All quotes were collected by me. Don't copy.

On her first meeting with Clive Davis: "I remember just walking into this big office with thousands and thousands of pictures on the wall. I've never seen so many pictures in all my life, of so many people that I've admired."

On her phone conversation with Prince: "It was such a wonderful conversation. It was incredible."

On the meaning of "Fallin'": "It's basically just a song about the ups and downs and back and forths, and how you fall in and out of love with the same one person, you know?"

On first impressions: "When I was going to radio stations, they were like, 'I didn't expect you to look like that.' I was like, 'What exactly did you expect me to look like?' I get that a lot, actually."

On her decision to pursue music: "There was no other path for me. I knew this was my path. I had to follow it."

On her image: "I just have to continue doing what I've always done, and that is be who I am, and that is who people will like. It's nothing coming from this hype machine. It's just Alicia. I like to be onstage, I like to write music, I like to make music. And that's really what the point is."

On her first record deal: "In my first deal I felt they wanted me to be a clone of Mariah or Whitney, and I couldn't do that. I'm not the sequined-dress type or the high-heeled type, or the all-cleavage type. I'm not coming like that for no one."

On her future: "When people say, 'I'm so sorry I missed your show,' I tell them 'don't worry, I plan to be doing it for the next 50, 60 years.'"

On her musical style: "I like to incorporate classical songs that people know and throw a beat and some guitars on it to make it real crazy. It's a familiar tune, but you've never quite heard it that way before, so it's really cool."

On her first song: "I started merging my classical training with my own piano knowledge at about eleven. I started writing little songs from there. One of the first ones was called 'It's On Tonight.' What is on tonight is what I want to know. What the hell is on tonight at eleven years old? But we just knew it was on, boy."

On the road to fame: "This is something I have been working at for a long time and through a lot of different situations. Now that it's finally tangible, it's something I really and truly appreciate."

On getting "star treatment": "I wonder, do [fans] do that for everybody? That's what I wondered at first. But, I think it's definitely wonderful for them to be so gracious. That is very nice."

On patriotism: "All day I been seein' everyone rockin' flags in they hats and on the street, and I'm torn. I look at that flag, and I'm not able to completely go there for some reason. I see lies in that flag. I can't suddenly be all patriotic. But this is about human life beyond any country or flag. That's why it makes me feel so strange. Because I'm so torn, and there's so many layers involved."

On traveling by plane after September 11: "I personally don't have any major fear. The first time I flew [after the attacks], it was eerie. The planes were virtually empty. Nobody was on the planes. Nobody was driving to the airports. I don't want to fly every day, but I'm taking it easy, step by step."

On hip hop videos: "Oh My God, the videos! The imagery is so awful! I just can't get with it at all. The best thing I can say about it is that sometimes you have to see that kind of stuff so as to have a more balanced view about why it's so bad." (her opinion on the use of women, sex, and sleaze in today's rap/hip-hop videos)