Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.

Once, when we were playing at the Apollo Theater, Holiday was working a block away at the Harlem Opera House. Some of us went over between shows to catch her, and afterwards we went backstage. I did something then, and I still don't know if it was the right thing to do—I asked her for her autograph.

Some kids in Italy call me 'Mama Jazz; I thought that was so cute. As long as they don't call me 'Grandma Jazz.'

It isn't where you came from, its where you're going that counts.

When we were at the Apollo, Holiday was a block away. I asked her for her autograph.

The fabulous places I've been, wonderful things that've happened, great people I've met ought to make a story.

I used to be very self-conscious. I used to wish I was pretty. My cousin Georgia always taught me that if you smile, people will like you. Sometimes people will say something you don't like, and you get angry a bit, but you just smile. You let it go by, even if you really would like to choke 'em. By smiling, I think I've made more friends than if I was the other way.