"Everyone can know what
is in my heart because I find it hard to conceal myself."
"For several years I worried a lot about protecting an image, but today
I have understood that the image cannot be preconceived."
"I admire a person who, for the love of art, is able to take off their
clothes in front of a camera. But I'm not capable, I'm too cowardly for
that."
"I admire Madonna because she always did whatever she felt like doing.
She went through some controversial periods when people rejected her,
but she kept on reinventing herself."
"I always believed that women have rights and that there are some women
that are intelligent enough to claim those rights. There are some others
that are stupid enough not to."
"I am trying to make my accent so it won't bother anyone, but I am not
going to drive myself crazy trying to pretend I am an American girl when
I am from Colombia."
"I don't go out without make up. I'm a woman, you know."
"I pefer an ugly truth to a pretty lie. If someone is telling me the
truth that is when I will give my heart."
"I want some day to be able to love with the same intensity and
unselfishness that parents love their children with."
"I'm Colombian and nothing will change that."
"In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it."
"It doesn't bother me to talk about my private life, it doesn't bother
me to talk about anything. My life is like a glass of water,
transparent."
"It's not easy to work with me, I recognize that. It's not easy if those
people aren't as perfectionistic as I am."
"My songs are the reflection of how I think and how I feel in that
moment. But I'm conscious of the fact that artists have a responsibility
before the masses and they have to take care with their words."
"Writing in English was a major challenge. I didn't want other
songwriters to write for me. I wanted to preserve the spirit of my songs
in Spanish. I am the same Shakira in English as I am in Spanish."
"Writing songs has a therapeutic effect, and it either kills off love or
wins the heart of the lover."
