The future that I will not live to see is the one my children will live in. That's my immortality. And I shouldn't try to mortgage theirs for my benefit.

I think that the present is worth attention one shouldn't sacrifice it to future conceptions of of this future or that future.

When I was a kid I didn't feel like I fit in because - this is really silly and I probably shouldn't say it but I didn't think anything was funny. So I used to go home and literally cry to my mom and my step-dad at the time and I didn't think anything was funny. I couldn't laugh.

The one thing you shouldn't do is try to tell a cab driver how to get somewhere.

With Napster and the sharing of music of course there are going to be people who exploit it. Greed has no end. But there's a lot of good that could happen. We shouldn't let the economic concerns of the major labels infringe on our freedom to share music.

Freedom isn't free. It shouldn't be a bragging point that 'Oh I don't get involved in politics ' as if that makes someone cleaner. No that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn't insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.

'Caught' is a novel of forgiveness and the past and the present - who should be and who shouldn't be forgiven. None of my books are ever just about thrills or it won't work.

Older people shouldn't eat health food they need all the preservatives they can get.

There's a definite responsibility that comes with being famous. You shouldn't be able to just dress up and look pretty.

Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.

I come from a family of very devout praying people. That idea of peace and love toward humanity shouldn't be nationalistic or denominational. It should be a chief concern for all mankind.

If people choose to live their life in a way that does not confront the more troubling aspects of their experience that's fine if it works for them. But it will probably make them uncomfortable if they come up against somebody like me. So they just shouldn't! They shouldn't read my work!

You shouldn't be afraid of failure - when something fails you think 'What did I learn from that experience? I can do better next time.' Then kill that project and move on to the next. Don't get disappointed.

There's full consensus in the military that women shouldn't be in person-to-person combat. I don't know if we have enough experience to know whether this is the right approach. But women can be elsewhere. We have mandatory military service in Chile. I pushed for women in all areas.

I think newspapers shouldn't try to compete directly with the Web and should do what they can do better which may be long-form journalism and using photos and art and making connections with large-form graphics and really enhancing the tactile experience of paper.

Making an album should be an honest experience. It shouldn't be about trying to gauge where popular music is today it should be about artistic expression and putting down what you want to put down.

You know it shouldn't just be about women as heroic figures overcoming things it just needs to be about women in general getting the opportunity to play a multitude of roles telling a multitude of stories - just to express human experience from a woman's perspective. I hope someday we can get to that point. I'm all about representation.