They think they can make fuel from horse manure - now, I don't know if your car will be able to get 30 miles to the gallon, but it's sure gonna put a stop to siphoning.

I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That's all I know.

You can't copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling.

New Orleans is the only city in the world you go in to buy a pair of nylon stockings they want to know your head size.

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

God has blessed you when he lets you believe in somebody.

I think I copied my style from Louis Armstrong. Because I used to like the big volume and the big sound that Bessie Smith got when she sang ... So I liked the feeling that Louis got and I wanted the big volume that Bessie Smith got. But I found that it didn't work with me, because I didn't have a big voice. So anyway between the two of them I sorta got Billie Holiday.