Alicia Keys

The way I define beauty is individuality and wisdom, which I think creates a certain inner confidence. And not confidence in a way that’s only on the surface, but a deep-down knowing of yourself or settling into who you are.

Musicians have a really big part to play in spreading messages because they’re able to reach a large portion of people on an emotional level. Artists reach people at their heart; it’s the only time we meet in one place and put our differences aside. When you’re in a forum listening to music, all you feel in that moment is love and the understanding.

Only a woman can breathe under the water of life defying gravity and staying zen while doing it.

Until we’re in those rooms as equally as men are, it can’t shift.

We are a gorgeous, infinite circle of women all shades, all styles, in all the ways we were made. Inside of us everything blooms.

Everything I do stems from something personal, not just because it will look good on paper or be a tax write-off.

I didn’t want to disrespect my parents, so I never played blues around the house. But I knew then, same as I know today, that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I think that before they died, they both felt very proud of me.

[Babies are] a loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.

The debt of gratitude we owe our mother and father goes forward, not backward. What we owe our parents is the bill presented to us by our children.

I just want to make sure when I have kids, I can spend time with them. That’s the whole point.

When I get up and work out, I’m working out just as much for my girls as I am for me, because I want them to see a mother who loves them dearly, who invests in them, but who also invests in herself. It’s just as much about letting them know as young women that it is okay to put yourself a little higher on your priority list.

There was a lot of charm in just living in a big family compound of a house. My two uncles, who were into jazz, lived in the basement, and one of them, Uncle Peter, taught me my first songs on the ukulele.

They say that no matter how old you become, when you are with your siblings, you revert back to childhood.

You have to get that mom face right, like, ‘Oh, did that happen? Tell me more.’ Trying not to react so you get the good information. I tried to tell Sasha and Malia, ‘Do not go to other 14-year-olds for information, ’cause all you all are dumb. Talk to me.’ It’s like, ‘All of you are dumb. You know nothing. Love you!’ So, let’s just talk about it. Don’t ask Olivia what she thinks about sex. She doesn’t know!

The joy is still there when I see Sean. He didn’t come out of my belly, but my God, I’ve made his bones, because I’ve attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I’m so proud of all his things. But he is my biggest pride.

Maybe that’s all that family really is, a group of people who all miss the same imaginary place.

[On his mother] She certainly ran her own race… I thought my mother was nuts.

How do people make it through life without a sister?

I guess my parents were strict. There were a few times when being with my friends and had bring my sister. It was just my parents best interests.

My most important title is “mom-in-chief”. My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the centre of my world.