I think about all of the freaking talent shows I've tried out for in my life, and I'm so glad I didn't make any of them.

'My Church' - that was really the tipping point of me going from songwriter to artist.

When it comes to best new artist or album or song of the year, yeah, it's very rare that you see someone in country win one of those. It's a very strong genre, and it's got roots so deep in our culture. I think the pool of voters listen more to pop and R&B and hip-hop. Those seem to be the major contenders.

I love pop music, I love country music.

I thought there was a glitch when they told me that in two or three weeks 'My Church' hit a million streams.

I love all types of music, and I think the genre lines are starting to get thinner every year.

I learned to write from different points of view and not just something I would say.

Being the everyman in the writing room helps a lot: you have to be a real collaborator and selfless, and not have ego when you walk in there. That's the antithesis of the artist mentality.

Food is always a favorite on my docket when I go somewhere.

It seems like almost every day I've been able to cross things off my bucket list.

I'm young, but I've been doing this a long time... There's obviously a lot of hard work that goes into it. It's a hard town. There's a lot of talent here. It's all about timing, too. I just feel like I finally found the right town and the right song.

The support I've had from home has made it so much more fun to put music out.

It's hard to say exactly when it all started or what show it was, but I started touring when I was 11. I played all over Dallas and Fort Worth, and eventually I was touring the whole state.

There's not a lot of good content to write about when you're 13 years old, so you just have to kind of fake it.

When I was touring in Texas, that was before iPods and Spotify. Driving around through towns, I had to, out of necessity, scroll the radio. Whatever region of the country you are in, that's a great way to find out what they listen to. You find music wherever you are, and that becomes the soundtrack for whatever your road trip is.

The power of visibility can never be underestimated.

It's good to be able to laugh at yourself and the problems you face in life. Sense of humor can save you.

Just because you are blind and unable to see my beauty doesn't mean it does not exist.

Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else's life forever.

Maybe I wanted to hear it so badly that my ears betrayed my mind in order to secure my heart.

The incognito of lower class employment is an effective cloak for any dagger one might wish to hide.

Love is the big booming beat which covers up the noise of hate.

I always felt like an outsider growing up. In school, I felt like I never fit in. But it didn't help when my mother, instead of buying me glue for school projects, would tell me to just use rice.

Korean children get a lot of fuss made over them, I guess because life was tough in the old country, and it was a big deal if you survived. There's a big party thrown when you are 100 days old, followed by another when you make it to one whole year.

I am into belly dancing. I used to only hang with comics. Now I have friends who are dancers, and my whole house has a harem feel.

Being called ugly and fat and disgusting to look at from the time I could barely understand what the words meant has scarred me so deep inside that I have learned to hunt, stalk, claim, own and defend my own loveliness.

In the early '90s, there was such a limited idea of what you could see on TV.

I have learned to love that which is meant to harm me, so that I can stand in the way of those who are less strong. I can take the bullets for those who aren't able to.

To me, marriage is really important and what we build families on. That's why gay marriage is really important.

I can never tell when something is funny. I just have to do it onstage and find out.

To start telling people that you're beautiful, or just feel beautiful, just start acting like you are the most beautiful woman in the world. And it really improves everything! Because your sort of psyche responds to it - like this is truthful!

It's important to feel beautiful; it's political to feel beautiful.

Usually, if you smile at them and show some interest in the toy, they will give it to you. That's a straight up Democrat move!

The newest victims of the nation's foreclosure crisis are pets, which is extremely distressing to me.

My former bullies pay extra to come backstage and meet me after shows, and I pretend not to know them in front of their friends. It is the most divine pleasure to exact the revenge of the brutalized child that resides within.

Since I became a dancer, I have felt much better about myself.

I'm writing a record of comedy songs. I'm doing all these collaborations with artists. I bring them lyrics and they write the music to it.

The stuff I do and say onstage I can do easily. As a performer, that comes easily. But being social offstage, it's not easy for me.

I'm taking a lot of my favorite artists, different people, my favorite music and marrying that with what I do as a comic. It's very collaborative, arty, fun and cool.

Privacy and security are those things you give up when you show the world what makes you extraordinary.

Why can't all different types of women be considered beautiful? Why can't we can't we all be considered possible love interests?

Sometimes the only way to deal with horrific things in life is through a dark sense of humor.

It is tragic that people who are incarcerated are unable to vote. They are probably the most important voices to listen to because they can tell us what we need to change.

I'm lucky that I have good genetics. Like you said, it just gets better as I get older.

People are really terrified of me. I don't know why, I'm very nice, but people are very intimidated by me.

I punished myself and avoided my reflection in mirrors and any windows. I would see myself reflected back, and I would look away, trying to pretend I didn't exist, because I hated myself so much.

I can't drag myself away from 'Final Cut Pro.' It is a digital video editing system. I am obsessed with it, but I am always away from home, and I can't use it.

Politics has less to do with where you live than where your heart is.

If public figures came out of the closet, then the LGBT kids who saw them on TV would feel safe before they even knew why they felt dangerous. Maybe if enough people came out of the closet, gay kids would never feel dangerous. Maybe we could have a world where we could all just live. We may not all agree, but why can't we just all live?

If you say you're not a feminist, you're almost denying your own existence.