Spears: “I always have melodies in my head. Usually in the bathtub, I’ll be playing around with melodies and ideas.”

Spears: ''I think you never grow up. If anyone says that they're completely full grown, what's the fun in that? Every day you want to learn something new. Every day you want to challenge yourself and get better.''

Spears: "I'm very impatient. I want to be able to learn now."

Spears: "I think, as artists, you're constantly in creative motion. If I stopped writing songs, then that's a part of me that would stop in my life, and I need constant motion."

Spears: “I mean, if I fall in love tomorrow with a guy who runs a McDonald’s, I’m going to follow my heart.”

Spears: "Honestly, I don’t know what I’ll be like tomorrow and I don’t know what they’ll be like tomorrow. I just do my thing and do what I love."

Spears: "Smoking, drinking, sex - why is it such a big deal for me? Everything in moderation."

Spears: "It’s hard for me honestly because I am an open person. And I’m very open toward everyone. And that’s something that I’ve had to constantly tell myself to hold back from."

Spears: "I don't pretend to be someone I'm not."

Spears: "I really don’t like defining myself or I don’t even know how I am right now. You know, I just am, and have no idea what I’ll be like in the future."

Spears: "I need to do psychology classes. That would be so interesting to me, studying people."

Spears: “I’d get bored singing the same type of songs all the time. I mean, I still love my old stuff, but you have to extend yourself and grow.”

Spears: "I can't go anywhere without someone judging me."

Spears: "I've always followed my heart and pursued my dreams, and I imagine that people find that inspiring. I hope that is the effect I have on my fans and people in general. I definitely want to project a positive energy out into the world."

Spears: "I go through life like a Karate Kid."

Spears: "I don't think I push my envelope. I think you go for things yourself and the way you really feel them. Like, it's going to come out sooner or later. It's exhilarating to express yourself and get the things out there that you want to say. Yeah, I think it is empowering."

Spears: “I want to be an artist that everyone can relate to, that’s young, happy and fun.”

[On Oops!... I Did it Again]

Spears: “It has all kinds of different moods, some of the sounds on this album are just out of this world, stuff that people would never expect me to do. It’s so diverse.”

Spears: "I don’t take myself that seriously. So I just have to laugh it off when stuff like that comes up."

Spears: “Honestly, in my heart — my instincts tell me it’s not going to sell as much as Oops and …Baby. But at the same time I think this is one of the most important records I’ve ever done. Because I think people will listen to it and have more respect for it — an older generation.”

Spears: "You should be proud of your sexuality. Just because I'm young doesn't mean I can't be sexy."

Spears: "I just do the creative side of things."

Spears: "I don't stand for stupidity. If I think something's not done right with my schedule, I call my manager and freak out. That's the one person I do lose my temper to."

Spears: "I'm from the South so I'm a very open person and I've had to teach myself not to open up to too many people."

Spears: “Every night, I have to read a book, so that my mind will stop thinking about things that I stress about.”

Spears: "I've been very hands-on with everything I've done since I had my children. And it's just really important for me to understand the big picture, where everybody's coming from, what's the real purpose of this shoot and this song, or whatever it is in that moment that I'm doing."

Spears: “The cool thing about being famous is traveling. I have always wanted to travel across seas, like to Canada and stuff.”

Spears: "I want to wait to have sex until I'm married."

Spears: “I don’t see myself — hand on the Bible — I know I’m not ugly, but I don’t see myself as a sex symbol or this goddess-attractive-beautiful person at all. When I’m on stage, that’s my time to do my thing and go there and be that — and it’s fun. It’s exhilarating just to be something that you’re not. And people tend to believe it. I guess I just pull it off very well.”

Spears: "Just because I look sexy on the cover of Rolling Stone doesn't mean I'm naughty."

Spears: "I don’t know who knows what I’ll be like tomorrow, but for this album I was really inspired by [Daisy] and The Neptunes, those were the two people I really listened to."

Spears: “There are so many other teenagers out there that dress more provocatively than I do and no one says anything about them.”

Spears: "It's no secret I'm a shy person."

Spears: "I think when you grow as a person, you’re going to grow as an artist as well. And I just think for this, my third album, I had to grow creatively. And I couldn’t do like 'Baby One More Time' number three, you know. So for me as a person, I just had to change it up a little bit and just pray that people will think that’s cool or appreciate or really love my music."

Spears: "You'll never see it my way, because you're not me!"

Spears: "I'm a hometown girl, and my personality at home is the opposite of the performer in me. But then, when I'm home and haven't done anything for a while, I get really itchy and nervous and weird-feeling."

Spears: "I'm pretty normal, you know?"

[On how some interpreted the line "Hit me, baby" to be masochistic]

Spears: “It doesn’t mean physically hit me, it means just give me a sign, basically. I think it’s kind of funny that people would actually think that’s what it meant.”

Spears: “I think every photo shoot I’ve done has been tasteful. I’ll never be a vamp-vixen-sex-goddess.”

Spears: "I know this may sound really silly, but when I was younger, I was never really insecure. At all. Never. Now I get insecure sometimes when I go places because people expect celebrities to look a certain way. And there are mornings I wake up and my butt feels fat. But I've learned that it doesn't matter what other people think of you."

Spears: "I find it so funny that people find me so interesting."

Spears: "But honestly I am never sick, ever. I’ve probably been sick once in my life with just a little cold so when I was sick like three weeks ago I thought I was dying, I was drama queen."

Spears: “I don’t know what my freakin’ image is! I just do my thing.”

Spears: "I'm in a really good place right now, loving and learning myself. Every day I'm learning who I am, it's awakening, it's cool. It's okay to be single, it totally is."

Spears: "I don't allow anybody to change me. I still walk outta my house in rollers and I take walks. I do not care what people think."

[On liking to change up her music]

Spears: "I've changed, and it reflects how my tastes in music have changed. I think if you keep challenging yourself to do something different, people will see that and like that. But it's up to me to change. And I can't sing the same kind of thing all the time. That would bore me."

Spears: "I'm still the same person I've always been."

Spears: "I put on my cute clothes, and I go onstage and I do it. If the song calls for me to wear something a little voluptuous or sexy, I like to go there."

Spears: “Onstage I’m the happiest person in the world.”

Spears: “First, the worst thing that could happen is if my boyfriend would break up with me. I would be totally devastated. And then, after the depression, maybe I did some dorky movies that were just bombs. Then, I don’t know, sh*t. Then I did another album that didn’t do very well. And then it’s back to working at my granny’s deli. Back to rolling quarters and boiling crawfish and smelling like a fish on my dates.”

Spears: “With love, you should go ahead and take the risk of getting hurt because love is an amazing feeling.”

Spears: “I would like to stop worrying so much because I worry all the time. And to learn how to be happier, just in general. I have to learn to take things not so seriously. And to stop biting my nails!… Recording music has helped take my mind off certain things. For me, my music is therapy.”

Spears: “I have to live my life. I have a family and I just think it’s absurd to let other people influence the way you live.”

Spears: “I don’t really have time to sit down and write. But when I think of a melody, I call up my answering machine and sing it, so I won’t forget it.”

Spears: "I have always been heavily involved in every album I have ever made. I'm very stubborn when it comes to recording and will only record songs I love, which is why it takes me a long time to make an album."

Spears: "For me, success is a state of mind. I feel like success isn’t about conquering something, it’s being happy with who you are."

Spears: "I have no regrets. I find everything happens for a reason and the reason why maybe this is happening is I won't take BS from anyone. And I think it's making me stand out on my own and be very independent and fight for what I believe in."

Spears: "Be fearless in your choices and don't be afraid to be yourself!"

Spears: "I wasn't the valedictorian. I was honor roll - I guess As and Bs. I played basketball, I was the point guard on my basketball team. Um, I wasn't the most popular girl in school. I just hung out.... I loved English, I loved reading a lot. I loved biology, I thought that was cool."

Spears: "I have to live my life. I have a family and I just think it's absurd to let other people influence the way you live."

Spears: "I think with anybody who's doing well in the public eye or whatever, there's always gonna be a shift because people don't wanna see somebody happy all the time. And they're gonna try to take shots at people."

Spears: "Bottom line: If you love yourself, it will all work out."

Spears: “You can see the cruelest part of the world, the cruelest part. But then on the other side, you see the most beautiful part. Do you know? It’s like you go from one extreme to the next. And they’re both worth it because you wouldn’t see the one without the other one. But that cruel part is damn cruel and you’ll never forget it. But that heaven is heaven.”

Spears: "I'm actually a very private person. Sometimes I'm in denial that I'm really famous."

Spears: “I have to feel connected before I record and the song has to spark something inside me. Very few songs do that. I guess it’s a good process because I love all of my music.”