Only when I was singing did I feel loved.
MARIA CALLASOnly when I was singing did I feel loved.
MARIA CALLASFirst I lost weight, then I lost my voice, and now I’ve lost Onassis.
MARIA CALLASAn opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I’ve left the opera house.
MARIA CALLASI would not kill my enemies, but I will make them get down on their knees. I will, I can, I must.
MARIA CALLASOnly my dogs will not betray me.
MARIA CALLASI don’t know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over.
MARIA CALLASWomen are not pals enough with men, so we must make ourselves indispensable. After all, we have the greatest weapon in our hands by just being women.
MARIA CALLASI prepare myself for rehearsals like I would for marriage.
MARIA CALLASDon’t come to me with your troubles. I have to work for my money and you are young enough to work too. If you can’t make enough money to live on you can jump out of the window or drown yourself.
MARIA CALLASParis dictates fashion to the whole world.
MARIA CALLASWhat is there in life if you do not work? There is only sensation, and there are only a few sensations— you cannot live on them. You can only live on work, by work, through work. How can you live with self-respect if you do not do things as well as lies in you?
MARIA CALLASI was always too mature for my age – and not very happy. I had no young friends. I wish I could go back to those days. If I could only live it all again, how I would play and enjoy other girls. What a fool I was.
MARIA CALLASWhen music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed the point.
MARIA CALLASThat is the difference between good teachers and great teachers: good teachers make the best of a pupil’s means; great teachers foresee a pupil’s ends.
MARIA CALLASOn stage, I am in the dark.
MARIA CALLASI belong to the givers. I want to give a little happiness even if I haven’t had much for myself. Music has enriched my life and, hopefully – through me, a little – the public’s. If anyone left an opera house feeling more happy and at peace, I achieved my purpose.
MARIA CALLAS