Tori Amos Quotes

Our world is a huge mess right now, and not big enough for masses of intolerant people.

- Tori Amos

Big, Right, Mess, Our World

Being stylish is about enjoying your life and expressing yourself and your inner light.

- Tori Amos

Light, Stylish, About, Yourself

It's been a thrilling journey - I have had to really learn that an orchestra is an entity - it's a creature. I have been calling it the dragon and the conductor is the dragon tamer. And you just have to... ride and don't let go and you will be fine.

- Tori Amos

Journey, Learn, Been, Thrilling

The violence betwen women is unbelievable. Women try to make each other crawl so that their knees are bleeding.

- Tori Amos

Bleeding, Other, Knees, Unbelievable

You have to be clear what your message is and what you're doing. I mean, Miley Cyrus is an amazing talent, and sometimes you kind of just want to say, 'We know you're not Hannah Montana anymore. We know that, my dear. My darling. Now, go be great.'

- Tori Amos

Doing, Sometimes, Your, Darling

Our generation has an incredible amount of realism, yet at the same time it loves to complain and not really change. Because, if it does change, then it won't have anything to complain about.

- Tori Amos

Generation, Loves, Amount, Realism

I started playing the piano when I was about two and got a scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore when I was five. But I left when I was 11.

- Tori Amos

Baltimore, Started, About, Conservatory

My ears are huge. If there's ever a problem with a plane I'm on, they could just put me on the wing and I'll land the sucker.

- Tori Amos

Could, Plane, Put, Sucker

I can see how the young girls really get hurt when their moms are critical, or vice versa when they're overly critical of their moms. It can be so painful.

- Tori Amos

Critical, Vice, Young Girls, Overly

In our minds, love and lust are really separated. It's hard to find someone that can be kind and you can trust enough to leave your kids with, and isn't afraid to throw her man up against the wall and lick him from head to toe.

- Tori Amos

Love, Trust, Against, Separated

I have a great relationship with my mother-in-law. We're both Leos, we understand each other.

- Tori Amos

Mother-In-Law, Other, Great Relationship

Tori's my legal name. My niece and nephews, they all call me Aunt Ellen, because I went by my middle name years ago, before I turned 18.

- Tori Amos

Middle, Before, Turned, Aunt

I would love to compose something for dance before I kick the bucket, and I'm not closed-minded about the dance, or the dance company. I would really just love to collaborate on that.

- Tori Amos

Love, Before, About, Collaborate

Some people are afraid of what they might find if they try to analyze themselves too much, but you have to crawl into your wounds to discover where your fears are. Once the bleeding starts, the cleansing can begin.

- Tori Amos

Some, Bleeding, Your, Analyze

I don't choose to analyze what I have done and I think that is the right choice, because then I won't be spending my time creating.

- Tori Amos

Think, Choose, I Think, Analyze

I think doing variations on a classical theme is a dangerous thing to do.

- Tori Amos

Doing, Think, I Think, Variations

An interview will seem very sane to me, and I'll find out that the journalist was laughing out of the side of his mouth half of the time.

- Tori Amos

Very, Side, Half, Interview

I was two and a half when I first climbed up and sat at a piano.

- Tori Amos

Piano, Half, Sat, Climbed

I am the worst influence. If you can't handle your vices, then I am the Devil.

- Tori Amos

Devil, Handle, Your, Vices

I think there's a time as a writer when you want to see the best things in life, and you go out wherever you go with your dreams as a writer or a composer.

- Tori Amos

Think, I Think, Composer, Wherever

Sometimes you need to take a departure from what you do to something that's slightly different in order to get inspiration.

- Tori Amos

Sometimes, Need, Slightly, Departure

A lot of songs are derivative of each other. Sometimes you need to take a departure from what you do to something that's slightly different in order to get inspiration.

- Tori Amos

Need, Other, Slightly, Departure

I think everyone understands grief, the journey it takes us on, whether it's the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, a disappointment. Some people don't deal with it, the power of it. Some do. Some feel the weight of it and it informs their choices. I've had to open up to grief in different contexts.

- Tori Amos

Some, Deal, I Think, Loved One

There is a time and a place for things. Sometimes one needs to put a filter on oneself. That can be a good thing.

- Tori Amos

Good, Needs, A Good Thing, Filter

There is a phenomenal amount of pressure on women in this industry: they are considered vintage by the time they hit their mid-30s.

- Tori Amos

By The Time, Amount, Phenomenal

My father was strict, but he recognised my ability and got a lot of flak from the church for supporting me.

- Tori Amos

Father, Church, Got, Supporting

I remember driving to North Carolina when I was a little girl in a snowstorm to get down to my mom's family in the Carolinas. There were chains on the car - it was the late sixties - and we were just singing in the car. Christmas carols.

- Tori Amos

Chains, I Remember, North, Sixties

I'm a classic emerald green Sixties Jaguar that nobody can own, but my husband is allowed to drive.

- Tori Amos

Green, Classic, Allowed, Sixties

I love the classic crooners, but I got that from my mother - she worked in a record store.

- Tori Amos

Love, Store, Got, Record Store

I had a very strict upbringing with my dad and was very close to my mum, who was extremely loving.

- Tori Amos

Loving, Very, Extremely, Strict

People assume that all artists make for terrible business people, but I'm in complete charge of my own career.

- Tori Amos

Business, Career, Charge, Business People

My father was a minister and so rock music was banned in our house.

- Tori Amos

Music, Rock, Minister, Banned

There's a side to this industry that nurtures divas who can't write. It's a big business.

- Tori Amos

Business, Big, Side, Big Business

I usually get myself into situations that cause sparks. I mean I'm a girl that likes the storms. I love feeling alive, I love walking out in the cold in my bare feet and feeling the ice on my toes.

- Tori Amos

Love, Feet, Alive, Storms

Even if everything else is downplayed, I'll wear good shoes.

- Tori Amos

Wear, Even, Else, Everything Else

There is an energy that you carry when you're nurturing another life where you're protecting first - and once you know that cub is out of the way of the hunter's gun, you can be a little more daring.

- Tori Amos

Gun, More, Protecting, Cub

You'd think that in this age, especially in the 21st century - especially with all the technology and all the discoveries that we've made - that we would figure out how to tackle abuse.

- Tori Amos

Think, Abuse, Figure, 21st Century

I find that in the 21st century, there's not a lot of compassion for what other people are going through or the walk that they have to walk.

- Tori Amos

Through, Other, Going, 21st Century

This was a time frame when dance music and clubs were having a real impact on culture, and it had an impact on me.

- Tori Amos

Impact, Having, Time Frame, Frame

I'm not like a poker player. I'm not into bluff. My way is to look someone in the eye and tell them the way I'm intending to go. My cards are always on the table.

- Tori Amos

Cards, Always, Like, Table

Right now, half the world is depressed and they need to be entertained.

- Tori Amos

World, Need, Half, Entertained

Guys would sleep with a bicycle if it had the right color lip gloss on. They have no shame. They're like bull elks in a field.

- Tori Amos

Color, Bicycle, Shame, Gloss

My mother says I was two-and-a-half when I started playing. My father was a minister, and when he went to church in the morning, she would put on Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and Cole Porter records. I'd crawl up on the piano stool, sit on a phone book and play.

- Tori Amos

Play, Records, Stool, None

I've been known to throw watermelons, backstage, at people who are giving me news I don't want to hear. But I never aim for the head.

- Tori Amos

News, Aim, Been, Backstage

Not everybody wants to have the same career. I think what's difficult is when you have two people that do something very, very similar and they both, say, want the limelight. That's very tricky.

- Tori Amos

Think, Very, Similar, Limelight

When one doesn't want the limelight, but is also creative in developing whatever it is they are, then you can have two equal people that aren't competing against each other. I think when you are in the same field, it's difficult to leave it outside and not compete. Then when the doors are closed; that pervades everything.

- Tori Amos

Compete, Other, I Think, Limelight

I have so many different personalities in me and I still feel lonely.

- Tori Amos

Alone, Me, Still, Personalities

A key to keeping your husband is getting him to miss you. That keeps a marriage fresh.

- Tori Amos

Miss You, Getting, Keeping, Fresh

If you are a nurturing mother, and a good one, you can go to play groups, sit on the floor and play all the games, and have tea with the other mothers, but wouldn't you like to think that's not all there is? That you haven't hung up your high heels without knowing how to walk in them?

- Tori Amos

Play, Other, Your, Sit

I'm a mother, and that's really important. Today, the mother and the musician can sit next to each other. Even when the musician is out there in full swing, the mother doesn't get switched off.

- Tori Amos

Next, Other, Really, Sit

Cornwall is one of the most beautiful places, with great people - there's not a great downside to it.

- Tori Amos

Beautiful, Places, Most, Cornwall

I know people sometimes have this fantasy about Cornwall. But the Cornish are so grounded.

- Tori Amos

Sometimes, Fantasy, About, Cornwall

My brother was a fantastic cheerleader for my development as a musician. He was almost 10 years older than me and would really push me to develop as a songwriter.

- Tori Amos

Development, Develop, Almost, Cheerleader

My father was a preacher in Maryland and we had crab feasts - with corn on the cob, but no beer, being Methodist - outside on the church lawn.

- Tori Amos

Father, Corn, Maryland, Crab

My father has a pragmatic mind. He marched with Dr. King in the '60s, and he's very much for women's rights.

- Tori Amos

Mind, King, Very, Pragmatic

Romance is important to me, and to have a romance with your husband takes a bit of doing. The key is to make sure your partner misses you. That means you have to take yourself away.

- Tori Amos

Doing, Romance, Means, Misses

When I play live, it's a conversation that we're all having with the song, and the audience... their response and relationship with the songs is as valid as my relationship with the songs.

- Tori Amos

Song, Play, Audience, Conversation

There are older men with younger women but you don't see a lot of older women with younger men. There are some women who have been able to do it but not often.

- Tori Amos

Some, Younger, Been, Older Men

When you don't have people in your life pushing you, can you push yourself?

- Tori Amos

Yourself, People, Your, Push

Take a different route to the coffee shop to see what you can see and hear. When we get in a routine, we can become zombie-like and shut down. It's about discipline. You have to push yourself.

- Tori Amos

Shut, About, Shop, Push

The key things are about power and about growing up and realizing as you grow up that there are consequences for the choices you make, especially when you get seduced by power.

- Tori Amos

Grow, About, Seduced, Key

If you think a child is going to be your accessory... it's not like a micro pig. It's not about putting them in front of the television. You need to read to them at night.

- Tori Amos

Think, Read, Putting, Micro

The fact that religion plays such a part in how people vote troubles me, troubles me as a minister's daughter. Because I always felt that the separation of church and state was what our forefathers and foremothers really fought for.

- Tori Amos

Fact, Part, Fought, Vote

I don't know if the average person really has faith in Washington anymore.

- Tori Amos

Know, Person, Average, Average Person

To me glamour isn't about being sparkly.

- Tori Amos

Me, About, Being, Glamour

I get painted quite a bit as a tragic figure because of some of the stuff that's happened in my life.

- Tori Amos

My Life, Some, Figure, Tragic

I don't mind a dirty girl. But what I find tragic is when we, as women, become not the subject of our own story but someone else's object.

- Tori Amos

Mind, Dirty, Subject, Tragic

After a while, though, you realize that a whole slew of young singer-songwriter piano players are getting compared to you. That's when you feel the passage of time is occurring.

- Tori Amos

Young, Passage, Though, Singer-Songwriter

So the first job that I got - my father got it for me - he had his clerical collar on, was a gay bar in D.C., it was Mr. Henry's of Georgetown.

- Tori Amos

Father, Collar, Mr, Gay

I don't want to give too much ink to foolish men.

- Tori Amos

Want, Give, Too, Foolish

I'm not very social when I'm off the promo trail, because I step into wife and mother mode. It's very reclusive.

- Tori Amos

Wife, Social, Very, Reclusive

There's a richness to the old works if you look before the 1950s. The chord progressions and the language was more complicated, especially in the jazz and classical world.

- Tori Amos

Before, Richness, Works, Chord

I know I'm an acquired taste - I'm anchovies. And not everybody wants those hairy little things.

- Tori Amos

Little Things, Everybody, Hairy

When I got older, I chose to look at Christianity as another myth.

- Tori Amos

Myth, Christianity, Another, Chose

I produce the records. I don't hand over control to some really expensive producer who then talks to the record company and then tries to bend me to their will - for commercial purposes.

- Tori Amos

Some, Over, Tries, Purposes

When the mothers start to shatter, then everything just comes undone.

- Tori Amos

Start, Mothers, Shatter, Undone

I wanted to do something creatively, having been a beached whale for many months and nursing my daughter.

- Tori Amos

Been, Having, Months, Creatively

What girls do to each other is beyond description. No chinese torture comes close.

- Tori Amos

Other, Chinese, Torture, Close

I was very close to my mother as the youngest of three. She was my playmate.

- Tori Amos

Mother, She, Very, Close

Sometimes it seems like we're closer to our manicurists than we are our own souls. We have to find ways to get in touch with that and to listen to it and to hear it.

- Tori Amos

Sometimes, Own, Like, Closer

For the most part, pianos are female to me. Sometimes they're dykes, and they're always good fun.

- Tori Amos

Sometimes, Always, Part, Pianos

My childhood was extreme.

- Tori Amos

Childhood, Extreme

Music is always a reflection of what's going on in the hearts and minds of the culture.

- Tori Amos

Music, Minds, Always, Hearts

As the sun sets, we've all had those nights where you question your choices and where your life is going.

- Tori Amos

Question, Going, Sets, Nights

I have a rule that I don't read my press, but then somebody in the crew will be reading it and of course it's right there, so what do you think I do?

- Tori Amos

Think, Will, Read, Press

Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again.

- Tori Amos

Pain, Myself, Give, Give Me

A lot of songs are derivative of each other.

- Tori Amos

Other, Songs, Lot, Derivative

When you're in your 20s, there's maybe a little room for you to not be at the top of your artistic game, if you look good on a magazine cover. When you're not on the cover of the magazines anymore, then you realize that the work has to be great.

- Tori Amos

Work, Game, Maybe, Magazine Cover

At 15, I knew someone whose mother cooked macrobiotic, so I persuaded my mother to go macrobiotic with me.

- Tori Amos

Go, Knew, Cooked, Persuaded

Being able to still make records is a privilege. I don't take it casually.

- Tori Amos

Records, Still, Take, Casually

I've worked with many powerful men in the music industry.

- Tori Amos

Music, Powerful, Worked, Music Industry

Some of the biggest advocates for feminism seem to believe that in order to feel powerful you have to make another woman subservient, and that is not what feminism is about at all.

- Tori Amos

Woman, Some, Another, Subservient

I think even in a good marriage, especially if you stay together long enough, there are going to be events that happen.

- Tori Amos

Think, Happen, I Think, Events

There's room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If you're trying to be like somebody else, then there is isn't.

- Tori Amos

Like, Everybody, Planet, Conscious

I have built my world through Native American mythology.

- Tori Amos

World, Through, Built, Mythology

I'm very at home working with mythology.

- Tori Amos

Home, Working, Very, Mythology

Some people say, I'd give anything to be 30 again. Well, I really wouldn't. I didn't enjoy being 30.

- Tori Amos

Give, Some, Again, Some People

Some people hide more than others, and it does intrigue me.

- Tori Amos

Hide, Some, Intrigue, Some People

I'm a hard worker. I get my hands dirty.

- Tori Amos

Hands, Dirty, Get, Worker

When I was little, my mom tells me, I used to say things like, 'Mom do you hear the string section? Do you hear the string section?' And she would look at me and say, 'No honey, I don't know what you're talking about.'

- Tori Amos

String, Like, About, Honey

You know that saying, bad things don't happen to good people? That's a lie.

- Tori Amos

Lie, Bad, Happen, Saying

There are two ways to wake up. You can wake up thinking about what you know, or you wake up thinking and saying 'What can I learn?.' That's a very different approach.

- Tori Amos

Learn, Very, About, Saying

Musically, I always allow myself to jump off of cliffs. At least that's what it feels like to me. Whether that's what it actually sounds like might depend on what the listener brings to the songs.

- Tori Amos

Always, Allow, Cliffs, Jump

I'm driven by the idea of characters and the song-cycle form is similar to a musical.

- Tori Amos

Similar, Characters, Form, Driven

I like involved projects. I'm driven by the idea of characters and the song-cycle form is similar to a musical.

- Tori Amos

Similar, Characters, Driven

I would love to compose something for dance before I kick the bucket, and I'm not closed-minded about the dance, or the dance company.

- Tori Amos

Love, Before, About, Bucket

I have never smoked and have always drunk a lot of water, but cleanse, tone and moisturise every day? No way!

- Tori Amos

Every Day, Tone, Always, Smoked

I'm a musician first, a food-lover second, a dirty mouth with feet, and a girl last time I checked.

- Tori Amos

Feet, Dirty, Last, Musician

I became a mom at 37 and having a child has been an emancipation for me.

- Tori Amos

Been, Became, Having, Emancipation

It's fun to write your set list 20 minutes before and keep the crew very much on their toes.

- Tori Amos

Before, Very, Set, Toes

I'm a conduit for telling people's stories. It's a privilege.

- Tori Amos

Privilege, Stories, Telling, Conduit

I've got tonnes of aboriginal and Native American art, but I'd like even more.

- Tori Amos

Art, Like, Even, Native

Life is fleeting. It is to be enjoyed.

- Tori Amos

Life, Fleeting, Enjoyed

I've had to keep exploring different ways of presenting the music so I don't repeat myself.

- Tori Amos

Myself, Had, Different Ways, Repeat

I think you have to know who you are. Get to know the monster that lives in your soul, dive deep into your soul and explore it.

- Tori Amos

Deep, Think, I Think, Dive

I don't really cook. There are caterers, and my husband cooks.

- Tori Amos

Husband, Cook, Really, Cooks

The pop world has really opened its doors.

- Tori Amos

World, Pop, Opened, Doors

I like involved projects.

- Tori Amos

Like, Projects, Involved

There are ways to stimulate being prolific, and part of that is making pilgrimages, and being open to listening, changing up the routine.

- Tori Amos

Listening, Making, Part, Prolific

If I was writing songs just for me I'd only play them in my living room, alone.

- Tori Amos

Play, Living, Them, Living Room

I felt sidelined by the industry, by the preoccupation with finding something newer, younger.

- Tori Amos

Younger, Industry, Felt, Finding

When we get in a routine we can become zombie-like and shut down.

- Tori Amos

Down, Get, Shut, Routine

Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.

- Tori Amos

Moving On, Healing, Dig, Takes

I want to be an integrated woman.

- Tori Amos

Woman, Want, Integrated

I get tired of wearing the same thing all the time too.

- Tori Amos

Same, Same Thing, Too, Wearing

Many people lock a part of themselves away. It's a bit sacred.

- Tori Amos

Away, Themselves, Part, Lock

People listen to music the way they want to listen to music.

- Tori Amos

Music, People, Want, Listen

I like cosy, intimate houses.

- Tori Amos

Like, Intimate, Houses

Some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don't fit into boxes.

- Tori Amos

Some, Most, Fit, Boxes

For a song cycle to work, you have to feel these things when you hear them and you either have an emotional reaction to it or you don't. The plotline is something that gets woven together in the back-story.

- Tori Amos

Work, Song, Reaction, Woven

There are enough scary rock & roll mothers in the world.

- Tori Amos

World, Rock, Mothers, Scary

The world that we all knew before, could wake up in feeling safe... now it seems that everything has been turned upside down.

- Tori Amos

Been, Before, Turned, Safe

I guess my husband is a muse as well.

- Tori Amos

Husband, Muse, Well, Guess

I think you need to have people around you whose standard is high and who don't accept anything less.

- Tori Amos

Think, I Think, Standard, Accept

My favorite saying is, 'If it's too loud, turn it up.'

- Tori Amos

Saying, Loud, Too, Favorite

I'm not not going to stop giving away what I feel about something.

- Tori Amos

Stop, Away, Going, Giving

Well, I have a lot of food references in my work.

- Tori Amos

Work, Well, Lot, References

My husband doesn't know what my songs are about - even when they're about him. He's very British in that way. He doesn't ask, and he doesn't want to be told.

- Tori Amos

Want, Very, About, Husband

Being in your forties - any woman who isn't there yet, I just have to say to you: Euphoria is coming to you.

- Tori Amos

Woman, Say, Being, Euphoria

I've carved out a career for myself really as a writer.

- Tori Amos

Myself, Career, Carved, Writer

You can be self-empowered and still learning about how you think about things daily.

- Tori Amos

Think, How, Still, Daily

My parents think I'm better under pressure.

- Tori Amos

Parents, Think, Better, Pressure

You don't leave people who can't defend themselves.

- Tori Amos

People, Themselves, Defend, Leave

There were times that I needed to go to battle, but how I went to battle wasn't always the best way in.

- Tori Amos

Go, Always, Needed, Best Way

I'm really quite happy to say that in my early 40s, I wake up feeling sexy, and I can't say I felt that way in my late 20s.

- Tori Amos

Happy, Sexy, Felt, Wake Up

Parenting is not for everybody. It changes your life. Especially when they're little.

- Tori Amos

Parenting, Everybody, Your, Changes

I don't feel I'm as good a mum as my mum was.

- Tori Amos

Good, Feel, Mum

If you have an issue with homosexuality, then it comes to your own fear and your own darkness.

- Tori Amos

Own, Issue, Then, Homosexuality

Things go wrong all the time; you can't be precious about it.

- Tori Amos

Go, Things, About, Precious

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