I told my mom, 'I'm not buying another magazine until I can get past this thought of looking like the girl on the cover'. She said, "Miley, you are the girl on the cover,' and I was, like, 'I know, but I don't feel like that girl every day.' You can't always feel perfect.

People need to understand that the Lauryn Hill they were exposed to in the beginning was all that was allowed in that arena at the time. I had to step away for the sake of the machine. I was being way too compromised. I felt uncomfortable having to smile in someone's face when I really didn't like them or know them well enough to like.

There's a lot of freedom today and you can put yourself across anyway you want to. But I haven't CHOSEN this image. I'm myself and in fact half the time I let the wind take me.

If I hold back, I'm no good. I'm no good. I'd rather be good sometimes, than holding back all the time.

It's so much easier to know who you are when there aren't a thousand people telling you who they think you are.

Why, when people are starving, am I on a carpet that's red? Because I'm "important"? Because I'm "famous"? That's not how I roll.