The ultimate of being successful is the luxury of giving yourself the time to do what you want to do.

Art is the only thing you cannot punch a button for. You must do it the old-fashioned way. Stay up and really burn the midnight oil. There are no compromises.

I am here and you will know that I am the best and will hear me. The color of my skin or the kink of my hair or the spread of my mouth has nothing to do with what you are listening to.

Accomplishments have no color.

Who I am is the best I can be.

I have never given all of myself, even vocally, to anyone. I was taught to sing on your interest, not your capital.

Be black, shine, aim high.

If you're not feeling good about you, what you're wearing outside doesn't mean a thing.

You should always know when you're shifting gears in life. You should leave your era - it should never leave you.

For a long time the only time I felt beautiful-in the sense of being complete as a woman, as a human being, and even female-was when I was singing.

I prefer to leave standing up, like a well-mannered guest at a party.

Don't be afraid to take the first step and speak from your heart.

People say love isn’t supposed to be painful. But maybe the best things in life are the ones that hurt the most after they’re gone.

Indulge me this once, Meg. Her name was a whisper on his lips. Soft. Seductive. Meanwhile his eyes gleamed mischievously, daring her to say yes.

The news media in general are liberal. If you want to be a reporter, you are going to see poverty and misery, and you have to be involved in the human condition.

Imagination gives the man the ability to poject himself through time and space and rise above all limitations.

Mention not a halter in the house of him that was hanged.

It is right, therefore, that we not just be called Christians, but that we actually be Christians.

You can be free from everything but the consequences of what you do.

It's cheap, and you have a thinking, breathing bomb that can adjust to circumstances and cross the street to hit another target if the original one doesn't look good.

Truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you eat too much truth at once, you might die of the truth.