"I don't think I'm a tragic figure. I think I'm a happy woman. I'm a very happy woman."

"If you think dope is for kicks and for thrills, you're out of your mind. There are more kicks the fuck to be had in a good case of paralytic polio or by living in an iron lung."

"I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two years or ten years. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close-order drill or exercise or yodeling or somethin…"

"I'm a woman, and I'm black, and I'm a singer. And I'm going to sing what I want to sing."

"I've been through a lot, but I'm still here."