“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.”

You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.

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.

God likes His people to believe that there is nothing too hard for Him…We are all the time limiting God’s power by our own ideas. Let us get our eyes off one another and fix them upon God. There is nothing to hard for Him.

No doubt about it, in my career Ron Lyle hit me the hardest. One time he hit me so hard I didn’t see it until I saw it on film when I woke up!

Perhaps it’s true that I’m very hard on myself, but that’s better than exhibiting mediocre work… too few were satisfactory enough to trouble the public with.

It’s hard to say I don’t like being famous, but how I feel is that I don’t see myself as that person. It baffles me that people would want a picture with me.

I tried so hard to be everything you wanted and maybe that’s where I went wrong.

The second I met Zac, I thought he was a really cool guy. It’s hard not to have chemistry with someone who is so attractive.

The real is always presented. That hardcore record or movie is not needed in the hood, because it’s already there. You can see it with your own eyes.

Fighters find it hard to give up doing what they do best – fighting for a living.