope John Paul II and his boys - is that what you call them? - loved one of my songs and thought I was putting spiritual messages in my music. I'm not religious as such. Dogma and I don't get along.

I wanted very badly to be a mum. I'm a very maternal person. But at the point that I met Emilio I was focusing on a career. I never would have thought that I would get married at 21 and much less be a mum by 23.

Motherhood is... difficult and... rewarding.

Music is almost mystical to me. It really has an incredibly powerful force.

There are so many difficult things we're living through in the world today, so many horrible events, but we cannot let them stop us. No matter what happens, I feel you must move forward with optimism and not get totally sideswiped.

I love Gershwin. I love musicals.

You can put things off until tomorrow but tomorrow may never come.

I'm very comfortable in my own skin now. I started just being myself more and more. For women, this happens as you get older. I loved my 40s - I thought they were fantastic. And I'm loving my 50s. I'm going to love everything because you're either older or dead!

When most artists walk offstage, they go to a lonely hotel room. I went home to my family. They were there before the show, during and after. It's been great. I never would have done it any other way. I wasn't gonna miss raising my kids. There was no way that was gonna happen.

The '70s were a hot time. You know? I was, like, the most calm of all my friends.

You've got to believe. Never be afraid to dream.

Nothing ever stays in the middle. You always go from one extreme to the other, and politics is certainly that way.

In the United States, if you believe in yourself and you're determined and persevere, you're going to succeed.

People tend to forget that celebrities are human beings. We live our lives. We try to do what we love, which is music. And to share it with everyone in our job usually is to entertain and to make people forget their troubles.

[After college] I was going to study at the Sorbon and become a diplomat. Being a diplomat comes in handy when you are dealing with record companies.

[As of November 17, 2006] 'Noelle's Treasure Tale' has remained at No. 3 on the New York Times children's best seller list since its October 10 release.

[Cuban coffee is] very powerful, very sweet, and a little dangerous - just like the people who drink it.

[I would like to be] one of [the first pop singers to perform in a free Cuba]. I know the list is huge. And it would be hard to pull off -- I'd have a lump as big as a tostone [fried green plantain] in my throat. But oh my God, what a dream -- it would be the height of my personal and professional career.

[To beginning readers (ages 4 to 8) at a reading of "Noelle's Treasure Tale"]: If you discover a word in my book that you don't understand, ask your parents so they can look it up in the dictionary for you.

A lot of the way I sing is playing off other musicians. It's what I love to do the most.

A parent that's upset or resentful is not going to be a great paren.

As an entertainer, my job is to help people have fun.

Because it's one thing when you - oh, I love this tune. But then when you go to sing it, it's got to have something really personal. Then down to 25, and then to pick the final ones I just picked the ones that were more personal, that had something to do with my life.

Everybody's not as fortunate as I've been that can have their hubby with them on the road, that we can do whatever we want and mainly be honest with the kids. Just the time that you do give them, make it be great time. It doesn't have to be hours.

Everything that an artist does is a risk. Some people want you to stay the same. If you want to evolve, they want to keep you in a certain place.

Everything's funny for God's sake. Everything.

For I've finally realized, that I could be infinitely better than before, definitely stronger. I'll face whatever comes my way, I'll savor each moment of the day, Love as many people as I can along the way. Help someone who's given up, even if it's just to raise my eyes and pray.

Getting this caliber of musicians together [for "90 Millas" CD in September of 2007] is almost impossible to do again.

How can we expect something positive to come from all the negative that we put into this world?

I bit down three nails rooting for the Heat.

I don't want anything from Cuba. I want them to be free and enjoy the things I enjoy.

I doubt that Fidel will ever come back to power. I think he is slowly going to the great beyond. Too slowly . . . he could have gone a long time ago.

I dreamed of becoming a writer. And . . . this dream is about to become a reality with the publication of my first, and hopefully not my last, children's book . . .

I have had a life in which I have had to face every big fear, and it has not been pleasant.

I majored in Psychology in college. I was going to be a child psychologist.

I received an award for 25 million in [album] sales the night before the bus accident [in 1990].

I spent my childhood alone, overweight and ugly, angry at everything, and knowing nothing of a life beyond this sadness.

I stare to memorize your face, to kiss you in my mind, love you all the time.

I think it's important to have a happy parent.

I think that the only way to teach is by example, as children will more easily follow what they see you do than what you tell them to do.

I think the business of music has really taken a huge hit. There's no doubt about it. But an artist is always going to produce their art, their music. They're going to paint, they're going to write.

I think we should all live the moment. But you also have to think ahead. You have to think, 'Am I going to be happy with this five, ten years from now? Is it going to let me evolve and grow, or am I going to grow to one day wish I had never done it?' Sometimes you just have to think a little bit ahead.

I voted, always vote. It's very important to me. My kids, I take them with me since they were little, so they realize it's a responsibility.

I wanted to talk to very young kids about self-image and about being different and how that can be your strength, especially from the immigrant perspective.

I was a straight-A student, baby!

I was going to be a doctor, but I think my music allowed me to help more people than I could have done one-on-one as a psychologist. Just like other people's music really helped me.

I wouldn't recommend working with your partner for everyone, because it's tough. There's got to be a really keen balance. You've got to know when to stop being the manager and become the husband. I can't go home and complain to my husband about my manager.

I wrote these two songs ["Coming Out of the Dark" and "Always Tomorrow"] as a celebration of hope. And, I want to send it out to all of those people who are suffering through this terrible disaster [Hurricane Katrina], and please know that you are not alone -- and you will not be.

I'd like them to see that those things that set us apart or make us different can be wonderful contributions to the world around us. I'd like them to see that size and color are irrelevant to the dreams we envision for ourselves. And I'd also love for them to see that life is a journey, and every step of the way, we can learn something and become stronger and wiser.

If the 70's freed our inhibitions, what good did it do?

If you're trying to do what's popular now, you're way behind already. By the time you record it and do it and try to copy it, it's moved on.