I don’t think I’m singing. I feel like I’m playing a horn, What comes out is what I feel.
BILLIE HOLIDAYIn this country, don’t forget, a habit is no damn private hell. There’s no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country it’s the worst kind of hell for those who love you.
More Billie Holiday Quotes
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Lust may be in the heart, though it be not seen by others; as guests may be in the house, though they look not out at the windows.
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I never hurt nobody but myself and that’s nobody’s business but my own.
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I’m always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I’ve been.
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Sometimes it’s worse to win a fight than to lose.
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When Lester plays, he almost seems to be singing; one can almost hear the words.
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The only reason they’re out there is to see me fall into the damn orchestra pit.
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Don’t be in such a hurry.
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There’s no damn business like show business – you have to smile to keep from throwing up.
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You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.
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You can’t copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling.
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Them that’s got shall get, Them that’s not shall lose. So the Bible says, And it still is news. Mama may have, Papa may have, But God bless the child that’s got his own.
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If you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling. No two people on earth are alike, and it’s got to be that way in music or it isn’t music.
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I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That’s all I know.
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Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what’s more than enough.
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I don’t think I ever sing the same way twice. The blues is sort of a mixed-up thing. You just have to feel it. Anything I do sing is part of my life.
BILLIE HOLIDAY