I wasn't straining at the bit to become a movie star any more than I had plotted to get out of vaudeville and into Broadway musicals

I take a breath when I have to.

Cole Porter had a worldwide reputation as a sophisticate and hedonist

Always give them the old fire, even when you feel like a squashed cake of ice.

There have been people who have tried to take advantage of me. They want to be linked to me just because I'm Ethel Merman.

You'll never prove you're too good for a job by not doing your best.

There's such a thing as theater discipline. One player doesn't appropriate another's inventions