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

I listen to most everything that’s out there because I need to stay aware of what’s happening in the industry.

With the Supremes I made so much money so fast all I wanted to do was buy clothes and pretty things. Now I’m comfortable with money and it’s comfortable with me.

I even thought of adopting a child as a single mother.

I don’t like to have too many makeup artists around, so I always like to do my own.

What’s important for me is to give my daughters a well-rounded education and a mixture of people in their lives. They’ll make their own choices. I think they would be good in show business.

I really, deeply believe that dreams do come true. Often, they might not come when you want them. They come in their own time.

I really think I want to live in a lot of places.I don’t want possessions to hold me down.

My family called me a wiggle tail because I was a little skinny, wiry kid full of energy.

Being a parent is very important to me.

I want to live in Paris for a couple of years. I’m dying to do the Josephine Baker story. I really want to be there and do it. It’s certainly my intention to do it.

I just appreciate still having the longevity that I’ve had in my career.

I have three girls, and I say the same thing to them. I’m not involved in their careers because I’ve learned that it’s important for them to stand on their own two feet. They’ll feel better and prouder of themselves if they do.

The first time I heard a Billie Holiday record, I thought, ‘What’s so great about Billie Holiday?’

I know that my fans want to know who I’m sleeping with, but it’s really none of their business.

If I’m with a man I’m soft and buttery.

It takes a long time to get to be a diva. I mean, you gotta work at it.

Spend your life lifting people up, not putting them down.

If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.

Whatever creature comes to you, human or otherwise, treat it with consideration.

Humility, reverence, compassion, forbearance, sacrifice and self-control are the qualities that reveal the outcome of the true education.

It is compassion rather than the principle of justice which can guard us against being unjust to our fellow men.

Loving yourself + others is a magically addictive sensation.

Let’s get loose with Compassion. Let’s drown in the delicious ambience of Love.

The words we use for the Creator are a reflect of ourselves. If we think of God as fear and shame, we are scared and have something to be ashamed of … But if we see love, compassion and kindness, it is because we possess these qualities.