It's rare for anyone to value the opinions of a teenage girl.

I'm trying to show everybody that I'm a girl, and I'm five foot four, and you can do anything you want, no matter your gender. It's your world, too!

I'm super self-critical, which I think is good, because then I get exactly what I want. I'm critical of other people, too - I try not to be, though.

I never thought a career as a musician was possible.

I want people to fall in love with themselves and to be really proud and full of joy for the space they take up. If someone else appreciates the space you take up, then that's icing on the cake.

For me, half the joy of achieving has been the struggle and the fight, the pitting myself against the world and all its competition - and winning.

All of these mechanisms we have for celebrating are so double-edged. So much sorrow comes out of joy.

In my worst moments, I think the biggest effect of 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves' was to kill the happiness of people who had previously skipped through life, unaware of all the atrocities lurking in the world around them.