Shakira Quotes
Singer
I do take advantage of, you know, feeling sensual and feeling sexy. And I think that is tremendously empowering and is not diminishing in any way. I fell that any woman who is in control, who is in touch with her femininity and sensuality, is a woman that is empowered.
In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it.
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.
You can't achieve anything in life without a small amount of sacrifice.
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.
My brain, I believe, is the most beautiful part of my body.
I pefer an ugly truth to a pretty lie. If someone is telling me the truth that is when I will give my heart.
I'm a multi-faceted woman and person, like all women are - there's no black and white. We have shades of grey in the middle. And even many more colours that other people don't see!
I think a fragrance is all about sensations and imagery, and can evoke visions, feelings and thoughts.
I believe that every single one of us, celebrity or not, has a responsibility to get involved in trying to make a difference in the world. Our generation faces many challenges, some of which were passed on to us by the past generations, but it's up to us to find solutions today so that we don't keep passing our problems on.
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.
I know what I'm doing even when I'm wearing a pencil skirt.
I want some day to be able to love with the same intensity and unselfishness that parents love their children with.
I'm Colombian and nothing will change that.
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.
You're a song written by the hands of God.
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.
I never made it to the school choir because the music teacher didn't like my voice. I was pretty sad. But he was probably right; I did have a voice a bit like a goat, but my dad told me to never give up and to keep going, and it's paid off.
You feel that there is an avalanche coming when you meet the right person.
Everyone can know what is in my heart because I find it hard to conceal myself.
I don't go out without make up. I'm a woman, you know.
I have gone through a lot of things, everything that you can imagine in life, but the best has been Gerard and Milan.
Writing songs has a therapeutic effect, and it either kills off love or wins the heart of the lover.
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.
Every day now, I discover something new. Go through phases in which I feel much more in touch with my feminine side in ways I never thought possible. I'm letting the woman inside of me speak, the desires of this woman, speak as loud as they can.
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.
President Obama is highly concerned with education. He's a champion on early-childhood development strategies. So I like the work he's doing, and I support it, and I realise that he's one of very few political leaders around the world that actually has early-childhood development strategise at the top of his agenda.
I'm like a mosquito, I love humidity. I don't sweat.
A kid cannot learn with an empty stomach.
I would sing anywhere they would invite me. That's how I made my first pesos. I used to sing at beauty pageants, local events of every sort.
I now talk to different cultures, and I hope that I can bridge those gaps and differences between us. It's an adventure, a dream... I feel like I'm on an anthropological mission.
Colombia is not how people think it is. We used to eat fish every Sunday at the beach. In the town where I grew up, people did not tell lies.
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 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.
I consider myself a laborer, building my career brick over brick under the sun.
I have so many people out there that celebrate with me when they know that I'm happy. And they hate it when they know that I'm suffering because someone has hurt me.
Because of you, I'm running out of reasons to cry.
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.
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.
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 have no idea where I want to go musically, but I'm fine that way. I don't need to be faithful to any concept, you know.
I did not want to spend the rest of my life not being able to ride in a nice car.
My therapist taught me why I behave in certain ways and not to feel so pressured.
A man's car is like an extension of their ego and their manhood.
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.
The ALAS Foundation was born as a consequence and a continuation of what we are doing with Pies Descalzos. 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.
For a while, I could only wear sweat pants because I was that intermediate size that you're not a small, you're not a large.
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.
Brazil is a country I hold very dearly. I've got followers there who I've been interacting with for years, as well as fellow artists like Ivete Sangalo, and it also has huge figures like Pele. I'd love to go to that World Cup - I'm not sure in what capacity, but I'll definitely be there. I know that nobody wants to miss it, least of all me.
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.
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.
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 started my own Pies Descalzos/Barefoot Foundation when I was 18. We provide education to vulnerable children in Colombia and other developing countries. I am an avid believer that education - and especially early childhood development - is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
You want to be skinny and have a good body? You have to work out every day and say no to certain foods.
In Colombia, education is sometimes considered a luxury, not a human right. And it's not a priority in the agendas of many leaders.
In 2006 I was asked to sing at the World Cup in Germany, and in 2010 I was fortunate enough to be asked again.
If it was up to me, I would just wear jeans and t-shirts, even to red carpets, but then no one would photograph me, so that would make me very sad. So you know, I've gotta keep up with the rest of the female population and sometimes try a little harder.
'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.
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.
Life is a soccer field, don't you think?
I'm double-jointed. I can put my legs over my head, which freaks people out.
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. Human beings are slaves to our dreams, and I am, too. Now I think I just want to share my musical proposal in its entire form.
If I can contribute to people having fun, I would feel very fulfilled as an artist.
I wish that one of my children will be like the Australian guy from the Discovery Channel show. The crocodile hunter.
The relationship I have with my Hispanic fans is very deep and intricate.
I can take the spotlight that shines on me and shift it towards those issues that are infinitely more important than my own issues.
I always had the intuition, even as a little child, that I was called for a big project.
We've built six schools in Colombia and do work in South Africa and Haiti. We teach 5,000 students.
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.
I think, that if you can prove the existence of God, it can only be proven through love.
Fame isolates people from reality. That happens to many artists, and I don't want it to happen to me.
People think I like to expose my body. But I don't. It's just because the dance moves require it.
Both the IDB and Fundacion ALAS believe that the future of prosperity and equality that we hope for has to start today with higher investment and higher quality in Early Childhood Development programs throughout the region.
I enjoy taking part in footballing events that are for social causes because, in my view, inspiring children through sport is a way of keeping their bodies and minds healthy as well as helping nurture their intelligence and ability to relate with others.
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.
Dealing with boys at work and being the only girl can be challenging. I have my insecurities, but I've learned I have to be a good sport. I have to be able to take certain jokes and not take them personally. There are jokes made almost every second of the day. I had to develop a tough hide. You know, the music industry is dominated by guys.
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.
When you feel complete, you don't need to get married, and you don't think about it.
I'm barefoot whenever I can be.
Being raised in a developing country opened my eyes to so much I cannot tolerate. In Colombia, education is sometimes considered a luxury, not a human right. And it's not a priority in the agendas of many leaders.
It's very difficult to think that you're with someone that you know, and all of a sudden you don't know them: it turns out that they betray you. It's painful, but it's best to turn the page.
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.
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 think my dad is the only Arabic descendent who is an unsuccessful businessman.
The music industry is dominated by guys. I work with men 98 percent of the time - producers, arrangers, musicians, engineers.
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.
When we were in the Dark Ages, it was a question of humanity somehow managing to forget about itself. We put God in the centre of society, and people forgot about their own nature and desires. There was a huge deal of repression.
I would love to have eight or nine kids with Gerard - my own futbol team.
I feel like there is a part of me that represents a minority in the U.S., a minority around the world. People who struggle, people who want to succeed with drive and ambition.
People get jaded in every profession, but for some reason, I feel as passionate as when I was 13 years old and just released my first album. I feel the same amount of adrenaline in my blood, and the same amount of curiosity as well. Curiosity about why I'm different.
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!
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.
Relationships have to have a give and take if they're going to work in the long term.
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.
I do feel that I have to use my voice for those that don't have one. I have to do the best I can in my own work to represent my culture, represent the women of my country, of Latin America. What we stand for. What we're made of.
I think, if you can prove the existence of God, it can only be proven through love.
I'm lucky to have family around me. Otherwise, I'll be taking the risk of falling in love with myself.
I think love is something that you have to work on, and it develops over experience and time. Love is a practice.
Guys don't like women telling them what to do. It reminds them of their mothers, or something like that.