Billie Holiday

There’s no damn business like show business – you have to smile to keep from throwing up.

If I’m going to sing like someone else, then I don’t need to sing at all

You can’t copy anybody and end up with anything. If you copy, you’re working without any real feeling.

If I don’t have friends, then I ain’t got nothing.

I never had a chance to play with dolls like other kids. I started working when I was 6 years old.

I’ve been told that nobody sings the word ‘hunger’ like I do.

I can’t understand guys who just have to have your autograph. What do you do when you get home, take it out and look at it?

I think I love it more as I get older because I keep getting better on drums, vibes and piano.

Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they’re trying to say with jazz. You don’t need any prologues, you just play. If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.

One of the reasons we’re here is to be a part of this process of exchange.

Jazz came to America three hundred years ago in chains.

I want to keep redefining my work and trying new things. I want my music to be able to fit into any category. I want it to float wherever my heart goes. My music is heart music; giving it any other description is dangerous.

I’m not claiming divinity. I’ve never claimed purity of soul. I’ve never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can… But I still believe in peace, love and understanding.

The reward for playing Jazz is playing Jazz.

When Hank Jones had his night off, I would get somebody to take my place as intermission pianist and I’d play the show with Ella, so I would get a chance to play with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as well.

I like to sleep. There is no set time of day for sleep. You sleep when you’re tired and that’s all there is to it.

I like what I hear other guys doing, but the thing that really attracts me is melodic playing.

Music should enrich the soul; it should teach spirituality by showing a person a portion of himself that he would not discover otherwise. It’s easy to rediscover part of yourself, but through art you can be shown part of yourself you never knew existed. That’s the real mission of art. The artist has to find something within himself that’s universal and which he can put into terms that are communicable to other people. The magic of it is that art can communicate to a person without his realizing it.

You have to be a bastard to make it, and that’s a fact. And the Beatles are the biggest bastards on earth.

Many people forget that Jazz, no matter what form it takes, must come from the heart as well as the mind.

The emotional reaction is all that matters.