“It isn’t where you came from, its where you’re going that counts.”

The fabulous places I’ve been, wonderful things that’ve happened, great people I’ve met ought to make a story.

You take romance – I’ll take Jell-O.

She is amazingly creative, bringing so much more to a song than just a singer. She is a first-class musician and the most gracious person in the world.

Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do.

Sometimes when we’re flying or in the hotel, I might run over songs, or in the bathroom.

Every time I look down on this timeless town, whether blue or gray be her skies, whether loud be her cheers, or whether soft be her tears, more and more do I realize that. I love Paris.

Whatever she does to my songs, she always makes them sound better.

I think I do better when I sing.

I guess what everyone wants more than anything else is to be loved. And to know that you loved me for my singing is too much for me. Forgive me if I don’t have all the words. Maybe I can sing it and you’ll understand.

Coming through the years, and finding that I not only have just the fans of my day, but the young ones of today – that’s what it means, it means it was worth all of it.

Everybody wants to know about my style and how it came about. It’s no big secret. It’s the way I feel.

When we were at the Apollo, Holiday was a block away. I asked her for her autograph.

She has been more famous, over a longer time span, than any other female singer.

I’ve had some wonderful love affairs and some that didn’t work out. I don’t want to dwell on that and I don’t want to put people down, but I think all the fabulous places I’ve been, the wonderful things that have happened for me, the great people I’ve met – that ought to make a story.

Music is the universal language. It brings people closer together.

When I’m on stage I feel at home

Music is a hidden arithmetic exercise of the soul, which does not know that it is counting.

Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.

I count the stars from whence we came. I name them all for you; my flame.

The speed of a runaway horse counts for nothing.

And I’m afraid, in this day and age, trust, which I count so, you know, I love loyalty. I love trust.

Nothing ever gets anywhere. The earth keeps turning round and gets nowhere. The moment is the only thing that counts.

If critics have problems with my personal life, it’s their problem. Anybody with half a brain would realize that it’s the charts that count.

Stay triumphant, keep on living. Stay on your toes, get off the ropes. Don’t let ’em ever count you out.