99 Quotes by Billie Holiday

You can't copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling.

Singing songs like 'The Man I Love' or 'Porgy' is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck.

They think they can make fuel from horse manure - now, I don't know if your car will be able to get 30 miles to the gallon, but it's sure gonna put a stop to siphoning.

In this country, don't forget, a habit is no damn private hell. There's no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country it's the worst kind of hell for those who love you.

People don't understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it.

I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That's all I know.

I never hurt nobody but myself and that's nobody's business but my own.

There's no damn business like show business - you have to smile to keep from throwing up.

If I don't have friends, then I ain't got nothing.