In fact, my courage and my bravery at a young age was the thing I was bullied for, a kind of 'Who do you think you are?'

I wanted to be a skinny little ballerina but I was a voluptuous little Italian girl whose dad had meatballs on the table every night.

I have to be on such a strict diet constantly.

I am a walking piece of art every day, with my dreams and my ambitions forward at all times in an effort to inspire my fans to lead their life in that way.

To this day, some of my closest friends say, 'Gaga, you know, everything's great. You're a singer your dreams have come true.' But, still, when certain things are said to you over and over again as you're growing up, it stays with you and you wonder if they're true.

I never intended for the Monster Ball to be a religious experience, it just became one.

It's hard knowing who to trust with your personal life. When you cry in your room at night, you don't always know who to call. So I am very close to my family.

I guess you could say I devoted myself so strongly to my music that for awhile I forgot about my family. But I only get one set of parents, and I think I forgot about that for a little while.

I just want my family to be safe. Because I am sometimes polarizing, I fear for their safety.

I don't like Los Angeles. The people are awful and terribly shallow, and everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to play the game. I'm from New York. I will kill to get what I need.