Ethel Waters

There was one emotional outlet my people always had when they had the blues. That was singing. ”

Negroes are human beings with exactly the same faults and virtues as members of the other races. ”

New York is only 97 miles from Philadelphia but was the Big Time as no other American city has ever been. ”

When you dominate other people's emotions, the time has to come when you will have to pay, and heavily, for that privilege. ”

Mom never quit on me. My only regret is that she didn't live long enough to share some of the money and comforts my work in show business has brought me. ”

Asking what I considered an impossible salary when I didn't want to work for someone has boosted my pay again and again. ”

Whenever I played Columbus, Ohio, I dropped in to see my close friend, a medium who had mysterious powers. Her Indian guide was Mohawk. ”

Though I was excited about the Sojourner Truth play, it was not reassuring to think that my entire future might depend on the success of that one show. ”