I have two loves: my country and Paris.

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

We've got to show that blacks and whites are treated equally in the army. Otherwise, what's the point of waging war on Hitler?

What am I most ashamed of in my life? Not keeping my promise to my sister and being too scared of America to attend her funeral.

I love performing. I shall perform until the day I die.

I shall dance all my life. . . . I would like to die, breathless, spent, at the end of a dance.

Let us stop saying 'white Americans' and 'colored Americans,' let us try once and for all saying... Americans. Let human beings be equal on Earth as in Heaven.