Grande: “I feel like all of a sudden I woke up and I’m an adult. It’s really crazy for me.”

Grande: "I stand up for what I believe in, just as everyone does—and everyone is entitled to an opinion. There are things that work for me and things that don’t. I’m a very loving, open and accepting person."

Grande: "I think people see me as a little cutesy thing, but I’m literally the most sardonic person you’ve ever met."

Grande: “Everyone has to have uncomfortable conversations with their relatives. Instead of unfriending people on Facebook who share different political views, comment! Have a conversation! Try to spread the f*cking light.”

Grande: “There’s always tomorrow and it always gets better.”

Grande: "I worked with someone who told me they’d never like me. But for some reason, I just felt like I needed her approval. So I stared changing myself to please her. It made me stop being social and friendly. I was so unhappy."

Grande: "I’m a micromanaging workhorse. Absolutely an obsessive-compulsive workaholic."

Grande: "I'm a lot shier than people think. I don't go online when I'm dealing with sh*t. This is a very amazing time in my life, but also the most stressful. I'm adjusting and I'm learning."

Grande: "The thrill of not knowing what's going to happen trained me to be prepared for anything."

Grande: "Sometimes, people can be extraordinarily judgmental and closed-minded to anyone different or special, which is why it's so hard for young people in this day and age to be comfortable enough in their own skin to not listen to the people picking on them."

Grande: "Love is a really scary thing, and you never know what's going to happen. It's one of the most beautiful things in life, but it's one of the most terrifying. It's worth the fear because you have more knowledge, experience, you learn from people, and you have memories."

Grande: “Plant love, grow peace.”

Grande: "I don't feel much pressure to fit in. I never have. I've always just wanted to do my thing. I have really good friends and good family, and if I don't fit in somewhere else, I fit in at home."

Grande: "I feel like if you try new things and you experiment and are constantly putting out music and you just do what feels good as long as it feels authentic, then all those things you can feel and you can reach as many people as you want."

Grande: "I just love to shop. If I could, I would shop every single day in every single store and spend all of my money which, you know, I do anyway."

Grande: "It was such a cool thing for me to have people come up and say, 'I love your music,' as opposed to 'I love your show.' … It was very cosmic. I think the universe was more responsible for that than I was."

Grande: "Love comes in many different forms. You can love somebody and not be in love with them. They can break your heart and you can cry over it but still not be in love with them....love is a really peculiar thing."

Grande: "Spiritual enlightenment and self-protection are more effective than drugs and alcohol, I feel."

[On her thought process when coming up with new ideas for her music]

Grande: "I see a list of like things that I know I would want to be on an album. Even if they're unfinished, I know that there are titles like of things that exist in my head, and once I see like 10 I'm like 'hmm should I start paying attention to this?' 'Do they go together?' 'Is it cohesive?' 'Does it make sense?' And then I'm like 'oh wow we're onto something...'"

Grande: “Madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”

Grande: "For my fifth birthday party we had a 'Jaws' theme and all my friends left crying. I mean, I still am that way. But when I was little it was more concerning.”

Grande: "I'm a big nerd. I love Lord of the Rings. I love Harry Potter. I love scary movies. I love dinosaurs, science, aliens, ghosts."

Grande: “I would rather sell fewer records and be outspoken about what I think is some f*ckery than sell more records and be . . . Switzerland. Am I allowed to say that? I love Switzerland. The fake wokes are waiting to attack!”

Grande: "I love working. It makes me happy. When I have too much time off it makes me feel very weird."

Grande: “Music is my dharma. It’s what makes my heart smile and what I feel like I am meant to do. I understand music more than I understand human beings and the English language.”

Grande: “The planets, the stars, there’s nothing more humbling than that sh*t. We get so stressed about little things when, in the big picture, we’re just a speck of dust on this tiny planet in this enormous solar system that is also a speck in a huge, mysterious black hole situation, and we don’t even know what it is! Thinking about how small we are, it’s crazy. We are nothing.”

Grande: “There was a stage, when I was 3 or 4, where my mom thought I might grow up to be a serial killer."

Grande: “I’ve never been this vulnerable to myself. I feel like I graduated almost. I feel like for a long time the songs were great, but they weren’t songs that made me feel something the way these songs do.”

Grande: "Because I’m a vegan, I’m not going to stop being friends with someone who eats meat and dairy. And I’m not going to disown my friends who are Catholic."

Grande: “Those moments to me are when a song comes together... When you get to the chorus, you do a couple of ad lib takes and you do all the harmonies in the world. My favorite things are vocal production, harmonies, and vocal arrangement. That’s when a song has its legs.”

Grande: "I grew up writing songs in my room on GarageBand, and I would make the beats just out of layering my vocals over and over again."

Grande: "If I could, I would not do anything else. I'd just be in the studio for my whole life. I would never go to parties, events, and red carpets. I would rather just be in the studio for the whole time. I don't even care. Nobody has to know what I look like. I just want to make music."

Grande: “Does anyone want to warn me when f*cking titles are going to come in and Kristen Bell’s voice is going to start saying Gossip Girl stuff and my song’s going to be in the background? Does anyone want to just warn me? Because I had a heart attack. You know, like, I was a young girl watching Gossip Girl religiously growing up. And then I’m sitting here...”

[On what she wanted to do when she was young]

Grande: “I always wanted to have skeleton face paint on or be wearing a Freddy Krueger mask, and I would carry a hockey stick around. I was like a mini-Helena Bonham Carter."

Grande: “The thing that makes me feel OK with opening up and finally allowing myself to be vulnerable is that I know [my fans] feel the same feelings. I’ve talked to them about it. I have fans that have become friends of mine. I have their numbers, and we talk all the time.”

Grande: “I like having my funny character that I play, that feels like this exaggerated version of myself. It protects me. But also I love disrupting it for the sake of my fans and making clear that I’m a person—because that’s something I enjoy fighting for.”

Grande: "Maybe that’s why Americans end up looking like cows! Ultimately, no one wants cow tit pus in their food, do they?”

Grande: “I guess I was kind of running on zero and pretending to be at a 10 for about 10 months. It took me getting to, I deserve to be at a 10, and f*ck it, and let's f*cking go, and now I feel so free and happy as f*ck. Reaching that feeling made me look at the songs and be like What? What?! I wasn't going to put this on the album? Oh my god, this is a bop! What was I f*cking thinking? How did I get in my own head about blah-blah-blah that I would dare take this off the album.”

Grande: "For my fifth birthday party we had a 'Jaws' theme..."

[On if she gets mad about being compared to Mariah Carey]

Grande: "At first impression I think it’s an obvious comparison to draw because of the range and style of throwback R&B. But as you listen to the whole album, Yours Truly, you get to know my sound. You get to know Ariana. If I complained about being compared to the greatest vocalist who ever lived, I would be a very dumb, ungrateful person. So I can’t complain. It’s a massive compliment."

[On why it takes her long to record records]

Grande: "I’m a big perfectionist! I’m trying to channel super-confident women like Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé, because I realized that if you want something, you really have to go for it, just like they do."

Grande: "If anything, we should feel sorry for the people who want us to feel bad about ourselves, because they are the ones struggling for approval. In middle school, bullies tortured other kids because they thought it would make people like them more."

[Talking about the creation of her album, thank u, next]

Grande: "But if I’m completely honest, I don’t remember those months of my life because I was (a) so drunk and (b) so sad. I don’t really remember how it started or how it finished, or how all of a sudden there were 10 songs on the board."

Grande: "It’s interesting because I never thought people would pay so much attention to what I was wearing. I’m a musician, not a fashionista! But as time went on, I was like, 'Oh my god, people are [talking about] what I look like as [much as they are about] what I sound like. I better start paying attention to this.'"

Grande: “Every time you’re faced with something ugly, focus on something beautiful. What you focus on expands. Only you can change your reality.”

Grande: “I learned how to make it sound like I was belting and being loud without actually belting and being loud. The voice is expensive, and if you’re spending it properly, you’ll be able to keep spending it.”

Grande: "It’s the littlest things that freak me out. Like swallowing pills, people being sick. And I can’t stand germs. I’m terrified of looking straight into the camera. I see people on the other side of the lens and the whole judgmental world of pop culture waiting with their pitchforks and torches. At the end of the day I don’t care what they have to say, but knowing that every little thing I do is documented is a lot of pressure."

Grande: “It’s a new day. Count your blessings, think twice before you complain, give more than you ask for, do what makes you happy and enjoy life.”

Grande: "I’ve always loved fashion, but I’ve always loved the same thing—I’m drawn to very retro-, period-looking style. It’s funny, because I never thought I was on top of a trend. I’m always doing something that either will go over really well—or not at all. I don’t want to just do what’s trendy; I want to do what feels good."

Grande: “Everyone strives for approval and wants to be loved.”

Grande: "I love making my Instagram look cohesive - look like a Tumblr page almost. When they all make sense colorwise, or when you add those white borders to them, it makes them look cleaner. Clean and precise."

Grande: "You know, I never really got into fashion the way that I should have. I feel like my main focus has always been music. I go out in jeans and a hoodie every day. That's what I'm comfortable in. But I do love girly, flouncy skirts. I want to be a fashionista, but I feel like I haven't really had the time to actually be a fashionista yet."

Grande: "Meditation is a great way to keep my body well-centered while juggling shooting schedules and recording sessions."

Grande: “The thing that makes me feel OK with opening up and finally allowing myself to be vulnerable is that I know [my fans] feel the same feelings. I’ve talked to them about it. I have fans that have become friends of mine. I have their numbers, and we talk all the time. I played [the song] for them before I played it for my label. They were like, ‘Thank you,’ when they heard that one. It was so scary to do that, but to see them be like, ‘I get it, I feel that too’…”

[On her life recently]

Grande: “I was driving home from work and I just felt an overwhelming peace wash over me. I just started tearing up — tears of gratitude because of perspective, because of growth, opening up and finding the ground again because of music, friends, and love. I was just overwhelmed by how simple it can be if you let it.”

Grande: “When you feel your best, everybody else can feel it too.”

Grande: “We’re all human and we all have great amounts of pressure on us. When someone’s hurting, be there. We could all use a little compassion.”

[On going to coachella to see Mac Miller]

Grande: “I never thought I’d even go to Coachella. I was always a person who never went to festivals and never went out and had fun like that. But the first time I went was to see Malcolm perform, and it was such an incredible experience. I went the second year as well, and I associate...heavily...it was just kind of a mindf*ck, processing how much has happened in such a brief period.”

Grande: “Life is beautiful. Cherish every moment.”

[On her hometown, Boca Raton]

Grande: “I miss the beach, I miss Town Center, I miss Cinemark—which will always be Muvico in my heart, I miss Boomers, I miss the Kabbalah Centre in Boca, I miss the Boca Beach Club, I miss my grandparents … I miss my home.”

[On if she is bothered by gossip about her]

Grande: "I only talk to my fans, so the things I see online are what I see on Twitter. I find out about the gossipy stuff if they bring it to my attention. Even then, I don’t want to make that important in my life. I want to focus on my family, my fans and the people I love. I feel like if I create that bubble for myself, then I’ll be fine."

Grande: "It doesn't feel like Halloween at all this year and I'm very depressed."

Grande: “I’ve always sort of gravitated towards the ‘50s and ‘60s and ‘70s for glamour references, I’ve always pictured myself in a different time period. I’ve always wanted to wear that makeup, wear that hair, wear those outfits, be those performers.”

Grande: "I'm going to be the lady my mother raised and carry myself with class and dignity... But I will never be any man's press opportunity."

Grande: "I love social media. I love Twitter. I love Facebook. I love Instagram—I’m an addict. It’s important because I love talking to my fans. I feel a very weird maternal connection toward them; it’s like they’re all my babies and I have to go say hi and take care of them every day."

Grande: "The fact that all of those people were able to turn something that represented the most heinous of humanity into something beautiful and unifying and loving is just wild."

[On her mother, Joan Grande]

Grande: "My creative sensibility is right on point, but my business sense is still evolving. My mom is teaching me about the business; she helps me in situations where I’m about to be screwed over. She’ll look it over and get me out of it. She takes really good care of me. I don’t know that I would be where I am right now if she hadn’t [steered] me away from making some huge mistakes."

Grande: "Nothing burns more calories than dancing in 5-inch heels... try it!"

[On her childhood obsession with Judy Garland]

Grande: “I would stand in front of the TV and mimic her body movements. I was always fascinated. She carried herself in a way that was so protected and soft and Judy.”

Grande: "No, I’ve always wanted to do what I wanted to do [when it comes to music]; I’m very pig-headed that way… There was a moment where [my team] wanted me to do a slightly younger type of music. I tried one song and it didn’t go over well. I was like, 'See, it didn’t work. Now I get to do what I want.'"

[On Sweetener]

Grande: “I’ve always just been like a shiny, singing, 5-6-7-8, sexy-dance…sexy thing. But now it’s like, ‘OK … issa bop — but issa message. Issa bop but also has chunks of my soul in it. Here you go. Also, I cried 10 hundred times in the session writing it for you. Here is my bleeding heart, and here is a trap beat behind it.’ There’s definitely some crying-on-the-dancefloor stuff on this one.”

[On her ponytail]

Grande: “Old pony? I don’t know if she’s that girl. But new pony? I like her. I mean, it’s like a Victoria Secret angel without angel wings. It’s still her without them, but when she’s with them it’s like, Ohh, I get it, she’s an angel.”

Grande: "These days, I always have a ’60s look going… I would love to see girls all running around like Ann-Margret; that would be a dream come true."

Grande: “There are parts of my life that they would love to know about, and hard times that I have been dealing with for the past year-and-a-half that they deserve to know about because they love me endlessly and care. I don't want to hide any pain from them because I can relate to their pain. Why not be in it together?”

[On Manchester]

Grande: “It’s not my trauma, It’s those families’. It’s their losses, and so it’s hard to just let it all out without thinking about them reading this and reopening the memory for them.”

Grande: "I don’t get home as often as I’d like, probably every five months or so. I live in L.A., I have dogs there, a garden, my work—but no matter what, I always feel like Boca is my home."

[On Manchester]

Grande: “I would be in a good mood, fine and happy, and they would hit me out of nowhere. I’ve always had anxiety, but it had never been physical before. There were a couple of months straight where I felt so upside down.”

Grande: “I’m a person who’s been through a lot and doesn’t know what to say about any of it to myself, let alone the world. I see myself onstage as this perfectly polished, great-at-my-job entertainer, and then in situations like this I’m just this little basket-case puddle of figuring it out.”

[On a demon encounter she had]

Grande: "I felt this sick, overwhelming feeling of negativity over the whole car and we smelled sulfur, which is the sign of a demon, and there was a fly in the car randomly, which is another sign of a demon. I was like, 'This is scary, let’s leave.' I rolled down the window before we left and said, 'We apologize. We didn’t mean to disrupt your peace.' Then I took a picture and there are three super distinct faces in the picture—they’re faces of textbook demons."

Grande: "I've done the bad-boy thing. It was fun for a good three months. But the thing about bad boys is, you have to keep in mind, you're never gonna marry a bad boy."

Grande: "I like rapping. I don’t take myself seriously but it feels good to learn the words to an entire song and rap."

Grande: "One of the most terrible feelings in the world is knowing that someone else doesn't like you. Especially when you don't know what you've done to deserve it."

Grande: "Dancing in high heels is kind of tough. I learn the dances without the heels, and then we add them. We just practice, and I get used to it. My feet hurt really badly at the end of the shows, but it's fun. While it's happening it's fun. I feel tall."

[On haters]

Grande: "For a very long time it affected me. And I was like, 'But they don't know the story!' or 'But they don't know me!' And my friends were like, 'That's the thing. They don't know you and they never will. You can't let a 12-year-old in Minnesota ruin your day.'"

Grande: "I'm not like a little robot at all. I'm a real person. I don't try to do things because they will look a certain way. I try to keep it real with my fans."

Grande: "I'm pretty sure my house in Florida is haunted! He's a nice ghost though."

Grande: “There was a two-album period where I was doing half the songs for me and half the songs to solidify my spot in pop music. A lot of my singles have been hilariously lacking in substance. You’re talking to someone who put ‘Side to Side’ out as a single. I love that song, but it’s just a fun song about sex.”

Grande: "Love comes in many different forms. You can love somebody and not be in love with them. They can break your heart and you can cry over it but still not be in love with them. Love is a really peculiar thing. I think as far as being in love, I’ve experienced it."

Grande: "I met India Arie, who is one of my favorite artists of all time. It was really sweet; I was broken up with a month before, and she stayed up texting me all night and was helping me through it. Her text message looks like a song of hers. She's sort of become my fairy godmother."

Grande: "Everybody's got something to say, but I'd rather be the person who's honest than the person who's like, 'Oh that's personal, I'm not going to tell you.' I've always had an open, honest relationship with my fans."

Grande: “I never really saw myself as an actress, but when I started talking about wanting to make R&B music at 14, they were like, ‘What the f*ck would you sing about? This is never going to work. You should audition for some TV shows and build yourself a platform and get yourself out there, because you’re funny and cute and you should do that until you’re old enough to make the music you want to make.’ So I did that. I booked that TV show, and then I was like, OK, now can I make music?”

Grande: "I really just like to enjoy the present, you know? I don't like to worry too much about the future, I don't like to think too much about the past, I like to just enjoy what's happening now."

Grande: “I’ve been open in my art and open in my DMs and my conversations with my fans directly, and I want to be there for them, so I share things that I think they’ll find comfort in knowing that I go through as well. But also there are a lot of things that I swallow on a daily basis that I don’t want to share with them, because they’re mine. But they know that. They can literally see it in my eyes. They know when I’m disconnected, when I’m happy, when I’m tired. It’s this weird thing we have. We’re like f*cking E.T. and Elliott.”

Grande: "Only be with somebody if they make you feel like the best version of yourself. You can't sacrifice yourself for anybody, you know?"

Grande: "When you feel your best, everybody else can feel it, too."

Grande: “I’m a 25-year-old woman. But I’ve also spent the past handful of years growing up under very extraordinary circumstances. And I know how that story goes.…”

Grande: "I like Aurora, 'Sleeping Beauty,' because she's just sleeping and looking pretty and waiting for boys to come kiss her. Sounds like a good life - lots of naps and cute boys fighting dragons to come kiss you."

Grande: "I'm not going to do anything crazy, but I want to do music that I'm passionate about. I'm finally at an age where I can do the music that I grew up loving, which was urban pop, '90s music. I grew up listening to the divas, so I'm very happy to finally do urban pop. I hope that it's received well, and it has been so far."

Grande: "I like the idea of separating myself from my younger image in a gradual, authentic way – I don’t really feel comfortable doing something out of control to convey my maturity, because it doesn’t feel genuine to me. So I will convey sexiness and maturity in ways that I’m comfortable with, but that’s not my priority when it comes to the music. It just speaks for itself."

Grande: “I have to be the luckiest girl in the world, and the unluckiest, for sure. I’m walking this fine line between healing myself and not letting the things that I’ve gone through be picked at before I’m ready, and also celebrating the beautiful things that have happened in my life and not feeling scared that they’ll be taken away from me because trauma tells me that they will be, you know what I mean?”

Grande: "I could never properly explain the bond I have with my fans, I feel like they are my family, they are just so supportive and incredibly dedicated I could never put into words how thankful I am for them. They inspire me and I want to keep doing what I'm doing because of them, it's so amazing."

Grande: "Love is a really scary thing, and you never know what’s going to happen. It’s one of the most beautiful things in life, but it’s one of the most terrifying. It’s worth the fear because you have more knowledge, experience, you learn from people, and you have memories."

Grande: "SNL is the most- it's just the greatest environment"

Grande: “I’m a person who’s been through a lot and doesn’t know what to say about any of it to myself, let alone the world. I see myself onstage as this perfectly polished, great-at-my-job entertainer, and then in situations like this I’m just this little basket-case puddle of figuring it out.”

Grande: "You have to wait a few days in between selfies. I know people who post multiple in a day, and some of them are my close friends, and I'll be like, 'Enough!' There are only so many times in a day that I need to see your beautiful face."

Grande: "I tend to keep my style very classic. I like very girly, retro inspired, feminine floral things. I'm not very edgy."

Grande: “We’re in such a trying time and people have been responding with acceptance, love, inclusion, and passion. This generation, they’re standing up and they’re not going to take no for an answer.”

Grande: "Most of my favorite people in my life are gay. It's something I'm super passionate about, because whenever I would see my friends get bullied, or my brother get hurt for his sexuality, I would become a raging lunatic."

Grande: "I have a lot to say that could probably help people that I do want to share, but I have a lot that I still need to process myself and will probably never be ready to talk about."

Grande: "Of course I love music and I love what I do, but seeing their response to my work is my favorite part of it."

[On Mac Miller]

Grande: "By no means was what we had perfect, but, like, f*ck. He was the best person ever, and he didn’t deserve the demons he had."

Grande: "I love making music and performing for my fans, and I want to be happy and doing what I love still. I'm not taking a moment of this for granted, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to keep doing this. I love it. I'm very happy."

Grande: "I’ve learned how to balance that out and be a loving partner but also nourish myself. A lot of people forget about the whole self-love thing when they’re in love, and both are imperative."

[On gossip surrounding her]

Grande: "You know, I get it. [The paparazzi and gossip outlets] have to do their job and make their money too… But if there’s no truth behind a rumor, it just goes away. So why stress over something like that."

[On the Manchester attack]

Grande: “I guess I thought with time, and therapy, and writing, and pouring my heart out, and talking to my friends and family that it would be easier to talk about, but it’s still so hard to find the words.”

Grande: “I’m proud that we were able to raise a lot of money with the intention of giving people a feeling of love or unity, but at the end of the day, it didn’t bring anyone back. Everyone was like, Wow, look at this amazing thing, and I was like, What the f*ck are you guys talking about? We did the best we could, but on a totally real level we did nothing. I’m sorry. I have a lot to say that could probably help people that I do want to share, but I have a lot that I still need to process myself and will probably never be ready to talk about. For a long time I didn’t want to talk to anyone about anything, because I didn’t want to think about anything. I kind of just wanted to bury myself in work and not focus on the real stuff, because I couldn’t believe it was real. I loved going back into the studio with Pharrell because he just has this magical outlook on everything. He truly believes that the light is coming. And I’m like, Bruh, is it, though?”

Miley Cyrus: “Ariana’s an open book. She has always shared her experiences with this beautiful blend of reality and the fantasy that pop culture requires. But holding her in my arms that night and feeling her shake from the loss of lives, literally feeling her heart pounding against mine—when you can let down the personas and cry with the rest of the world, it’s unifying. It’s a reminder that music can be our greatest healer.”

Pharrell Williams: “She’s like an R-rated version of a Disney character, super-vivid. But she’s full of self-awareness. That meta-cognition is part of her personality.”

Jennette McCurdy: “She’s extremely strong-willed and she will do whatever it takes to get what she wants if she really believes in something. I think that’s such an admirable quality to have and I look up to her for that. And I think that’s something, working with her now for a year and a half, that hopefully I’ve adopted a bit of and I hope to get more of it as time goes on.”

Scooter Brawn: “That’s when you see the best of her: when the cameras aren’t on. Because a lot of people know how to turn it on for the cameras. She is who she is all of the time.”

[On old musicals Ariana was obsessed with when she was younger]

Joan Grande: “She was so intrigued by how pristine and precise these women were. She studied them carefully.”

[On Ariana's Jaws themed 5th birthday]

Joan Grande: “Most of the kids were running, screaming, because I had Jaws playing on a huge screen. The parents were like, ‘Are you crazy? Our kids don’t watch that!’ But it was [Ariana’s] favorite movie.”

Vogue: "When the family loved a show, they could be obsessive; Joan estimates that they saw Jersey Boys on Broadway close to 60 times."