“When I first came to New York I was a dancer, and a French record labe...” — Madonna Ciccone Quote

“When I first came to New York I was a dancer, and a French record label offered me a recording contract and I had to go to Paris to do it. So I went there and that's how I really got into the music business. But I didn't like what I was doing when I got there, so I left, and I never did a record there.”

“Catholicism is not a soothing religion. It's a painful religion. We're all gluttons for punishment.”

“I suppose I sometimes used to act like I wasn't a human being... Sometimes I look back at myself and remember things I used to say, or my hairstyle, and I cringe.”

“In 1974, the modeling world changed. Jerry Ford and my lawyer negotiated the deal for the first exclusive contract in modeling history.”

“Every year it's like a new slate of pressure and expectations because you can't rely on a contract and stuff like that.”

“I worked a long time to get good at what I'm doing, and nobody handed me a recording contract because of who my father is.”