"All I ever intended was to make a living at what I do. Everything I've achieved since then is above and beyond."

"The only reason that you do visual is solely for the visual. That's the only reason. It doesn't sell your music for you."

"That all seems like another lifetime ago, so far away, but it's never that far removed that I couldn't do it again. And there's a comfort there. I think if you are ever in a desperate situation and you get through it, you have a confidence in life that you would otherwise not have. I realize that no matter what I ever lose, I'll be able to manage."
(on the death of her parents and raising her two younger siblings alone)

"If it does stand out, then I guess it's a compliment, but I just wear whatever feels comfortable."
(on her "skin-tight, midriff-bearing" outfits)

"Well, he's about 6 feet tall, blond, blue eyes, he's a very sweet sweet man."
(on her husband, Robert John "Mutt" Lange)

"He's a humble guy and basically he doesn't want to be a star. He just wants to be a person who makes the music.
(on her husband)

"It was just like a dream. I could have ended up with an album that's not all that different from anything else coming out of Nashville. Mutt made the difference. He took these songs, my attitude, my creativity, and colored them in a way that is unique."
(on The Woman In Me)

"I really feel like life will dictate itself. You should allow it to unfold as naturally as possible. Just go with the flow. When you're really desperate, you say a few prayers and hope for the best. That's the way I've always lived my life."

"Writing is very much a playground - an artistic playground. It's the most fun thing I do."

"I don't have to worry about what people are thinking and what's going on in the industry. I don't want that stuff to influence what I'm doing. Because I think it stifles you creatively. I don't want to have to care too much about that. All I care about is what the fans think. It's really all I care about, honestly."

"It makes me very excited to know that I might be in someone's record collection who has no other country records. And then at the same time, I'm in another record collection of people who just listen to country music and they wouldn't dare listen to anything else. They both have my record. I'm very flattered by that. Isn't it great that music can cross those boundaries?"

"I really hope my peers appreciate and respect what I'm doing."

"It's so easy to get flattered by everything that's going on around you. And it's okay to be flattered, but it's not okay to lose a true sense of humility. And it's hard. Sometimes you're trying to build your confidence and confidence comes from ego. In order to be really confident, and do a good job, it's kind of an ego thing. So, how do you do that and stay humble at the same time? ... I think humility is the most important thing for me to remember."

"I'm never at my best on television. There's a row of cameras between you and the audience, and it's very weird, very confusing."

"I'm more private than people realize. I'm not that easy to get to know."

"Yes, you can lose somebody overnight, yes, your whole life can be turned upside down. Life is short. It can come and go like a feather in the wind."

"My goal is to appeal to as many people as I can. I'm not looking to leave country, but I do want to have more international success."

"I don't want my body to be a distraction from my talent or my brain."

"It's important to give it all you have while you have the chance."

"Everyone perceives you and writes about you in a different way, in print, in the media. The only true way to get to know an artist is through their music. If you're listening to an artist who writes their own music, you know you're finding out about
that person through their songs. Without a doubt, the best way to get to know me is through my music."

"Up until I was a recording artist, I sand whatever paid the bills... I really thought that as a poor kid I would never make it."

"Later in my life, I'm going to look back and smile and be very fulfilled. I know that if I don't give it my all right now I'll regret it later. That's very important to me, because I've worked all my life to have this.

"I remember I autographed it to Mutt Lange, and I may only have put one t on Mutt. I mean, I'd never heard of such a name. I'm sure he must've thought that was quite funny. He must've known from that autograph, right off the bat, that I had no idea who he was."
(on autographing a picture to Mutt when he first called wanting to find out more about her)

"So many people bare their midriffs, I don't know why mine is such an issue."

"I'm not going to be somebody who wants to hold on to my fame for the rest of my life."

"Country music is still your grandpa's music, but it's also your daughter's music. It's getting bigger and better all the time and I'm glad to be a part of it."

"[My music] is country with a lot of outside influences. it is a mix of a lot of different styles of music."

"I find that the very things that I get criticized for, which is usually being different and just doing my own thing and just being original, is the very thing that's making me successful."

------------------------------------------------------

Quotes about Shania

"Shania Twain has carved out her own place in country. Until she came along, there was no job description for what she is -- a pop femme fatale in country, for want of a better term. She's playing by her own rules. And she's changing the audience."
Chet Flippo, Nashville correspondent for Billboard

"If she could just sell a few more albums she might just hit it big and I'll let her open for me on my next world tour."
Terri Clark joking about Shania at the 1998 CCMA's

"Shania's a different kind of performer. She's an energy. She's beautiful, she's got a great body, she loves to perform"
Pierre Cossette, Grammy producer

"She had a vision for what she wanted to go do, and anything less than achieving that was half-assed to her."
Toby Keith, toured with Shania in 1993

"Anne Murray cracked the door to success in America. Michelle Wright wedged it a little more. Shania blew it wide open."
Cliff Dumas, CISS FM

"Shania Twain ... has done more for country and western than heartbreak and whiskey combined."
Rex Murphy, New Year's Eve/97 edition of CBC TV's National Magazine

"She brought a whole other fan base to country music with her sound, the way the videos were produced." "I've always defended Shania. She not only opened doors; she knocked several down."
Faith Hill

"This was the greatest natural talent that I have ever been personally involved with." Richard Frank, attorney who has represented Patsy Cline among others.
He was asked to see Shania perform at Deerhurst Resort

"She's been at the top of the charts for two years, and she still hasn't gotten the pats on the back that she deserves." (because she'd never won an ACM award - before 99)
Reba McEntire

"A lot of people are accusing her of being packaged. But I don't think this is a marketing-driven artist. It's been her vision from the beginning -- all the clothes, all the looks, all the concepts."
Luke Lewis, Nashville president of Mercury

"I don't think the (Dixie) Chicks have opened any doors for us. The biggest door opener for us has been Shania Twain and her style of country."
Kelsi (from SHeDaisy)

"She's developing into a big star. People love her. They've taken to her like a duck to water."
Trevor Smith, Australia Country Music Association

"What hasn't she done for country music, and what hasn't she done for females in country music? She deserves everything she gets, absolutely."
Tim McGraw at the 2000 ACMA's, on losing the Entertainer of the Year award to Shania

"We market Shania like a pop star because she is a pop star internationally."
David Lory, vice president of artist development and international marketing for Mercury Records