“My father worked hard, but we were still very poor; and I didn’t want anybody arguing about money, so I became the entertainer, the one who wanted everyone to be happy. I didn’t want there to be any problems.”

I don’t know what my life would have been like if I’d never gotten into show business.

So I’m not worried about the emotions I carry with me, because I’m happy that I have them; I think it’s good for the work I do. The emotions that are not healthy are the ones you hold inside, like anger.

All my gowns have trains on them. I make a train that goes on forever. I love long trains and then I stand there and twirl around and wrap myself up in it.

I want an autobiography without revealing any personal information.

Take a little time out of your busy day to give encouragement to someone who’s lost their way.

Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.

I can be a better me than anyone can.

If we hold on together I know our dreams will never die Dreams see us through to forever Where clouds roll by For you and I.

I spend too much money on my sets and my gowns. I think the presentation is important. I don’t think people want to see the old show all the time.

I have a lust for life.

I don’t have to sit around and wait for the next movie to come along, I can go out and sing.

You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.

I want to go Africa. I want to go to China. There are some places I want to go not to work, but to really explore and to see for my own education.

So every time I make a new circuit, a new time around, then I change the show. You can’t change the songs; people still want to hear “Lady Sings the Blues” and they still want to hear some of the oldies.

A reporter once asked me if I ever cried. I wonder if people think I’m just as hard as a rock and have no emotions at all.

My children come first and the career comes in around that.

For a country without a past is nothing, a word That, hardly spoken, loses its meaning, A perishable wall destroyed by flame, An echo of animal emotions.

Janis Joplin sings the blues as hard as any black person.

He cannot complain of a hard sentence, who is made master of his own fate.

So when you’re sleeping, I try so hard to sleep too- for more time with you.

Looking hard for a drive in, searching for a corner cafe, where the hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day.

Life’s not about how hard of a hit you can give, it’s about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward.

I basically went out with any guy who asked me because hardly anyone ever asked me out.

It’s hard to nap on Saturday or the weekends.