I'm not a career kind of person. When I saw new music, new trends coming in, I didn't see any place for me. And I didn't think about it as a career loss, because I was married - I have a great- grandchild now. The low points were when I lost people that I really cared about.

I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.

It's ill-becoming for an old broad to sing about how bad she wants it. But occasionally we do.

Malcolm X raised my consciousness about myself and my people and other people more than any person I know. I knew him before he became Malcolm X.

Count Basie isn't just a man, or even just a band. He's a way of life.

You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way. But the slanting process is so subtle that you frequently don't realize how you're being slanted until very late in the game.

The best thing about living... Is the chance to keep on doing it!