There were times in my career ... when I felt like a trapeze artist doing dangerous somersaults without a net underneath. When you execute those somersaults flawlessly, the audience feels the same sense of triumph the performer does.

There is something in me-I just can't stand to admit defeat.

In youth we run into difficulties. In old age difficulties run into us.

It seemed no longer important whether everyone loved me or not, more important now was for me to love them

My voice had a long, nonstop career. It deserves to be put to bed with quiet and dignity, not yanked out every once in a while to see if it can still do what it used to do. It can't.

I've always tried to go a step past wherever people expected me to end up.

A happy woman is one who has no cares at all; a cheerful woman is one who has cares but doesn't let them get her down.