Ella Fitzgerald

"Listen, I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... all I ask is that you respect me as a human being."

"You can't hide behind technique. As soon as you step out on the stage, the audience knows."

"There is simply no such thing as being too careful when you are about to do something that could result in eternal consequences."

"Just take one step at a time, with faith, and the rest will follow."

"I'd like to be remembered as someone who wanted to be of service."

"A singer starts by having a voice that people like to hear the quality what it is, but then having the facility on top of that; and the best singers are perfectly able to sing something completely different."

"Thank you for the music and for opening the world."

"The best sound is yet to come, I believe."

"Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time."

"I taught school for a couple of years, and I think I was a damn good teacher."

"I sang the way I walked through life - just taking it as it came."

"With a new day comes new strength and new thoughts."

"There's a certain part of the contented majority who love anybody who is worth anything."

"The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation."

"I am grateful for all my life because I think that we only grow from experience."

"Find what makes you happy and follow that."

"I never wanted to be anything but a singer."

"When love gets in the way, there is nothing you can do about it."

"You just have to persevere and keep on going."

"I'd rather have a small part in something great than a big part in something mediocre."

"The only way to get people to like working hard is to motivate them."

"I'm always improving as I go along."

"Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do."

"Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken."

"I want to make my living, not just my life."

"All you need is a laugh and a lot of heart."

"I can't help it if I look young and fresh."

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

"I believe in the goodness of people."

"It takes time to establish yourself and make people aware of what you're doing."