“A lot of people who start work at a very young age never grow up because they never got that opportunity to be a child, so they hold on to that and still do a lot of childish, silly things.”

“Acting was always my first passion.”

“All those songs reflect all the people that live within me.”

“Another side to me is this very sexual being. When I look back on my life, it's always been there. It's been there since I was 10 years old, having the imagination that I had.”

“As a child, I had to get up early for school or work. I'd get ready by myself. I'd set my alarm to wake me up very early in the morning, and be off to work, the family driver driving me every morning. I did it alone, my parents never coming in to wake me up.”

“Being on 'Good Times' was the first time I was around a group of people that wasn't my family.”

“Big sisters and brothers... I am telling you, it never changes.”

“By age seven, I used to comb my hair for performances, just pull my hair up into a bun. Granted, it wasn't a very intricate hairstyle. Still, to be that responsible and disciplined at age seven is unusual.”

“Competition is great. And as long as it's friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it's cool.”

“Dreams can become a reality when we possess a vision that is characterized by the willingness to work hard, a desire for excellence, and a belief in our right and our responsiblity to be equal members of society.”

“Ever since I was little, I loved to eat. I started eating when I wasn't hungry. My weight has always been up and down.”

“Every body type is different - that's what makes you unique. What makes you special is you, and you are different from the next person.”

“Food has always brought me comfort and the bingeing is triggered when I'm in a space that is not positive.”

“I always get bored with my hair. That's why I would always change it throughout my career.”

“I always write my music based on what is going on in my life at the time.”

“I am not a religious person, but I am spiritual. But I don't believe in things like guilt.”

“I am the baby in the family, and I always will be. I am actually very happy to have that position. But I still get teased. I don't mind that.”

“I believe in a higher power. I believe in inspiration.”

“I do think kids should be kids. You have the rest of your life to be an adult.”

“I feel everyone is put here for a reason. Everyone has a calling. I always thought my real calling was to help other people.”

“I had a pretty sexual imagination for a kid.”

“I have a pretty bad temper. But you have to really push me to see it. But everybody has their things.”

“I have a very strong family.”

“I have no clue why, but maybe sometimes when there's someone you don't hear from, it's the person you want to hear from the most.”

“I kinda see everyone as competition. I'm a very competitive person. But I think that's good. Competition is great. And as long as it's friendly and not a malicious thing, then I think it's cool.”

“I like myself a lot more than I used to. I had a very difficult time in my twenties especially. It was hard for me to look in the mirror and find something that I liked about myself.”

“I like to collaborate on my music. The creative process is fun, and you get a lot of ideas from having discussions about it. Ultimately, the final decision is mine.”

“I think it's been a little difficult at times for the audience, because they've told me they see me as a family member. So to see your little sister sing about sex... I think they are pretty used to it now.”

“I think it's great if a guy has a good sized package.”

“I truly felt that was going to be my last tour. So here we are again and I'm saying this will probably be my last tour. That's truly the way I'm looking at it.”

“I wanted to be on my own and get out of the house. We were the kind of kids that - we - obeyed our parents. If they said no, you don't ask why.”

“I wanted to talk about my life. There is so much. I was 18 when I made the record, and I had a lot to say.”

“I was two when we left Indiana, and I don't really remember it that well.”

“I was very independent growing up, but there were things that were bothering me that I never told anybody. I would talk to our animals at home.”

“I would hope my legacy would be bringing smiles to faces. Happiness with my music.”

“If I wasn't singing, I'd probably be, probably an accountant.”

“I'm a true believer in prayer, a big believer in prayer.”

“I'm a very competitive person. But I think that's good.”

“I'm fine the way I am. There's nothing wrong with me.”

“I'm flattered that other artists consider me a role model.”

“I'm just trying to get used to living on a fixed income. Now, it's going to get unfixed.”

“I'm no expert. I have no psychic powers, and I sure don't possess any secret wisdom. I'm just Janet. I have strengths, weaknesses, fears, happiness, sadness. I experience joy and I experience pain. I'm highly emotional. I'm very vulnerable.”

“In 1977, at age ten, I was cast on the TV sitcom 'Good Times.' My character was Penny, an abused child in desperate need of love. I really didn't want to do the show. I didn't want to be away from my family.”

“In complete darkness, it is only knowledge and wisdom that separates us.”

“In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you.”

“It has taken me most of my adult life to come to terms with who I am. To do that, I had to break free of attitudes that brought me down.”

“It is my belief that we all have the need to feel special. It is this need that can bring out the best in us, yet the worst in us.”

“It was the Control album that was really about what I wanted to do.”

“It's really about being pleased with yourself.”

“I've always been a tomboy. I've always liked to wear red, black, and white, and mostly pants.”

“I've never been into what am I going to do next, trying to reinvent myself.”

“I've never been one for keeping a journal, so my songs were my journals. They allowed me to express my feelings and let people know what was going on with me. I knew that somebody would relate.”

“I've talked about sex a great deal in my music for a great while now. I feel very comfortable with it.”

“My first crush was Barry Manilow. He performed on TV and I taped it. When no one was around I'd kiss the screen.”

“My parents are very competitive, so we are very competitive as kids. But it's a good kind of competition; it's not a jealousy. You always want to do your best, and if it can't be you, you want it to be your brother or your sister, you know what I mean?”

“No word is absolutely wrong or dirty or insulting. It all depends upon context and intention.”

“People can have rhinoceros skin, but there's a point when something's going to hurt you.”

“People do see me as sweet and innocent. Not to say that I am not those things. But I have other sides to me.”

“People tend to put entertainers on pedestals. We're human beings, just like you. You may see us smiling, and whether we have money or not, we still have bills to pay, we still have our stresses. I think a lot of people want to focus on others' shortcomings to make themselves feel better. And it's a very sad thing.”

“Some of my battles with weight have been very public. But most of them have been internal. Even at my thinnest, when my body was being praised, I wasn't happy with what I saw in the mirror or how I felt about myself.”

“That's a part of me going back to what I used to do.”

“That's always - that's been another dream of mine, to do a Broadway play. An award winning Broadway play.”

“There are artists, true performers that have come before me who have been a big inspiration to me. I hope I do the same for others.”

“There are people that regardless of what it is, if it's something that's stressful, whatever it may be, they don't eat, they lose a lot of weight, a divorce, they get real thin. I'm the opposite.”

“There is a moment when you get older when your metabolism slows down and you don't feel like working out any more, so you don't want to keep yourself fit any more, but that's your decision. Why should you be judged for it?”

“There's other things I'd like to do. I probably won't tour for a very, very long time. It's something that you feel inside and that's the way I've been looking at everything.”

“To have someone to relate to and hopefully enjoy the music and get a positive message out of it, to make the best music that we possibly could, those were the goals.”

“Touring is very grueling. It's very taxing on the body and living out of your suitcase, going from city to city, night after night. It's a tough job.”

“We all have the need to feel special.”

“We're all driven to premieres or nightclubs and seen the rope separating those who can enter and those who can't. Well, there's also a velvet rope we have inside of us, keeping others from knowing our feelings.”

“When I gained weight in 2005, my nutritionist was very worried. I was close to having diabetes.”

“When I was younger, I thought you had to be in control of your own life. That takes a lot of discipline, hard work and focus. You just can't let it all fall by the wayside. Later on, I learned that God is really in control of everything. But you still have to put your best foot forward and be the best you can possibly be.”

“When I'm feeling down on myself or not feeling good about who I am, or maybe something happened and I'm feeling depressed, I eat to fill that void. Afterwards I'll beat myself up about it. I regret doing it, but I'll turn around and do it again.”

“You can tell someone who doesn't have love in their life, then someone who is in love.”

“You can't hold the record forever, and I know that. I'm not stupid.”

“You don't have to hold onto the pain to hold onto the memory.”

“You get used to working with one choreographer. You kind of get stuck in that vein and you work your way out of it, picking up someone else's style, their flavor. It takes a bit of time.”

“You get yourself up for it somehow, and your endurance and the crowd gets you up, too.”