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

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

“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.”

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

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

“I am the child I once was, and the adult I am today. I am all of my good points, and each of my bad. I am brave but afraid, healed but damaged, strong but helpless. I am everything I have admitted and all that I have denied. The person that I am right now in this moment is the product of every- thing I have ever been; the truth, the lies and everything in between.”

“It's true," she said. "Sometimes I do pretend I am a princess. I pretend I am a princess, so that I can try and behave like one.”