I think they must mix blood, otherwise the human race is bound to degenerate. Mixing blood is marvelous. It makes strong and intelligent men. It takes away tired spirits.

I spent 30 minutes each morning rubbing my body with half a lemon to lighten my skin.

He was my cream, and I was his coffee - And when you poured us together, it was something.

I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too.

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

One day I realized I was living in a country where I was afraid to be black. It was only a country for white people. Not black. So I left. I had been suffocating in the United States... A lot of us left, not because we wanted to leave, but because we couldn't stand it anymore... I felt liberated in Paris.

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.