I don't need the money, dear. I work for art.

Some say I have a beautiful voice, some say I have not. It is a matter of opinion. All I can say, those who don't like it shouldn't come to hear me.

I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over.

If I have stepped on some people at times because I am at the top, it couldn't be helped. What should I do if someone gets hurt... retire?

When music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed the point.

What is there in life if you do not work? There is only sensation, and there are only a few sensations— you cannot live on them. You can only live on work, by work, through work. How can you live with self-respect if you do not do things as well as lies in you?

I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity.