Jewel

Jewel: There are two reasons you can have this job. One is because you wanna be famous and the other is because you like the craft. Just know which one motivates you because you have to make fifty decisions every day that supports one or the other, whether you know it or not.

Jewel: (about being a judge in a talent show) I love to see people try and taking risks. I'm not that interested in somebody being dramatically perfect. I don't think I'd be the kind of judge they were looking for on these shows. To me some of the imperfections are virtues. I'm not interested in someone who looks and sounds so perfect.

Jewel: Children are told so many fairy tales, and then life really works out differently and I think it causes a lot of us to become cynical or bitter because life never quite adds up to this continuously satisfied, happy world. We're constantly trying to escape our circumstance to get to this utopia that I don't think really exists.

Jewel: I've never been one for really fancy things. The things that thrill me are that I can afford medication, go to the movies whenever I want, get on a plane whenever I want.

Jewel: (about the message of her album Goodbye Alice in Wonderland) It's art -- it sure isn't religion, and in no shape or form meant to be didactic on any level. My only rule with myself is to tell the truth about my life and where I am.

Jewel: Cynicism can cripple you. It makes it unable to feel like you can ever have an impact on anything. So there's this middle ground of how you stay informed, stay aware of everything that's happening in the world and retain any sense of usefulness.

Jewel: Once you are successful, there's a very seductive rhythm at work that keeps you wanting to outdo yourself.

Jewel: There are many paths you can take throughout the course of a career. It's really important to know where you'd like to end up, so that as you make decisions, you navigate a path that will lead you to your ultimate destination.

Jewel: (about her teenage style) We were just really poor, so I dressed like a punk rocker. My family shopped at the Salvation Army before that was the cool thing to do. Most of my friends wore pastel-colored jeans. I had pants with some boy's name written in marker down the side. But having no money taught me to be creative and to take pride in what I could do to be funkier.

Jewel: (about her childhood winters and Christmases) Winter was full of sleigh rides and toboggans and lots of snow. It's pretty idyllic if you like the cold, which I didn't.

Jewel: (about growing up in Alaska) I loved being raised there. There was a lot of silence and open space. In some ways we're sculptured by our environments. Our flesh is sculptured by what is around us, as well as our psyches; by silence. In silence you hear who you are going to become. You create yourself in silence.

Jewel: People think I'm some kind of hippie. I don't even recycle.

Jewel: I began writing songs when I was 16 and I heard all kinds of stuff in my head.