Sarah McLachlan Quotations

I think a lot of contemplation happens in bathtubs. It does for me. Nothing like a hot bath to ease the tension and think about what's going to happen next.

There's beauty everywhere. There are amazing things happening everywhere, you just have to be able to open your eyes and witness it. Some days, that's harder than others.

If you love large, you've got to hurt large. If you've got a lot of light, you've probably got an equal amount of darkness.

I spent a lot of years on the road, and what happens is you find out who your real friends are and you find out where your strengths and weaknesses lie in communication. I've had the same friends for 20 years now and I can count them on one hand.

I have the ability, no matter what's going on in my life, to find something - my cup is always half full.

People's ignorance really pisses me off. Stupidity is when you can't help it -ignorance is when you choose not to understand something.

I've never dieted in my life; I like food too much. I'm just thoughtful about what I eat, and I'm lucky that I love the taste of vegetables. I'm certainly not 'actress skinny,' and I never will be. I'm strong, and my body works great for me.

Happiness is like a cloud, if you stare at it long enough, it evaporates.

My music and my lyrics are essentially emotional postcards.

I'm really lucky that my record companies have been patient with me and leave me alone and give me the time to make it right in my mind.

I was trying to uphold what I thought feminism was as best I could by supporting women, by trying to create an opportunity to get women to get together, play music together and celebrate the fact that we are having great success making music on our own and together.

We are in an age of technology where we sit in our little cubicles and we IM each other and Skype each other and never connect as human beings.

I think often sadness is a great place to get songs from.

I would love to make my music and be completely anonymous, but that doesn't work. You can't have success and be faceless.

Music is very nebulous, and you can conjure up a lot of moods with music. But lyrics - they're a lot more tangible. They're much more specific. And you want to say something meaningful and creative and artistic and that tells a story and that takes people someplace else.

I've been a fan of old country music, like Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline. I think I'm drawn to it because of the sense of sadness and sort of loss that a lot of good old country music has.

Deadlines are meant to be broken. And I just keep breaking them.

On becoming a mother, I sort of feel like every kid is my kid. I really do get that sense in a much more profound way that we all are a global community and we all have to band to try and give the children of our this generation whatever tools we can to go out into this world and try and make it a better place.

There are women in every genre having a lot of success. Why not celebrate that?

I think... I'm perceived as an everyperson. There is no pedestal. I'm no different from anybody else.

Time is a beautiful thing. It's like when you meet an old lover on the street six years later and they don't look so ugly anymore.

It's a big challenge for me to keep my integrity and some of my privacy intact.

I kind of have a happy magnet. I can't stand being depressed, so I work my ass off to get out of it as soon as possible.

I've heard myself referred to as a quiet superstar, and I don't quite know what that means.

I've learned to trust myself, to listen to truth, to not be afraid of it and to not try and hide it.

We showed the industry that female artists could attract the same audiences as the big male stars.

Surfing is my passion because I love being active on the water.

Change and growth is so painful. But it's so necessary for us to evolve.

Coming to terms with the fact that my marriage was a failure was devastating and very difficult.

I'd much rather be in the expanse of the wilderness because it feels like part of my world. It's a unique perspective. You're this tiny speck in a huge environment, and it's nice to be reminded of that.

The first gig we ever played was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I'm from. I was in a band called the October Game, and we opened up for a Vancouver band.

If I had to pick one song for me that sort of quintessentially summed me up, it would be 'Angel.' Without fail, I absolutely love singing it.

I don't tend to question things that much. If it feels right, I go for it.

When I say music saved me, I don't say that lightly.

I'll answer anything... I'm brutally honest, actually, which gets me in trouble.

I sort of feel like music saved my life when I was young. This is the one thing that I knew I was good at.

I'll talk to any stranger about everything. I'm not guarded.

Water is very forgiving. Everything lifts in water

I'm not one to sit and wallow - I would rather figure out a way around so I can move past it and be at peace with things. I don't like bad feelings gnawing away at me.

I can look back over my earlier music, and it takes me back to the place I was emotionally.

I'm a great mummy. I've mapped out all the fun spots in every city.

Having the opportunity to express myself through music has been extremely cathartic for me my entire life.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I want to give 100 percent to everything.

I'm not a media darling. I'm not on the cover of all these magazines. I just quietly do my thing.

I'm not online. I'm not on Facebook much. I don't connect that way.

I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to go crazy. I don't party like I used to

It's an amazing luxury to say I'm 31 years old and I'm gonna take a year off. That's pretty amazing.

There's nothing particularly unique about my experiences except that they're my experiences.

I think sometimes all you need is to hear someone else say the same thing that you're going through to realize that you're not alone. I try to put some sense of hope into the songs, into whatever the situation is so that it's not just dirt, drudgery and a life of misery.

For me, that's one of the best validations as an artist. To have a stranger come up to you and say that something you've created and put out there in the world has had some sort of impact on other people's lives.

I like the idea that we build up these walls or rules or laws to maintain our reality, and when they fall away, you're left with a whole bunch of illusions.

Half the bloody world is going through a divorce; more than that are having children. All of us have parents who are dying or have died. It's just the life cycle.

I have a full life: I have two amazing kids, I have great friends, great family. And right now, that's plenty for me to manage. A new relationship just seems like way too much work.

I was 17 years old and in my first band, and we played at the university. I was kind of a gawky, unpopular teenager and there was about 400 people smiling and dancing to what we were doing.

There's no reason for anybody to jump out of bushes to take pictures of me. I'm not doing anything exciting.

It's all kind of a big illusion: the white picket fence and the perfect marriage and the kids. Check that box off, check that box off, and move forward.

When you're making music or playing a song, I find the moments when there are no instruments being played even stronger than when they are being played. Because they add tension. It's also an ego-less thing - a place where you have no ego - when you're with a bunch of musicians who stop and listen instead.

I don't like bad feelings gnawing away at me.

I go out on the road for much longer than I probably should and lose more of myself than I should.

I was a pretty insecure kid, didn't have a lot of friends, and was picked on a lot, and music gave me confidence.

The more we take the less we become, the fortune of one man means less for some.

'Time after Time' is one of the best pop songs ever written, in my opinion. It's an incredible, beautiful, timeless song.

A big part of my love and passion for making music is playing it live.

I don't court paparazzi. I definitely don't like that part of it.

I don't think about what other people want from me.

I think I've become a much better singer and a much better player. Years and years of playing a couple of hours every day will do that.

When I sing, it's just... comfort is a stupid word, but it is.

And music has always been incredibly cathartic for me, whether it's writing my own stuff or singing other people's music; it's very freeing.

I feel like I really tapped into a pretty honest emotional place for myself as a lyricist. There's a broad spectrum of emotions.

I try so hard to live in the moment - I don't think ahead very much.

I write music all the time. When I talk about having writer's block, it's more to do with lyrics than anything else

I've always been incredibly lucky that the music that I make, other people like it.

It's a very romantic sentiment, but to think that you would die if you didn't write, well, I would definitely choose to not write and live

Music gave me a sense that I was worthwhile and that I had something of value to offer the world even though everybody was telling me that I didnt.

They are very personal, emotional songs - people react to them very strongly.

We try to create this interesting appearance to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.

With every record I put out, I got a bit more success, a bigger following in cities I would play in, and occasionally a bit of radio play.

I didn't get hugely famous really quick. It was a slow, gradual process, so I was able to sort of grow into myself and figure out who I was and what I wanted without the glaring spotlight on me telling me who I was.

I was put out there as a spokesperson for the new feminist revolution. It was very difficult because I was either too feminist or not feminist enough, depending on who you spoke to.

I was very awkward as a kid. I was a square trying to fit into a circle and it never worked for me. The harder I tried, the harder I fell. For some reason I was a real target and I got beat up and called names.

In a sense, I'm always hearing music of some sort, whether it's people talking or surface noise or whatever, because there is no privacy. So when I'm by myself, I just kind of like to be and reflect, and I can't do that when I'm listening to music. Because it's someone else's reflections, not mine.

Running is very rhythmic, and I have written a lot of lyrics while out running. It's a very musical exercise, and sometimes I like to sing when I run. Your whole body is doing the same thing.

The darker and the sadder the song, the happier it makes me feel. It's just this, ah. I'm in the moment. I'm part of this beautiful world, and it's fantastic, and I don't really know how else to describe it.

We're just here to put on a great musical show and I think any social or political issues are secondary, although very important, because it is a music festival first and foremost,

Mother can't you see I've got to live my life the way I feel is right for me might not be right for you but it's right for me...

I thought, 'Well, why don't I get some of the women who I've had open up for me before and some artists that I really admire and respect. Let's ask them to do a few shows.'

Time after Time' is one of the best pop songs ever written, in my opinion. It's an incredible, beautiful, timeless song.

We plan to have three years and try not to repeat artists in the same marketplaces. I have a hard time thinking of what's going be going on next week, much less two years from now. We're going to sit down after '99 and reassess things, probably take a year off.

I'm so tired, but I can't sleep. Standing on the edge of something much too deep.

Don't let your life pass you by, weep not for the memories.

We asked all sorts of people from all different walks of music and this is who we got this year, who said yes. I think music crosses barriers and boundaries. If it's good, it's good. We're after good music.

Why are there so many songs about ravens, and what's on the other side? Rainbows are visions, but only illusions. Rainbows have nothing to hide

Yet we have a great opportunity and great platform to talk about a lot of issues that are important to me and a lot of us as women and human beings.

Every time I'm close to you, there's too much I can's say and you just walk away... I grieve in my condition for I cannot find the words to say I need you so.

The winter here's cold and bitter, it's chilled us to the bone. We haven't seen the sun for weeks, too long too far from home. I feel just like I'm sinking, and I claw for solid ground. I'm pulled down by the undertow, I never thought I could feel so

Deep within I'm shaken by the violence Of existing for only youI know I can't be with youI do what I have to do.

Dear God, Sorry to disturb you, but I feel that I should be heard loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in the amount of tears. And all the people that you made in your image, See them fighting in the street 'Cause they can't make opinions meet

The night is my companion...solitude my guide....and I would be the one to hold you down, kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away...my body aches to breathe your breath, your words keep me alive.

Everybody loves you when you're easy. . .Everybody hates when you're a bore. . .Everyone is waiting for your entrance, so don't disappoint them.

I'm a bit of a control freak. I think it would be difficult for me to give it up because my name is so associated with it.