"I'm very much an optimist. I don't think I could do my work if I didn't believe there was some kind of hope for humanity."

"I've become this sort of icon for the gay community. I don't like the position."

"There are so few women in general who aren't completely threatened and confused by other women's success. It's very disappointing."

"Unfortunately, most college kids these days aren't coming from any place-they seem to ask the same kind of questions over and over again."

"I don't believe in karma."

"I can't tell you 100 percent what makes a relationship work. But I can see something good coming and I can see something bad coming."

"When you're constantly looking for things from other people, you're not looking within yourself."

"I really, really love Hilary Clinton. I think she's very cool. She's out there and she's involved."

"Smut, if it's really smut, there's nothing backing it up. It's the easy way out."

"That disturbs people when they know they didn't have the guts or integrity to stick to their dreams."

"I think I've drawn from some of the most feminine women, like Jackie Kennedy. I am totally devastated that she's gone. She had it all."

"I'm trying to appeal to the disenfranchised everybody, not just specifically gay."

"When people pay to see you live, they connect with you on a much deeper level than people who just buy your records."

"I don't consider myself a comic but a performer. A comic tells bad jokes."

"Anything that has cynicism to it and that's jaded is smutty."

"There are few performers who would have had the audacity to even bring up the fact that they had been poorly reviewed."

"I like the energy of live performance."

"When you're watching the news, how many days in a row can you watch that and feel good about yourself and the world?"

"At some point, the pride has to be a part of the whole day-to-day oeuvre. It's part of who you are and doesn't need to be discussed anymore."

"I'm studying Kabbalah, which is really the essence of Jewish spirituality."