When you`re comfortable with someone you love, the silence is the best. And, that`s how me and J. are. When we`re in a room together, we don`t have to say anything. It`s for real.

I still have a lot to learn - about the business, about music, and about myself. Its exciting.

I would like to be called an inspiration to people, not a role model--because I make mistakes like everybody else. When I`m offstage, I`m just like everybody else.

My prerogative right now is to just chill and let all the other overexposed blondes on the cover of Us Weekly (magazine) be your entertainment.

With love, you should go ahead and take the risk of getting hurt... because love is an amazing feeling.

I`ve never really wanted to go to Japan. Simply because I don`t like eating fish. And I know that`s very popular out there in Africa.

[regarding the policies of President George W. Bush regarding the invasion of Iraq] I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that.

[on why she has yet to tour Australia] I really love Australia, great place, but it`s just so far away to go to for a concert, and that makes it hard - but I`ll definitely take a course there for a tour next time. I`d really love to.

[on being photographed without panties] Anyway, thank God for Victoria`s Secret`s new underwear line!

This is my dream come true. I can`t believe this is happening right now. I can`t believe I even have a movie. I feel very blessed to be where I am right now.

Bottom line: If you love yourself, it will all work out.

[Justin Timberlake] was my first kiss. We were playing "Truth or Dare" and listening to Janet Jackson. I was 12. His friend dared him to kiss me, so that was my first kiss.

It feels like I`ve been dreaming this forever and then it happens and it feels like a whirlwind. I`m constantly traveling and I miss my friends.

Performing is what I like most. I find the studio very confining. You can do a lot in there, and you get the opportunity to try again and again. But on stage you have the adrenalin going and you`ve got one shot and the energy is so intense.

I`m not the type of person that can be cooped up in the hotel room being served all the time. I can`t deal with that. I`ve got to do normal things.

I`ve got an amazing group of people around me and my family at home. If I don`t make my bed and wash the dishes at home, I`m in trouble.

I don`t listen to anybody. Nobody can tell me anything. I`m stubborn. If somebody tells me not to do something, I do it. But I do listen to Madonna. For some reason I listen to her. I know that sounds really silly. It`s nice to have somebody just to ask questions to. She`s a visual artist and a deep artist as well. I like the way she thinks. I wish I could be inside her head. I like Madonna`s carer, and what she`s done with her family.

I can`t sing the same kind of thing all the time. That would bore me.

Tony Blair? I`ve never heard of him either. Who is he?

When I look into a mirror, I am very critical of myself. I see a goofy girl.

As an artist, I would probably go on stage and bump and grind with a dancer. In real life, never.

If I was to pick a cartoon character I am most like, I would say Daisy Duck, because she is very stubborn, she has a very feminine sense and she knows what she likes.

[about her breakup with boyfriend Justin Timberlake] The most painful thing I have ever experienced was that breakup. We were together so long and I had this vision. You think you`re going to spend the rest of your life together. Where I come from, the woman is the homemaker, and that`s how I was brought up -- you cook for your kids.

Would you go into a CD store and steal a CD? It`s the same thing, people going into the computers and loggin` on and stealing our music.

I feel like a totally different person than I was two years ago. I feel like so much of my innocence is gone. I`m still me, but this business makes you grow up so fast.

I suck at flirting. There`s one thing I don`t understand about Hollywood. How they have a relationship, end it, and go right into the next. It`s hard for a woman in this industry. Either the guy`s going to be really intimidated, or they`re going to kiss your ass. I`m just a girl wanting a guy to love me.

When I`m under stress, I do yoga. It`s when I`m happiest that I have a problem with junk food.

Selling 5 million records is still good. I don`t want to get jaded thinking I have to sell 10 million every time. It`s not about that.

Who really cares if I`ve had sex? It`s nobody`s business. Trust me, I`m not going to have a press conference to announce it. If I mess up, I`m human. If I have a drink or I`m with someone, I`m human. I`m no different than anyone else my age.

How can I explain this? I don`t see myself -- hand on the Bible -- I know I`m not ugly, but I don`t see myself as a sex symbol or this goddess-attractive beautiful person at all. When I`m on stage, that`s my time to do my thing and go there and be that, and it`s fun. It`s exhilarating just to be something that you`re not. And, people tend to believe it. I guess I just pull it off very well.

There are so many teenagers out there that dress more provocatively than I do, and no one says anything about them.

I guess it`s because I do have a younger audience that, you know, parents worry about the role model thing. But when I was younger, I looked up to people, but I never wanted to be them. I always had my own identity. I`m an entertainer when I`m on stage, and they need to explain that to their kids. That`s not my job to do that.

My views on virginity have not changed. I want to wait to have sex until I`m married. I do. I want to wait, but it`s hard. I just want to live my life.

[about her visit to the Playboy mansion] All I remember is seeing a bunch of naked girls and thinking, "I got to get out of here."

Acting is so much fun. It is a different ball game and I want to concentrate on that at the moment. I`m really passionate about what I do. I love entertainment and telling stories to people and I am very lucky that I am doing what I want to do.

[at a German chocolate museum, 1/18/02] Chocolate for me is just like an orgasm.

I find it so funny that people find me so interesting. And, I hate when they`re like "Define your image." I don`t know what my image is. I just do my thing.

I love Jessica Simpson. I love her voice. She`s amazing. I have her CD, and I have [Christina Aguilera`s] CD. I have all of their CDs. They`re amazing. You know? I have a lot of respect for them. Anybody who can be in this business . . . the work is so overwhelming sometimes and anybody who can do that I have a lot of respect for.

I dress the way I want. I don`t pretend to be someone I`m not.

[about recording a song with boyfriend Justin Timberlake for her third album] I have to say I was a little nervous at first. I`m used to producers going in there and it`s like work. And, I go in and I work and I do my vocals and work. And, I thought that it was awkward at first because I was nervous recording with him doing my vocals, but then I just totally forgot that he was my boyfriend, and I just said "Britney, just do the vocals, don`t be nervous, don`t be retarded like this." But, it ended up being fine, actually. At the very end, I got the best vocals I`ve ever done.

[about the tour to promote her third album [released in November 2001] I really want this to be like shocking and in people`s faces and edgy. It`s just basically, you know, there`s a lot of scrutiny with everything I do. And, it`s basically saying that I`m not a little girl anymore and this is me. And just, you know, I have to do what I have to do for me, and that`s basically the overall scheme of it, yeah.

[on her relationship with Justin Timberlake during the "MMC" (1989)] We were, like, 12 or 13 and it was like, "Hi, do you like me?" It was like puppy love.

Her mother Lynne Spears on Britney`s upbringing] I was not a permissive mother at all.

[when asked about the perks of being famous] I get to go to a lot of overseas places, like Canada. [she was born in the US]

I would really, really, really like to be a legend like Madonna. Madonna knows what to do next, and when she`s performing, the audience is just in awe of her.

England is one of my favorite places. The fans are just so crazy.

[referring to fellow pop-princess and former Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera] Christina and I are friends no matter what the media makes up.

Just because I look sexy on the cover of "Rolling Stone" doesn`t mean I`m naughty.

I remember I read this harsh review about my show, and one of my friends told me that this was the exact same stuff people said about Madonna. And it`s like, she didn`t care. Madonna just came out and was herself. I respect that a lot.

[about Deborah Gibson at the 2001 American Music Awards] She`s the original bubble-gum diva.

Onstage I`m the happiest person in the world.

Marry [Prince William Windsor]? I`d love that. Who wouldn`t want to be a princess?