I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.

I was just frigging devastated, it was a real sad day. I don`t get how people can have all these facts and still turn away from them. 9/11 was too ambiguous. You couldn`t prove how the government was somehow in on the deal. You could say, `Oh that`s just Michael Moore`. New Orleans was undeniable irresponsibility.

Can I just say that I find it really irritating that everyone beats up on Britney Spears? I want to do nothing but support her and praise her and wish her the best. I mean, she`s 18 years old! It`s just shocking. I was so gawky and geeky and awkward and unsure of myself. - Elle, February 2001

To be brave is to love someone unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. To just give. That takes courage, because we don`t want to fall on our faces or leave ourselves open to hurt.

A lot of people thought that I was a black artist before they saw my videos, because a lot of my music is more R&B oriented, and I think that I`m a white artist doing R&B music, getting played on pop stations. And I think that the kind of records I make are really changing peoples ideas of splitting up and categorizing artists and I think that`s opening ways for Black and white artists as well. (August 1984)

I befriended one DJ in particular and he worked at a club called Danceteria, which was one of my favorite clubs. And we talked a lot about music. I knew a lot about singers, and I knew a lot about different groups and stuff like that. And he said: `How come you know so much about this.` And I said: `I`m really interested in music.` And he said: `Well, in what way?` And I said: `I`m a singer`. He said: `No kidding`. And I said: `Yeah, and I just happen to have this tape right here`. I mean I was carrying this tape with me everywhere, at every club, waiting for the moment to pop it on somebody. So I said: `Would you play it?`. And he said `Well I can`t play it in the middle of the night. I haven`t heard it. What if it`s terrible? What if everyone stops dancing?` And I said `Alright well you listen to it, take it home with you tonight, and listen to it. And I`ll come back here tomorrow, and if you like it then you play it again. So that was a Friday night, so he went home. On Saturday night I met him again, and I came back before the club opened and he said he really loved it. So he played it. He played two songs. One of them was `Everybody`. (December 1985)

Videos might have a limited audience in one sense. But on the other hand you could be reaching a lot of people that would never be able to come see you live. So I think they`re definitely an advantage. Kids today worship the television, so I think it`s a great way to reach them. When you perform on stage you`re acting. That`s a performance. If someone sticks a camera on you what`s the difference? (August 1984)

[About her famous appearance in 1994 on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993)] "That was a time in my life when I was extremely angry. The press was constantly beating up on me, and I felt like I was a victim. So I lashed out at people and that Letterman was one of them. I am not particularly proud of it".

I`m tough, I`m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.

(To David Letterman) "Listen, all you do is talk about my sex life on your show, so now you don`t want to talk about my sex life when I`m on your show?!"

That consciousness is everything and that all things begin with a thought. That we are responsible for our own fate, we reap what we sow, we get what we give, we pull in what we put out. I know these things for sure.

I feel really protective of her. Don`t even ask me why. there`s something about her. Even though she`s terribly successful, for some reason I think of her as an underdog. - on Britney Spears

I like them. I know I am not supposed to. Every time someone says something bad about them, I say, `Hey, wait a minute, I was a Spice Girl once!` - on the Spice Girls.

My ambition may be American, and I may have married a Brit, but my heart belongs to France. (on winning a French NRJ Career Award, January 2004)

It is a struggle to balance my career with my children. I`m always going, `Oh God, I`m a crap mother.` I want to get home and put my kids to bed. And then sometimes, if I`m spending a lot of time with my children, I think, `Oh God, I just want to be an artist.` (5-2006)

I would like to ultimately achieve. I already told Dick Clark once on Bandstand" (1952). So I repeat it again and annoy everyone who was annoyed before when I said it. I want to conquer the world" (September 1984).

Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another.

Everybody in our family studied a musical instrument. My father was really big on that. Somehow I only took a year or two of piano lessons and I convinced my father to let me take dancing lessons. (June 1989)

When I first came to New York I was a dancer, and a French record label offered me a recording contract and I had to go to Paris to do it. So I went there and that`s how I really got into the music business. But I didn`t like what I was doing when I got there, so I left, and I never did a record there. (May 1984) So then I`m playing drums and were getting gigs in certain downtown clubs like CBGB and the Mud Club, and Max`s Kansas City. And I`m starting to write music for the band too, like some songs but they already had two singers in the band, so they would never let me get up and sing a song because what`s the point? One day I finally convinced them. I`ll just play guitar and sing one song. Please, please, please. And they finally said OK. So then I got up to sing one song and the other guy went back to play the drums. And like I got a standing ovation." (December 1985)

A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That`s why they don`t get what they want. (From her book "Sex")

About her daughter Lourdes: "Sometimes she doesn`t want me to come to certain things because she knows everyone is going to pay attention to me and then they`ll treat her differently. I took her to school on the first day last year, and all these kids were buzzing around. She came home that day and she was really irritated and kind of bummed out, like people were playing this contest -- what would it be like to be Madonna`s daughter?" (5-2006)

My kids don`t watch TV. We have televisions but they`re not hooked up to anything but movies. TV is trash. I was raised without it. We don`t have magazines or newspapers in the house either. (February 22, 2007)

On the adoption of her son, David: "My husband and I began the adoption process many months prior to our trip to Malawi. I did not wish to disclose my intentions to the world prior to the adoption happening as this is a private family matter. After learning that there were over one million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand out family. Nevertheless, we have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child. Reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate. The procedure includes an l8 month evaluation period after which time we hope to make this adoption permanent. This was not a decision or commitment that my family or I take lightly. I am overwhelmed and inspired by my trip to Malawi and hope that it helps bring attention to how much more the world needs to do to help the children of Africa. My heartfelt thanks for all the good wishes I have received and I hope the press will allow my family some room for us to experience the joy we feel to have David home." (October 17,2006)

My daughter has a problem picking things up in her room. So if you leave your clothes on the floor, we put them in a trash bag. She has to earn them back by being tidy. I`m a disciplinarian. Guy`s the spoiler. (February 22, 2007)

I wouldn`t live in Chicago cause it`s too conservative, aside for the fact that Oprah Winfrey lives there. (from her documentary, "In Bed with Madonna_qv" )

I see her as my little sister. She asks me for career advice. For the most part, I try to make her understand this isn`t real life and she can`t take everything people say seriously. I can understand some of the stuff she`s going through. I help her with that. - on her relationship with Britney Spears.

One of the hardest thing I`ve faced in my life was the death of my mother, and that`s something I really haven`t got over to this day.

When I came to New York it was the first time I`d ever taken a plane, the first time I`d ever gotten a taxi-cab, the first time for everything. And I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I`d ever done.

[Feb. 22, 2007] My daughter has a problem picking things up in her room. So if you leave your clothes on the floor, we put them in a trash bag. She has to earn them back by being tidy. I`m a disciplinarian. Guy`s [husband Guy Ritchie] the spoiler.

[Feb. 22, 2007] My kids don`t watch TV. We have televisions but they`re not hooked up to anything but movies. TV is trash. I was raised without it. We don`t have magazines or newspapers in the house, either.

[on the adoption of her son, David] My husband and I began the adoption process many months prior to our trip to Malawi. I did not wish to disclose my intentions to the world prior to the adoption happening as this is a private family matter. After learning that there were over one million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand out family. Nevertheless, we have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child. Reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate. The procedure includes an l8-month evaluation period after which time we hope to make this adoption permanent. This was not a decision or commitment that my family or I take lightly. I am overwhelmed and inspired by my trip to Malawi and hope that it helps bring attention to how much more the world needs to do to help the children of Africa. My heartfelt thanks for all the good wishes I have received and I hope the press will allow my family some room for us to experience the joy we feel to have David home.

[about her daughter Lourdes] Sometimes she doesn`t want me to come to certain things because she knows everyone is going to pay attention to me and then they`ll treat her differently. I took her to school on the first day last year, and all these kids were buzzing around. She came home that day and she was really irritated and kind of bummed out, like people were playing this contest -- what would it be like to be Madonna`s daughter?

[May 2006] It is a struggle to balance my career with my children. I`m always going, "Oh God, I`m a crap mother". I want to get home and put my kids to bed. And then sometimes, if I`m spending a lot of time with my children, I think, "Oh God, I just want to be an artist".

If you take everything I do at face value, you`re going to be horrified. Or intimidated. Or insulted. Or bored.

[on the federal government`s reaction in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina] I was just frigging devastated, it was a real sad day. I don`t get how people can have all these facts and still turn away from them. 9/11 was too ambiguous. You couldn`t prove how the government was somehow in on the deal. You could say, "Oh, that`s just Michael Moore". New Orleans was undeniable irresponsibility.

You can`t go to London and not start drinking Guinness. And I have been known to eat fried fish and French fries. When in Rome - right?

TV is trash. I was raised without it, I didn`t miss anything. TV is poison. No-one even talks about it around here. We don`t have magazines or newspapers in the house either.

I skip the huge breakfast. Once you eat it, I don`t know how you can get up and move around...I go out and shoot some pheasants.

[about her famous appearance in 1994 on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993)] That was a time in my life when I was extremely angry. The press was constantly beating up on me, and I felt like I was a victim. So I lashed out at people and Letterman was one of them. I am not particularly proud of it.

I can be arrogant sometimes, but I never mean it intentionally. I can be really snotty to people but that`s not anything new really. I always acted like a star long before I was one. If people don`t see my sense of humor then I come off as being expensive, but I always endear myself to people when I find their weaknesses and they acknowledge it. It`s the people who try to hide everything and try to make you think they`re so cool that I can`t stand.

I`ve learned from studying Kabbalah that if your happiness is based on people approving of everything you do, you`re doomed to fail... Kabbalah helped me stand up and take responsibility for everything to do with me.

I don`t want people to dress like me anymore. Now, I want them to think like me. Dress like Britney Spears and think like me, and everything will be fine.

[on her relationship with Britney Spears] I see her as my little sister. She asks me for career advice. For the most part, I try to make her understand this isn`t real life and she can`t take everything people say seriously. I can understand some of the stuff she`s going through. I help her with that.

[on Britney Spears] I feel really protective of her. Don`t even ask me why. There`s something about her. Even though she`s terribly successful, for some reason I think of her as an underdog.

When I was growing up I was religious in a passionate adolescent way. Jesus Christ was like a movie star, my favorite idol of all.

I do think that the birth of my daughter was sort of a rebirth for me. It made me look at life in a completely new way. And that made me appreciate life in a way I don`t think I ever had before.

I hate people who hate women. Actually I hate people who hate!

You have to be patient... I`m not!

Even if I feel like shit they still love me!

[on The Spice Girls] I like them. I know I am not supposed to. Every time someone says something bad about them, I say, "Hey, wait a minute, I was a Spice Girl once!"

[December 1985] I befriended one DJ in particular and he worked at a club called Danceteria, which was one of my favorite clubs. And we talked a lot about music. I knew a lot about singers, and I knew a lot about different groups and stuff like that. And he said, "How come you know so much about this?" And I said, "I`m really interested in music". And he said, "Well, in what way?" And I said, "I`m a singer". He said, "No kidding?" And I said, "Yeah, and I just happen to have this tape right here". I mean, I was carrying this tape with me everywhere, at every club, waiting for the moment to pop it on somebody. So I said. "Would you play it?". And he said, "Well, I can`t play it in the middle of the night. I haven`t heard it. What if it`s terrible? What if everyone stops dancing?" And I said< "Alright, well, you listen to it, take it home with you tonight, and listen to it. And I`ll come back here tomorrow, and if you like it then you play it again". So that was a Friday night, so he went home. On Saturday night I met him again, and I came back before the club opened and he said he really loved it. So he played it. He played two songs. One of them was "Everybody".

[December 1985] So then I`m playing drums and we`re getting gigs in certain downtown clubs like CBGB and the Mud Club, and Max`s Kansas City. And I`m starting to write music for the band, too, like some songs, but they already had two singers in the band, so they would never let me get up and sing a song because what`s the point? One day I finally convinced them: "I`ll just play guitar and sing one song. Please, please, please". And they finally said, "OK". So then I got up to sing one song and the other guy went back to play the drums. And like I got a standing ovation.

[May 1984] When I first came to New York I was a dancer, and a French record label offered me a recording contract and I had to go to Paris to do it. So I went there and that`s how I really got into the music business. But I didn`t like what I was doing when I got there, so I left, and I never did a record there.

June 1989] Everybody in our family studied a musical instrument. My father was really big on that. Somehow I only took a year or two of piano lessons and I convinced my father to let me take dancing lessons.

[September 1984] I would like to ultimately achieve. I already told Dick Clark once on "Bandstand" (1952). So I repeat it again and annoy everyone who was annoyed before when I said it. I want to conquer the world.

[August 1984] Videos might have a limited audience in one sense. But on the other hand, you could be reaching a lot of people that would never be able to come see you live. So I think they`re definitely an advantage. Kids today worship the television, so I think it`s a great way to reach them. When you perform on stage you`re acting. That`s a performance. If someone sticks a camera on you, what`s the difference?

[August 1984] A lot of people thought that I was a black artist before they saw my videos, because a lot of my music is more R&B oriented, and I think that I`m a white artist doing R&B music, getting played on pop stations. And I think that the kind of records I make are really changing people`s ideas of splitting up and categorizing artists and I think that`s opening ways for black and white artists as well.

I think that Kabbahlah is very punk rock.

I have two beautiful children and a brilliant, gorgeous husband. I have my work and my faith...If that`s boring to some people, I can`t tell you how much I don`t care.

I know I`m not the greatest singer or dancer, but that doesn`t interest me, I`m interested in being provocative and pushing people`s buttons.

[from the documentary "In Bed with Madonna" (2000)] I wouldn`t live in Chicago cause it`s too conservative, aside for the fact that Oprah Winfrey lives there.

[on winning a French MRJ Career Award, January 2004] My ambition may be American, and I may have married a Brit, but my heart belongs to France.

There is nothing rebellious about today`s sounds, and music needs to be rebellious!

Fame can be very disruptive. It can be like a drug. It gives you the feeling that you`re happy, it gives you the feeling of self-importance, it gives you the feeling of fullfilment... but it can distract you from what is really important.

I`m tough, ambitious and I know exactly what I want... if that makes me a bitch - okay!

Without the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind.

Not only do we suffer from racism and sexism, but we also suffer from ageism. Once you reach a certain age you`re not allowed to be adventurous, you`re not allowed to be sexual, I mean is there a rule? Are you supposed to just die when you`re 40?

I`m a gay man trapped in a woman`s body!

People who have nothing better to do than talk about my hair color have no lives.

I`m like a cockroach - you just can`t get rid of me!

I live for meeting with men in suits. I love them because I know they had a really boring week and I walk in there with my orange velvet leggings and drop popcorn in my cleavage and then fish it out and eat it. I like that. I know I`m entertaining them, and I know that they know.

I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.

Better to live one year as a tiger, then a hundred as sheep.

I feel just as hungry today as I did the day I left home.

I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name. How could I be anything else but what I am having been named Madonna? I would either have ended up a nun or this.

[in Elle magazine, February 2001] Can I just say that I find it really irritating that everyone beats up on Britney Spears? I want to do nothing but support her and praise her and wish her the best. I mean, she`s 18 years old! It`s just shocking. I was so gawky and geeky and awkward and unsure of myself.

[to David Letterman] Listen, all you do is talk about my sex life on your show, so now you don`t want to talk about my sex life when I`m on your show?!

[from her book "Sex"] A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That`s why they don`t get what they want.

I think that everyone should get married at least once, so you can see what a silly, outdated institution it is.

Children always understand. They have open minds. They have built-in shit detectors.

When I`m hungry, I eat. When I`m thirsty, I drink. When I feel like saying something, I say it.

“Everyone probably thinks that I`m a raving nymphomaniac, that I have an insatiable sexual appetite, when the truth is I`d rather read a book.”

“I have the same goal I`ve had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world.”

“When I`m hungry, I eat. When I`m thirsty, I drink. When I feel like saying something, I say it.”