I try to harmonize and sing every moment that I can.

I think a lot of us have some form of body dysmorphia… You’re looking in the mirror, and you’re kind of disassociated in some way. I think a good reminder is to actually, physically touch...

The thing I really love about my fans is the vulnerability and openness, the crying and the hugs. They are so kind.

I’m learning how to keep my identity and personal life sacred. It’s a matter of knowing my limits. I don’t have to give everything that’s asked of me.

Gay rights and body acceptance are two things I feel very passionately about.

Going from someone playing 15-people venues to performing at the Grammys, it was this giant leap and sort of showed me it was possible with what I wanted to do and the kind of music...

One of the best parts about my job is that I get to dress for red carpets and appearances, and I often forgo working with a stylist because fashion is half the fun of any...

I was a really, really depressed kid.

I think artists are scared to have same-gendered pronouns in their writing, and I don’t think it’s because they’re scared to be out, because gay artists are visible, but they don’t want to alienate an...

To be honest, I used to hate shopping. I rarely left a store without crying, cursing my body, and swearing under my breath at the fashion industry.

I’m not saying everybody has a social responsibility of what art they create, but art should be open-ended. I just feel there’s a lack of consciousness and understanding of impact and reach. Just maybe, for...

Getting snail mail is one of my favorite indulgences, and I think receiving mail is actually a common joy.

Growing up, people are like, ‘Mary, we’ll see you at the Grammys.’ You’re like, ‘I’ll be at the Grammys.’ Then, you’re actually at the Grammys! That actually is happening; it’s not just something people are...

People are constantly not feeling, but numbing themselves, either through medication or playing on their phones. If you start feeling bad, it’s like, ‘Distract! Distract! Put on Storage Wars!’ And I know because I’m guilty...

I’m a sensitive, sensitive person. Overly sensitive. Extremely emotional.

I think no matter how you think about your music, you’re ultimately in the music ‘business.’ I think you have to be business-minded in some sense. And for me, the real goal… is positive intention...

Treat others as you wish to be treated. Don’t just be nice, but be kind to other people. That can be so rewarding.

I’ve always had a little bit of darkness, and I’ve always been someone who was grieving. I had kind of had a tumultuous upbringing living in an abusive home, so for me, writing has always...

I feel like I’m like a healer in a pop singer’s life.

I came out when I was 17 – coming out in middle or high school is one of the most difficult things that anyone could experience. I wouldn’t wish it on my enemies.

Self-care is the number one solution to helping somebody else. If you are being good to yourself and your body and your psyche, that that serves other people better because you will grow strong enough...

I’m not dieting anymore. I want to eat what my body is asking of me. Just listen to your body in general – it’s all self-awareness.

I used to be on the kitchen floor, crying, wasted and thinking of lyrics. That was the only way I could create – as a tortured artist. I’ve learned that you can be stable and...

After a show over the summer, a girl came up to me who was a pastor at her church, which was not accepting of same-sex relationships. She said that ‘Same Love’ allowed her to come...

When I came out, I said, ‘I’m going to be a proud gay artist.’ I’m not going to be Melissa Etheridge. But she’s a goddess!

If people can find something that they love about themselves after going to one of my shows, then I am so addicted to that feeling. It’s the most gratifying thing on earth.

I feel like if I couldn’t write, I would explode.

I came out when I was 17. I was in the church; I was crying every Sunday for about a year. I came to terms with the fact with this is who I was –...

Sylvia Plath, Rumi, there’s a lot of spoken word poets who do a really incredible job putting their spoken work into page poetry – that’s what I strive to do.

I’m one of the writers that would die if I didn’t say what I needed to say. For me, it’s a matter of survival to write.

I want to go to Italy and France; those are my two places. And I really want to go to Greece. I’ve seen so many pictures on Airbnb that make me think I should be...

Fat bodies are used comically. I respect Rebel Wilson so much, and Melissa McCarthy. I love them both. But so often, I feel like fat female bodies are used as props.

When you’re 17 in the suburbs and know only three gay people, holding hands with your girlfriend is a proclamation.

If you want to help somebody, make sure you’re coming from a place of clarity and complete non-judgment; that way, you can begin to understand their journey, too.

I have a big thing with eye contact, because I think as soon as you make eye contact with somebody, you see them, and they become valued and worthy.

I don’t have all answers, but as far as viewing my body… I’m in a place where I can look at my stretch marks and say, ‘Oh, hey, stretch marks!’ and I’m over it.

That’s why fame freaks me out in a lot of ways – because how genuine of a connection can you have when you’re a commodity, and a conversation with you means bragging rights? That’s terrifying...

If I can sit down at my keyboard and have a melody that says something that I can’t with words, that’s a really beautiful thing.

I was bartending when I recorded ‘Same Love,’ and when it was on the radio, too. I remember overhearing people talking about the song while I was making them drinks.

After singing ‘Same Love’ across the nation, it’s given me faith that I’ve underestimated the straight world.

Adele shattered the image of how the stereotypical singer is supposed to look. She has that whole ‘Screw you, I’m awesome for what I do’ attitude, which I really look up to and want to...

It is a little scary to go across the whole country, and basically the world, and be like, ‘What’s up? I’m gay, and you should let me get married everywhere.’ I don’t feel like I’m...

I have gained so much more from my experiences of being open and loving humanity rather than being jaded and being closed-off.

I don’t think of my songs as sad songs. I think of them as vulnerable and honest. I crack jokes in between songs, so people don’t leave feeling too dark.

There I am, chain-smoking and watching YouTube videos in my bedroom at 6 A.M. when a spoken-word video comes on the screen. I knew I had to do it: that it was another part of...

In my field, you can’t really wear the same dress twice unless you want Isaac Mizrahi to scorn you on TV.

I was going to be a teacher. I was applying to graduate school when I got the call to do ‘Same Love,’ actually. I was gonna go to Boston University for my masters in teaching.

As soon as I check into a hotel, I get butt naked and I watch super trash TV like ‘Storage Wars’ and ‘The Bachelor.’

As I got older, I fell in love with Radiohead, and ‘OK Computer’ is one of my favorite albums of theirs. Sonically, the tone of the guitars on tracks like ‘Electioneering’ just rips right through...

It’s a really skewed part of our culture that happiness is the end-all be-all. The people that force themselves to be happy all the time often end up being the most broken.