I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad.

The old Catholic parties hounded me with a Christian hatred from station to station, city to city, one stage to another.

I did take the blows [of life], but I took them with my chin up, in dignity, because I so profoundly love and respect humanity.

Each time I leaped I seemed to touch the sky and when I regained earth it seemed to be mine alone.

All my life, I have maintained that the people of the world can learn to live together in peace if they are not brought up in prejudice.

A violinist had a violin, a painter his palette. All I had was myself. I was the instrument that I must care for.

...It looked very different from the Statue of Liberty, but what did that matter? What was the good of having the statue without the liberty, the freedom to go where one chose if one was held back by one's color? No, I preferred the Eiffel Tower, which made no promises." ~ Josephine Baker, once she had seen the Eiffel Tower