CRISTINA SARALEGUI

I came to this country when I was 12 years old because my parents wanted to give me new opportunities to succeed. President Obama wants everyone to have the chances I had.

If I have to be compared to somebody, it is to Martha Stewart.

I'm very, very Spanish. I have fat cheeks on both ends. I'm sitting on my Spanish part. And it's my heart, the way I am, the way I speak. It has nothing to do with the way I look.

The world is not ideal, and the only weapon we can give our children is information. Information which is not pretty, but honest.

The common denominator all Latinos have is that we want some respect. That's what we're all fighting for.

People would write me hate letters. How dare I try to represent Hispanics when I was so white? I tried to make them see it was racism.

I love beating the men. When I beat 'em in the ratings, when I beat 'em in the salary, I always say, 'One more for the girls.'

Being a professional woman, I function the best when I don't distinguish between work and play.

The talk show, as a genre, has been in decline for a while. It started with Jerry Springer, when the talk shows suffered a metamorphosis, going from the real and social issues to the hair-raising.

I'm a royal pain in the behind.

America was the place that said, 'It doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter what your last name is, it doesn't matter if you drink cortaditos, or lattes, or coffee with milk. Here, if you work hard, anything is possible.'

We Latin women are liberated from the neck up, not the neck down.

In my house, we speak Spanglish to the dogs, to the grandchildren, to the kids.

How proud I am to be compared to Oprah. I really admire her. She's a minority woman and she's done all this by herself... I'm very happy to be Oprah with salsa and not Donahue in drag.

My hope is to see Tom Cruise jumping on my couch.

I'll never retire from working; I'll keep my life interesting until I drop dead.

To realize the American dream, the most important thing to understand is that it belongs to everybody. It's a human dream. If you understand this and work very hard, it is possible.

Like most Latinas, I'm not afraid to speak my mind.

You need to put easy, nice, tranquil thoughts in your head before you go to bed. You know what I do? I read metaphysical books. The good stuff stays in your brain once you go under.

President Obama is a principled man who has worked hard to put healthcare and a good education in the reach of millions of Americans and believes that everyone who works hard and plays by the rules, should have a fair shot at the American dream.

I'm one of the highest-paid television people in the world. I feel like I've made a difference in my viewers' lives, that I've been influential.

People look at you and see that you've made it, but sometimes they forget that it took you years of being a human being.

The difference between Oprah Winfrey and me is about $200 million.

For me, the American promise isn't just an idea or a theory - it's my life story.

I want to make sure I'm not a dilettante. Decorating has been a passion all my life. I love it.