Joni Mitchell

You wake up one day and suddenly realize that your youth is behind you, even though you're still young at heart.

I believe that I am male and I am female.

I learned a woman is never an old woman.

This is a nation that has lost the ability to be self-critical, and that makes a lie out of the freedoms.

In New York, the street adventures are incredible. There are a thousand stories in a single block. You see the stories in the people's faces. You hear the songs immediately. Here in Los Angeles, there are less characters because they're all inside automobiles.

It's in my stars to invent; I was born on Madame Curie's birthday. I have this need for originals, for innovation. That's why I like Charlie Parker.

For the first time in my career, I'm working in a fine-arts arena, so I'm finally getting some intelligent reviews.

I'm irresponsible to my career in order to paint. Because painting is obsessive. I forget to eat. I forget to sleep.

My goal as a writer is more to comfort than to disturb.

I'm a little young for retirement.

I know my generation - a lot of them, they're getting old now, and they want to think back fondly, they want to kid themselves. A lot of them think, 'Yeah, we were the best.' That's the kiss of death. That's non-growth. And also that's very bad for the world.

The songwriting was almost like something I did while I was waiting for my daughter to come back.