Gloria Estefan Quotes

[The hardest thing about '90 Millas' was the concept of] combining the old and the new without losing the authenticity. The simple solution, of course, would have been to record covers. [But] emotionally it wouldn't have been the same We left Cuba as children: Gloria was 1, I was 14. So, there ia a part that does exist in nostalgia, but a the same [time] there is another part that is contemporary music that we've made all over the world.

Our focus with the [Gloria Estefan] foundation has always been to help the many individuals whose challenges have fallen through the cracks of the traditional charitable organizations.

My favorite process is writing, from day one. The songs I have written throughout the years were a real great opportunity for me to communicate, because I think that's my prime objective on this planet.

I spent my childhood alone, overweight and ugly, angry at everything, and knowing nothing of a life beyond this sadness.

And, because of the life that I shared with these two amazing women [her mother and maternal grandmother] and the hardships and struggles that I saw them overcome, I learned an invaluable lesson: and that is that women can do anything we set our minds to . . . and then some!

I received an award for 25 million in [album] sales the night before the bus accident [in 1990].

[I] grew up in this city [Miami], and my music is a blend of two cultures. In the beginning it was heavily Cuban. At this point it's [from] all over . . .

My foundation trys to help people that fall through the cracks, [people] that can't get help from big organizations . . . . We try to fill in where [other] people don't help out.

I'm signed to release the third book in the series. When they invited me to do the Noelle book I had started on an autobiography, sort of, because I still get a lot of questions about that. I done so much music in my life, and writing is a beautiful outlet to continue to grow.

My friends call me 'Dolittle One' [a reference to her physical stature and affinity for animals].

The music is one of the beautiful things that has survived the Castro regime. I have played for audiences all over the world but I've never played for a Cuban audience. For [husband] Emilio and me, the music is the one tie to our homeland.

I had the greatest pleasure of listening to Gloria Estefan's lecture on "Life, Art and Spirituality" at the Graham Center of Florida International University today. It was a great experience. She is such a wonderful, amazing woman, and a great inspiration. I believe that everyone who attended her lecture today was blown away by her sincerity, kind words and her sense of humor . . . yes, because even in the darkest days of her life, there was a little room for humor. She spoke of the power of prayer, and how different this world would be if we were to stop the violence, and the hating, and the wars between us.

Well, I'm proud of it. I was declared persona non grata not by the country but by a terrorist regime. But I know that Cubans love me and my music.

I have had a life in which I have had to face every big fear, and it has not been pleasant.