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

On stage, I am in the dark.

First I lost my voice, then I lost my figure and then I lost Onassis.

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

Good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.

I was always too mature for my age - and not very happy. I had no young friends. I wish I could go back to those days. If I could only live it all again, how I would play and enjoy other girls. What a fool I was.

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

An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.

There must be a law against forcing children to perform at an early age. Children should have a wonderful childhood. They should not be given too much responsibility.

That is the difference between good teachers and great teachers: good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.

Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddam rules.

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?

I would not kill my enemies, but I will make them get down on their knees. I will, I can, I must.

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

I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged.

I prepare myself for rehearsals like I would for marriage.

When my enemies stop hissing, I shall know I'm slipping.

I cannot switch my voice. My voice is not like an elevator going up and down.

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

Love is so much better when you're not married.

Women are not pals enough with men, so we must make ourselves indispensable. After all, we have the greatest weapon in our hands by just being women.

You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there.

It's a terrible thing to go through life thinking that you have a rock on your side when you haven't.

John the Baptist was supposed to point the way to the Christ. He was just the voice, not the Messiah. So everybody's calling has dignity to it and God seems to know better than we do what is in us that needs to be called forth.

The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within - strength, courage, dignity.

For the next century, the Republicans have agreed that we will promote the dignity and future of every individual by building a free society under a limited, accountable government that protects liberty, security and prosperity for a brighter American dream.

No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.

Wherever on this planet ideals of personal freedom and dignity apply, there you will find the cultural inheritance of England.

Why do the people humiliate themselves by voting? I didn't vote because I have dignity. If I had closed my nose and voted for one of them, I would spit on my own face.

He worked for the day when all people would be clothed in dignity.

There will always be a place for us somewhere, somehow, as long as we see to it that working people fight for everything they have, everything they hope to get, for dignity, equality, democracy, to oppose war and to bring to the world a better life.

That's one of the things I hope that the book can do, is to restore some dignity to Joe Cinque.

The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.

It is my hope and my belief that you will be able to report that I died with dignity, without animal fear and without bravado. I owe that much to myself.

To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt.

Our vanity is the constant enemy of our dignity.

Values are principles and ideas that bring meaning to the seemingly mundane experience of life. A meaningful life that ultimately brings happiness and pride requires you to respond to temptations as well as challenges with honor, dignity, and courage.

Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.

One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered.

I would say that the surest measure of a man's or a woman's maturity is the harmony, style, joy, and dignity he creates in his marriage, and the pleasure and inspiration he provides for his spouse.

I will for ever, at all hazards, assert the dignity, independence, and integrity of the English bar; without which, impartial justice, the most valuable part of the English constitution, can have no existence.

We must reach out our hand in friendship and dignity both to those who would befriend us and those who would be our enemy.

The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.

In the 21st century, I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion.

Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man's superiority to all that befalls him.

I think sometimes people project things on you, but I'm trying to handle everything that's happened to me with a certain amount of grace, dignity and good manners. You just can't necessarily win all the time.

Not just Christians and Jews, but also Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and the followers of many other religions believe in values like peace, respect, tolerance and dignity. These are values that bring people together and enable us to build responsible and solid communities.

Scrubbing floors and emptying bedpans has as much dignity as the Presidency.

There is only one terminal dignity - love.