Stefani: "I'm lucky to not have a real job, to be able to express myself, be creative and be relevant."

Stefani: "I wish I could write more make-believe. It's a lot easier to write about hard times and when things are going wrong. But I've never been a private person."

Stefani: "I'm like every other girl. I have to try really hard my whole life to try to be fit. And I'm super-vain."

Stefani: "People might think you can turn creativity on and off, but it’s not like that. It just kind of comes out. A mash up of all these things you collect in your mind. You never know when it’s gonna happen, but when it does … it’s like magic. It’s just that simple and it’s just that hard."

Stefani: "No one can force me to do something unless I’m passionate about it."

Stefani: "I remember when I was in school, they would ask, 'What are you going to be when you grow up?' and then you'd have to draw a picture of it. I drew a picture of myself as a bride."

Stefani: "You can't plan anything, right? You can try."

Stefani: "Don't shave, don't shower, don't care. Be really stinky and wear the same clothes every day. I think what makes a man sexy is not being self-aware. That’s what's really cute to me."

Stefani: “After you make a fool of yourself a few hundred times, you learn what works.”

Stefani: "And if I let myself down, appear on stage when I'm not looking my best, it's not fun for me. I just beat myself up about it."

Stefani: "Before, I was really passive, all I cared about was being in love with my boyfriend. I didn't have any creative power, nothing. I don't know that person any more."

Stefani: "I like to make my husband like me more, and he likes it when I'm wearing makeup."

Stefani: "Although I'd always wanted children, it was such an opposite thing to being a singer."

Stefani: "At a certain point I'm going to want to have a family."

Stefani: "My mom always said I was the peacemaker in the family. My older brother, Eric, was the leader, the creative one. I was just his puppet."

Stefani: "Being a singer is all about me. About ego. Being a mom is all about being selfless - two different worlds."

Stefani: "I try not to be but I'm super-neurotic about diet. I'm neurotic about trying not to be neurotic! I'm like every other girl. I have to try really hard my whole life to try to be fit.

Stefani: “I remember so vividly the first song I ever wrote. It was called 'Different People.'”

Stefani: "I'd like to have no rules and eat what I want, but I've learned over the years that I'm so disappointed when I can't wear the clothes I want to wear."

Stefani: "Never say never. In your life you never know what’s going to happen next."

Stefani: "I don't have a strong sense of self-worth unless I'm doing something."

Stefani: "I was a different person before I started to write. When I realized I could be a songwriter and that people would listen - that was when I started feeling good in my life."

Stefani: "I have to be creative to be happy."

Stefani: "Act as young as you feel. You’re not getting older; you’re getting more entitled to be your fabulous self."

Stefani: "I wanted so badly to have a backup plan for when I'm not performing anymore. Let's be realistic: it's not going to be like this forever."

Stefani: "I don't have a strong sense of self-worth unless I'm doing something."

Stefani: “I think I've been able to fool a lot of people because I know I'm a dork. I'm a geek.”

Stefani: "Life is short and you've got to get the most out of it."

Stefani: "I was thinking that when I have children, that I should always dress as a character for them, so they think their mom is Alice in Wonderland or Cinderella. It would be totally messed up!"

Stefani: "Finding that balance between work and family is the hardest thing I’ve ever done – by far."

Stefani: "I have learned to delegate."

Stefani: “You feel pretty gross when you are first pregnant. You don't feel cute, you feel disgusting. You're getting fat. It was hard.”

Stefani: “I want to be a guy, but I want to wear a lot of makeup.”

Stefani: “I got married and decided I wanted to do a dance record, and I didn't ever expect for it to be what it was or for the 'No Doubt' thing to be such a long break, but it was one of those things where you just had to sort of follow your inspiration.”

Stefani: "I work out five days a week; I can't imagine not doing it."

Stefani: “There's nothing that compares to being in a band with your best friends. We're so comfortable together, we understand each other. It feels, like, normal. Whereas solo period felt like I was trying to be something, and play a role, and pretend.”

Stefani: “Have another baby. I mean, it's such a miracle to have one. And there's so...”

Stefani: "It feels like the more I'm out there in the public eye, the more criticism I get. You need to have confidence - that's what it takes to walk out there and sing a song in front of a huge group of people."

Stefani: "My songs are basically my diaries. Some of my best songwriting has come out of time when I've been going through a personal nightmare."

Stefani: "You know, I was chubby when I was a little girl. And I have all those issues everyone else has. But I try not to. And I've learned over the years that it's such a waste of time. And people like me whether I'm a little bit fatter or not."

Stefani: "I'm really emotional. I don't fight with people - like, I can barely fight with my husband because I'll just start crying instead. I've learned not to do that."

Stefani: “I like the old, vintage Hollywood look.”

Stefani: "Every day I fail at something."

Stefani: "I imagine my children are going to save me from my vanity and be my passion and fill whatever fears I have of the amazing time I'm having right now being gone."