Shakira Quotations

I know what I'm doing even when I'm wearing a pencil skirt.

I know what it's like to feel that fear and the need of affirmation and appreciation. To build confidence in yourself is the toughest thing.

I was five years old; I got addicted to being on stage. I felt like it was the most wonderful place on Earth, performing in front of an audience, who in this case were a bunch of classmates, kids my age.

I like fragrances that have some sweetness to them. All three I have developed have that as a common element.

My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with difficulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you and when they respect you they don't love you.

In the full light of day, I don't want to think about the sunset.

A good fragrance should have a certain personality that makes people identify the scent with you.

I pefer an ugly truth to a pretty lie. If someone is telling me the truth that is when I will give my heart.

The truth is that I'm more afraid of marriage than of death.

In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it.

I think a fragrance is all about sensations and imagery, and can evoke visions, feelings and thoughts.

I am a person who has many dreams. But as soon as I accomplish one, I move on to the next. That's my fatal, absurd nature.

I consider myself a laborer, building my career brick over brick under the sun.

I wanna stay an eternal girlfriend. I want to have my boyfriend's children, but I don't think we need a piece of paper to regulate the game, and we don't have to go through the whole stress of a wedding and suffering to throw a good party.

Sensual is everything that refers to the delight of the senses. And that's what artists do, is stimulate the senses in any possible way.

I admire Madonna because she always did whatever she felt like doing. She went through some controversial periods when people rejected her, but she kept on reinventing herself.

I remember the first time I saw the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video. I will never forget that day. I just wanted to see Kurt Cobain's face. I had a feeling he was very cute. But, I couldn't see his face. When I finally did see him, he was even cuter than I imagined!

You can't achieve anything in life without a small amount of sacrifice.

I thank God that I'm a product of my parents, that they infected me with their intelligence and energy for life, with their thirst for knowledge and their love. I'm grateful that I know where I come from.

It's incredibly liberating to spend an hour talking to someone and not caring about what you sound like. It's about understanding myself. Sometimes I'll speak to my therapist for an hour a day. It's become part of my routine.

It doesn't bother me to talk about my private life, it doesn't bother me to talk about anything. My life is like a glass of water, transparent.

I think my dad is the only Arabic descendent who is an unsuccessful businessman.

The worst frustration for a singer is choosing a career in making music and then not being able to make music because you're always giving interviews.

'Elixir' means magical potion, so I wanted to depict the kind of bottle that was used in ancient times, but that looked modern and chic as well. I also wanted it to have a golden tint to evoke the memories of sands and sunsets.

I always believed that women have rights and that there are some women that are intelligent enough to claim those rights. There are some others that are stupid enough not to.

We need to provide higher quality and innovative early childhood development programs all throughout Latin America.

I'm like a mosquito, I love humidity. I don't sweat.

I did not want to spend the rest of my life not being able to ride in a nice car.

In Colombia, education is sometimes considered a luxury, not a human right. And it's not a priority in the agendas of many leaders.

I am trying to make my accent so it won't bother anyone, but I am not going to drive myself crazy trying to pretend I am an American girl when I am from Colombia.

My dad is a writer, and to see him always in front of a typewriter gave me the inspiration to write. He was my idol, my hero. I wanted to be just like him.

I think, if you can prove the existence of God, it can only be proven through love.

The Summit of the Americas is an excellent platform to raise awareness and secure commitments from heads of state and different sector leaders regarding Early Childhood Development.

My brain, I believe, is the most beautiful part of my body.

I'm lucky to have family around me. Otherwise, I'll be taking the risk of falling in love with myself. But there are always people close to me who I trust, who will scold me and pull my ears if I need it. Fame isolates people from reality. That happens to many artists, and I don't want it to happen to me.

Writing songs has a therapeutic effect, and it either kills off love or wins the heart of the lover.

Everyone can know what is in my heart because I find it hard to conceal myself.

You're a song written by the hands of God.

I don't go out without make up. I'm a woman, you know.

I admire a person who, for the love of art, is able to take off their clothes in front of a camera. But I'm not capable, I'm too cowardly for that.

I want some day to be able to love with the same intensity and unselfishness that parents love their children with.

I always knew that I was tremendously creative. I recited love poems, I wrote stories and I got excellent grades in every subject, except for maths.

My videos represent the artist in me very well, but not the kind of woman I am.

People think I like to expose my body. But I don't. It's just because the dance moves require it.

Always I was dreaming of a record contract. From 10 to 13, it was all I could think of. I worked hard for this dream. Nobody could say I didn't try.

Education is the only way forward in Latin America and developing countries in general.

The worst mistake of a woman is to go to the kitchen, because then she never gets out of there.

I started the Pies Descalzos foundation in Colombia when I was 18, and since then I have been very involved in the crusade for education.

In 2006 I was asked to sing at the World Cup in Germany, and in 2010 I was fortunate enough to be asked again.

It's not easy to work with me, I recognize that. It's not easy if those people aren't as perfectionistic as I am.

My therapist taught me why I behave in certain ways and not to feel so pressured.

I love reading about history. Sometimes, I feel I was born in the wrong era. There was more creativity in the air when people were still discovering new worlds.

I never thought it was fair for an 8-year-old child not to be able to afford shoes, or to wander the streets having to beg for money. To know that child's joy would end soon, when they realised there was no future.

All through my twenties, I spent more time worrying what I didn't have than thinking about what I did have. I wished that I was taller, had longer legs, slimmer hips, a smaller bottom, even straighter hair.

I know that youngsters want to find something in common with each other and feel closer to each other ideologically through bridges such as the Internet.

I was unaware of the dispute in Brooklyn. I would never knowingly wear any clothes or support any company who produced clothing with alleged wage and labor violations.

My songs are the reflection of how I think and how I feel in that moment. But I'm conscious of the fact that artists have a responsibility before the masses and they have to take care with their words.

Providing all Latin-American children with the education and early childhood development that they need is in the best interest of all, so it has to be a priority for all of us, not only the government and civil society, but also the business sector.

Success happened little by little for me. I tasted the flavor of fame in small doses: I started at 10 years old when I won a music contest; I was performing at birthday parties, company meetings.

What happens is once you start to understand football, you realise that it's not just about the physical side of the game and chasing after a ball. It's a strategic sport which requires a lot of intelligence. It's a very mental game.

Writing in English was a major challenge. I didn't want other songwriters to write for me. I wanted to preserve the spirit of my songs in Spanish. I am the same Shakira in English as I am in Spanish.

Because of you, I'm running out of reasons to cry.

I just want to grow old with a man who takes care of me, and I want to eventually have kids and want them to be good children to me. Just want to be treated nice and have respect.

Fame isolates people from reality. That happens to many artists, and I don't want it to happen to me.

I just think that it's very helpful to have a map of your psyche, because when you have a map, you know where to go.

I like to see people's eyes when I'm singing to them.

I feel a real sense of duty to use the voice and the platform I've been afforded by my fame to speak out for those whose voices don't get a chance to be heard.

Videos come definitely after the music has been created, but I have always felt, and especially today, that videos are vital in the album process. I think that we live in a very visual era, and if you make a mistake with a video, those images will accompany the song forever.

Songwriting is such an intricate part of me as an artist and as a person; I couldn't just let someone else do it.

Guys don't like women telling them what to do. It reminds them of their mothers, or something like that.

I'm convinced that promoting sport is an intelligent way of educating our children.

I feel comfortable in my pop shoes. They let me walk in any direction. I like to go from one extreme to the other. One day I feel that I want to do a song with reggaeton influence, I do it. The next day I feel I need to do a song with rock elements to it, I do it.

In their 20s, women try to be somebody they're not and try to turn themselves into something different. Now I'm in my 30s; I'm very happy with who I am.

At the age of eight, I discovered that I could write songs. My dad used to take them to the notary and register them so that nobody could steal them from me.

I always had the intuition, even as a little child, that I was called for a big project.

The thing is, my dad's always been more of a bookworm; he was interested in more intellectual pursuits, but nobody can escape the passion that football stirs.

You want to be skinny and have a good body? You have to work out every day and say no to certain foods.

On New York: This city sounds like jazz.

I was unaware of the dispute in Brooklyn, ... I would never knowingly wear any clothes or support any company who produced clothing with alleged wage and labor violations.

The music industry is dominated by guys. I work with men 98 percent of the time - producers, arrangers, musicians, engineers.

It's a very interesting process to write in English because all my literary resources come from Spanish, ... I must confess that I felt really handicapped, creatively, when I accepted the proposal to sing in English. ... I thought that I would encounter more difficulties, but everything has come together.

But you own the place, Where all my thoughts go hiding, And right under your clothes, Is where I find them.

I think that we see war as a virtual thing and we even get to believe that bombs fall on top of cardboard cutouts and stuff like that. They don't. They kill real people, real children, real mothers and millions of innocent people.

I live for freedom, and freedom is a lie.

My man prefers meat over the bone.

I'm quite proud of my rear... I don't obsess over my flaws, because I see my body as a whole. Besides, I think men appreciate confidence more than perfection.

Sexy is good as long as it's not the main recipe. It's an ingredient. I would not appear in a leotard in a video if I [did] not have other dimensions.

If you can prove the existence of God, it can only be proven through love.

Half of the world lives on [about] $2 a day. If there is a hungry kid in the world, we shouldn't consider ourselves more evolved than homo habilis.

I'm not a trained dancer, but I grew up in a culture that revolves around dance.

Our leaders are lacking love, and love is lacking leaders.

I'm a perfectionist in recovery. I'm trying to deal with that monster inside of me that wants to do everything right. Or better than right.

Freddy Demann (Shakira's Manager) is a man that knows the world of music. And I know that I am in good hands.

Walking gets too boring, when you learn how to fly.

If I could, I'd live in the nude, like Eve in paradise.

There is no other investment that has the kind of social multiplier effect that early education has. It is an incredible thing to nurture and watch grow and spread.

Sometimes, I ask myself how any other singer could substitute the inspiration of god in their songs

My hips don't lie and I don't lie either!

I'm Colombian and nothing will change that.

For several years I worried a lot about protecting an image, but today I have understood that the image cannot be preconceived.