Katy Perry is known as one of the most innovative and electrifying pop stars in the world today. She sits atop soda cans and bubble gum props in Las Vegas on one day and coaches and judges American Idol the next. She came into our lives because she “kissed a girl” and today she is known for her “Roar.”
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But with all of this global success, one might wonder what Perry has to say about life and love, the world around her, her craft and more outside of her famous songs. That is the subject of today’s inquiry. Here are the 30 best Perry quotes.
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1. “I don’t want to completely self-sabotage everything that I’ve got and alienate everyone. But I definitely want to take some chances as I always have.”
2. “I’m okay with having bad dance moves. I’m okay with having horrible lower teeth. That’s what makes me me, and for some reason, it’s worked out all right.”
3. “I’m still driving along on the pop freeway of life. Thinking even further into the future, I definitely want to make an acoustic record. I want to try lots of different things.”
4. “Everyone related to me in my circle was from church: church friends, church school, church activities. All my friends weren’t allowed to watch MTV or go to PG-13 movies or listen to the radio, so I didn’t really know anything different. That’s how I was raised.”
5. “I think that parents grow up with an idea of what they want their kids to be like—and then their kids grow up to be people of themselves, of their own.”
6. “I love hearing my song on the radio the first time, but when it comes on again, I change the station. I already have so much of the spotlight on me. I don’t need any more.”
7. “I think you become more relatable when you’re vulnerable.”
8. “The records are black boxes for me. Like, if you want to know who I am, my views, my perspective, things I love, things I hate, my convictions, my anthems. I’ve never let people’s opinions affect the way I write.”
9. “I grew up listening to gospel. That was the only thing that I had reference to because that was what my family was involved with.”
10. “With songs, I’ve always pledged to be honest. I write my songs because I’ve lived them.”
11. “My style icons were Gwen Stefani when she was in No Doubt, and then Shirley Manson in Garbage.”
12. “I’d go to the farmers’ market in Santa Barbara, and I’d put out my guitar case, and I’d test out these little ditty songs that I would write, and I would get a couple of avocados, a bag of pistachios, and, like, fifteen bucks. That was a lot of money for me.”
13. “I wanted to be that quirky girl who writes funny songs that still have meaning.”
14. “I really like to look like a history book. I can look 1940s, I can look 1970s hippie-chic, or sometimes I’ll pull that ’80s Brooklyn hip-hop kid with the door-knocker earrings.”
15. “I grew up not really having anything, so the idea that I can take care of my family and my friends now is a really cool bonus.”
16. “I can’t be the candy queen forever.”
17. “I pray for humility, honestly, because it’s very easy to be caught up in this world.”
18. “There are a lot of things that are personally uncomfortable to show, especially me without makeup and completely bloated or crying. But I’ve realized that it’s time for me to show my audience that you don’t have to be perfect to achieve your dreams. Because nobody relates to being perfect.”
19. “I like a good boy, but sometimes you get bored.”
20. “I was a hop-around. I hung out with the rockabilly crew, the guys who were trying to be rappers, the funny kids.”
21. “My dad would give me $10, which is a lot of money when you’re 9, to sing at church, on tables at restaurants, at family functions, just about anywhere.”
22. “Even if you actually have the good intent to do something creative or special with your life, it’s hard. I mean, look at the number of people who actually get the opportunity.”
23. “I don’t need the Prince Charming to have my own happy ending.”
24. “I’m going to let love lead the way, always. I was born with this blind ambition, and it’s gotten me here to this point. I think that I’ll stick to it.”
25. “If you’re presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything.”
26. “I’m kind of a good girl—and I’m not. I’m a good girl because I really believe in love, integrity, and respect. I’m a bad girl because I like to tease. I know that I have sex appeal in my deck of cards. But I like to get people thinking. That’s what the stories in my music do.”
27. “For a modern woman it is important to be supported and that there is equality in every aspect, and that it’s not two halves that make a whole–it’s two wholes that make a whole.”
28. “I don’t care what people say about my relationship; I don’t care what they say about my boobs. People are buying my songs; I have a sold-out tour. I’m getting incredible feedback from my music.”
29. “I wasn’t going to great schools, because my parents didn’t believe in public education. They wanted the education to be influenced by their religion, so I was going to these halfway education-slash-Christian schools that were like pop-up shop-style education.”
30. “Find out what your gift is and nurture it.”
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