"Even when there's pressure and distractions and expectations from others or myself, it's a good thing. It just makes me a better person. It makes me stronger."

“Some people stay in the academic world just to avoid becoming self-aware. You can quote me on that.”

“If you really want to love Jesus, first learn to suffer, because suffering teaches you to love.”

“The Social Security trust fund is in pretty good shape today and we should not embark upon risky, dangerous schemes which will, in fact, undermine Social Security, such as privatization.”

“Because U.K. artists aren't compensated when their music is played on U.S. radio ­stations, U.S. artists aren't ­compensated when their records are played on U.K. stations based on the fact that there's no reciprocity. If that income came in, our ­artists would be paying income taxes on it. So if we can get a lot of policy on the radar, that may have some positive influence.”

“The trafficking of sex and violence is comes after the demand for ratings.”

“I'd like to write some songs that are so good that nobody understands them. Not even myself.”

“If you look up gerbil videos online, at least half of them are hiney gerbils.”

“In my ideal world, no child would suffer. Charitable instincts would prevail. There would be global acceptance of all different types of people.”

Source : Clay Aiken (2004). “Learning to Sing”, p.240, Harper Collins