BEYONCE KNOWLES

I know I'm stronger in the songs than I really am. Sometimes I need to hear it myself. We all need to hear those empowering songs to remind us.

I'm a people pleaser. I hold a lot of things in. I'm always making sure everybody is okay. I usually don't rage; I usually don't curse.

We all have our imperfections. But I'm human, and you know, it's important to concentrate on other qualities besides outer beauty.

I don't really like to call myself a brand, and I don't like to think of myself as a brand. I'm a singer, a songwriter, a musician and a performer. And an actress, and all the other things that I do. When you add it all together, some might call it a brand, but that's not my focus.

I mean, I feel like you get more bees with honey. But that doesn't mean I don't get frustrated in my life.

My focus is my art, and that's what I love to do. I have to be really passionate in order to do something. I've turned down many things that I just didn't believe in.

Who I am on stage is very, very different to who I am in real life.

My fans kept asking where they could get clothes like 'Destiny's Child's', so it was only natural for us to do a clothing line. I was adamant about not putting my name on something that I didn't love.

When you really don't like a guy, they're all over you, and as soon as you act like you like them, they're no longer interested.

I wanted to be famous for my music and my talent, and I always wished I could cut it out when I left the stage.

I truly believe that women should be financially independent from their men. And let's face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what's sexy. And men define what's feminine. It's ridiculous.

There are a lot of things I never did, because I believe in watching those true Hollywood stories and I see how easy it is to lose track of your life.

I'm over being a pop star. I don't wanna be a hot girl. I wanna be iconic. And I feel like I've accomplished a lot. I feel like I'm highly respected, which is more important than any award or any amount of records. And I feel like there comes a point when being a pop star is not enough.

Tina Turner is someone that I admire, because she made her strength feminine and sexy.

We're African-American and we work together as a family, so people assume we're like the Jacksons. But I didn't have parents using me to get out of a bad situation.

Diana Ross is a big inspiration to all of us. We all grew up watching everything about her - her mike placement, her grace, her style and her class.

For me, it's about the way I carry myself and the way I treat other people. My relationship and how I feel about God and what He does for me, is something deeply personal. It's where I came from, my family, I was brought up in a religious household and that's very important to me.

Any other woman who has to go to work and pick up the kids and make dinner - that's way harder than what I have to do.

I always try to be myself. Ever since I was an introverted kid, I'd get on stage and be able to break out of my shell.

I'm a human being and I fall in love and sometimes I don't have control of every situation.

I am really proud that I am one of the artists that has the opportunity to be on magazine covers and to be in the movies.

I just hope people don't get sick of us. I'm sick of us and I'm in Destiny's Child.

I think music is something that can, and should, be used to get you into different things because eventually what goes up must come down - we're not going to be the number one group in the world forever - so you have to have something else to fall back on.

I always have breakfast, say, scrambled egg whites, a vegetable smoothie, or whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk. For lunch and dinner, I eat a lot of fish and vegetables. And throughout the day, I try to stay hydrated.

I discovered after going to music festivals that I am a rock fan. I love the guitars, the phrasing, and the abandon of rock fans.