Billie Holiday — "I'm not supposed to be a singer. I'm supposed to be a painter. I can paint, you …"

"I just want to sing, and I want to be left alone."

"And nosy me, I went and opened [the fishing kit] to see what was inside. And those things are so real, it scared me to death. I must have threw it a mile. You thought he brought home a box full of bug…"

"I've been told that nobody sings the blues like Billie Holiday. That's because I don't sing the blues, I live the blues."

"I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two years or ten years. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close-order drill or exercise or yodeling or somethin…"

"I don't think I'm a tragic figure. I think I'm a happy woman. I'm a very happy woman."