Mom claimed that I could carry a tune at 2 or 3 years of age. Maybe she was a little prejudiced.

Once I had the attention, all I had to do was deliver.

When I'm asked how to succeed in show business, I always say I haven't the foggiest

Be yourself -- it's the one thing you can do better than anyone else.

The only things I read are gossip columns. If I read three pages of a book, I'm out like a light. When I pick up the book again, I've forgotten what I've read and have to start over again. By page three, even if I've just awakened from a nine -hour nap, I fall asleep again. So if anyone gives me a book, it had better have lots of pictures.

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.

Eisenhower was my war hero and the President I admire and respect most