In 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.
BILLIE HOLIDAYI joined Count Basie’s band to make a little money and to see the world. For two years I didn’t see anything but the inside of a Blue Goose bus, and I never got to send home a quarter.
More Billie Holiday Quotes
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If nobody can learn from the past, then there’s no point in raking it up.
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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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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.
BILLIE HOLIDAY -
When you sing, always tell the truth.
BILLIE HOLIDAY -
The only reason they’re out there is to see me fall into the damn orchestra pit.
BILLIE HOLIDAY -
I joined Count Basie’s band to make a little money and to see the world. For two years I didn’t see anything but the inside of a Blue Goose bus, and I never got to send home a quarter.
BILLIE HOLIDAY -
All dope can do for you is kill you… the long hard way. And it can kill the people you love right along with you.
BILLIE HOLIDAY -
If I don’t have friends, then I ain’t nothing.
BILLIE HOLIDAY -
If I’m going to sing like someone else, then I don’t need to sing at all.
BILLIE HOLIDAY -
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 -
They think they can make fuel from horse manure – now, I don’t know if your car will be able to get 30 miles to the gallon, but it’s sure gonna put a stop to siphoning.
BILLIE HOLIDAY -
If you think dope is for kicks and for thrills, you’re out of your mind. There are more kicks to be had in a good case of paralytic polio or by living in an iron lung.
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People don’t understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it.
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Don’t be in such a hurry.
BILLIE HOLIDAY






