Quotes from Ricky Martin

I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.

Heroes represent the best of ourselves, respecting that we are human beings. A hero can be anyone from Gandhi to your classroom teacher, anyone who can show courage when faced with a problem. A hero is someone who is willing to help others in his or her best capacity.

Life is like a great teacher..... she will repeat the lesson until you learn.

New York City is an amazing place to raise children.

These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed.

My priorities are: I need to be good; I need to be well within for my children to be well within; and then the creative process flows, organically and smoothly. I'm not looking to experience what I went through in the 'Livin' La Vida Loca' days again.

When I was 9 years old, I really wanted to be in the show business. I really wanted to be an artist. I would grab a wooden spoon and I would start singing, even if it was for my uncles and my aunts. And I would just sing any lah-lah song.

If I had spent a quarter of the time that I spent manipulating my sexuality in front of a piano instead, I would be the most gifted piano player of my lifetime.

I played Luke Skywalker. Every time we played, I was Luke Skywalker. Nobody else could be Luke Skywalker.

I don't need anything to live, to be honest. Give me a mattress or a futon on the floor and I'll be the happiest camper.

Love, acceptance, friends, two kids that I love. I have to take care of myself for them. I've also been a vegetarian for two years.

I would love to do Broadway the rest of my life! Because it's challenging, because it makes me grow as an actor, as an entertainer, as an artist, and that's what I need; that's what I'm hooked on.

The rights of homosexual people are human rights, and human rights are for everyone.

I love giving the golden shower. I've done it before in the shower. It's like so sexy, you know, the temperature of your body and the shower water is very different.

Ignore the ignorant.

A lot of people say, 'Wow, you're a single father of twin boys, that's crazy!' Two toddlers can get hectic, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Every day they teach me different things. The love is there. When you have a two-year-old saying every other hour, 'Papi, te amo. Papi, I love you,' it can't get better.

The homosexual community wants me to be gay. The heterosexual community wants me to be straight. Every writer thinks, I'm the journalist who's going to make him talk. I pray for them. I pray that they get a life and stop living mine!

Broadway is another monster. I've been touring since I was 12 years old and I love being on the road - one day you're here, next day it's snowing, and the next you are in a desert and it's 110 degrees. So I guess I'm kind of used to the madness physically that you go to when you are an entertainer. But it's been great.

I had very steady and formal relationships with women. And I can say, I fell in love with women and it felt right.

When you take things too seriously, you get old. You have to be silly. Whenever people say, 'Hey, man, are you ever going to grow up?' That's when you know you're doing things right.

It was really intense for me to start having conversations with God, when according to the man-made laws in my religion - to be homosexual is evil.

We all have to go through our own spiritual process. It is very difficult. Some people are struggling and they are in their teens. Some people are in their 50s and they're struggling. Some people go through life and die not being able to accept themselves. Tragic. But it's very individual. And it's about self-esteem.

I eat everything, that's a problem. I don't have discipline. My favorite dish is the Caribbean. Meat, rice, lots of grains. But I do like to do exercises. Lately, I've been having capoeira classes and lots of cardiovascular exercises, such as jogging and cycling.

I need to tell the world what I'm about, my nature, because not doing so would be teaching my children how to lie. I didn't want it to be.