Natalie Merchant

“I'm a Luddite. I don't do e-mail.”

“The writing is what gives me the joy, especially just being alone in a room. It's not a performance for anyone. It's not a validation. It's the private pleasure of being a creator.”

“It's a wonderful thing to be able to make a living at what you love.”

“The albums are my children.”

“I'm not interested in being a celebrity. I'm interested in being a musician.”

“I think the Internet has been a great leveler. It's made it much more difficult for the big media companies to control the conversation.”

“We all have a dual nature. We have a spirit, and we have a body.”

“I have a new found respect for women who have been through breast cancer and this surgery.”

“I'm a very private person. I don't go to premieres. I don't go to parties. I don't covet the Oscar. I don't want any of that.”

“Kindness, empathy, and grace are just a few of the things that I'd like to see more of in the world.”

“I think there are a lot of artists who are very private people.”

“I have a new theory about Taylor Swift's talent. I think she's been put in a petri dish in a lab somewhere.”

“I wanted to be a child psychologist.”

“I think my work is about the search for a place for the spirit.”

“The children are the most important thing. There's a whole generation of children who are being raised without their parents, and it is devastating.”

“My audience is very diverse. It's a tribute to the music, I think.”

“The songs are the skeleton of the book.”

“I have always felt a little strange about my life.”