Aretha Franklin Quotes

And I've been hurt hurt bad. I might be just twenty-six, but I'm an old woman in disguise twenty-six goin'on sixty-five.

I sing to the realists; people who accept it like it is.

Politics are not my arena. Music is.

I think the hardest thing is losing weight. That's the hardest thing more than anything else.

Clark Terry is an American Master. I love to listen to him, particularly 'Mumbles.' I was so delighted when we received degrees together, along with Edward Kennedy, at the New England Conservatory in 1997.

I've always felt that rock & roll was very, very wholesome.

I'm the lady next door when I'm not on stage.

I remember singing around the house to records that were playing. All kinds of music. And the great James Cleveland was often in our house, and I grew up with his sound as well.

I'm never tired of going to the studio. I enjoy recording and documenting everything and trying new things.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.

You're a no good heartbreaker, you're a liar, and you're a cheat. I don't know why I let you do these things to me.

Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I'm using to the highest degree possible the gift that god gave me to use. I'm happy with that.

Don't say Aretha is making a comeback, because I've never been away!

My heart is still there in gospel music. It never left . . . I'm gonna make a gospel record and tell Jesus I cannot bear these burdens alone.

I've never recorded anything I didn't like.

Music changes, and I'm gonna change right along with it.

The milk of kindness flows through my body, I shall follow Jesus to the Taco Bell and give thanks.

I love to sing. It's just a natural thing for me.

Let's start with the church. As you know, it's my background, it's a natural setting for me and it's definitely my roots.

I donate heavily to the church and various churches in the Detroit community and food banks.

R&B is not a fad; it's the truth.

Falling out of love is like losing weight. It's a lot easier putting it on than taking it off.

My faith always has been and always will be important to me.

Better friends than lovers. Sugar can't you see? You need you and I really need me.

I've been around long enough for people to know who I am and what my contributions are. They know me as more than just an artist. I think they know me as a woman as well.

The man who gets me is getting one hell of a woman.

People really don't have to give you anything, so appreciate what people give you. And just don't let that go to your head, whatever it is they give you.

Judy Garland is a singer with a capital S. And talk about soul. This woman was soul personified. Judy Garland is a class by herself.

As a parent you try to maintain a certain amount of control and so you have this tug-of-war ... You have to learn when to let go. And that's not easy.

It's so glamorous, you have to see it." (describing the $92 million Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)

I love 'Anne of Green Gables.' I have for years. That's one of my favourite things. She's such a can-do kind of girl; that's why I'm crazy about her.

And I was booked once to go on 'Ed Sullivan' and I got bumped and ran out the back door crying.

If you disrespect everybody that you run into, how in the world do you think everybody's supposed to respect you?

I was in my dad's church, his Baptist church, and I think the first song I ever performed was 'Jesus Be a Fence Around Me.'

Call in the Caped Crusader, Green Hornet, Kato, too. I'm in so much trouble I don't know what to do.

Parents have to really talk to their children before they leave home.

When God loves you, what can be better than that?

If a song's about something I've experienced or that could've happened to me it's good. But if it's alien to me, I couldn't lend anything to it. Because that's what soul is all about.

I don't feel one's personal medical condition is everybody's business. It just isn't something you advertise, and it's not open to discussion.

I love producing, writing. I rarely write with other writers unless I have a real great respect for them. Like Burt Bacharach, or Carole Sager, or Stevie Wonder. Somebody like Smokey - like that. Otherwise, I choose to write alone.

I'm a big woman. I need big hair.

Soul is a constant. It's cultural. It's always going to be there, in different flavors and degrees.

Trying to grow up is hurting. You make mistakes. You try to learn from them, and when you don't, it hurts even more.

Yes, I've always been fashion conscious.

Gospel goes with me wherever I go. Gospel is a constant with me.

Be your own artist, and always be confident in what youre doing. If youre not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.

Women have broken through the glass ceiling, and they're now more and more in the power seats.

I saw the Supremes when they were still singing in little black skirts and white blouses.