Best 25 quotes of Aretha Franklin on MyQuotes

And I've been hurt hurt bad. I might be just twenty-six, but I'm an old woman in disguise twenty-six goin'on sixty-five.

And I was booked once to go on 'Ed Sullivan' and I got bumped and ran out the back door crying.

As a parent you try to maintain a certain amount of control and so you have this tug-of-war ... You have to learn when to let go. And that's not easy.

Being the Queen is not all about singing and being a diva is not all about singing. It has much to do with your service to people. And your social contributions to your community and your civic contributions as well.

Better friends than lovers. Sugar can't you see? You need you and I really need me.

Be your own artist, and always be confident in what youre doing. If youre not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.

Call in the Caped Crusader, Green Hornet, Kato, too. I'm in so much trouble I don't know what to do.

If you disrespect everybody that you run into, how in the world do you think everybody's supposed to respect you?

I love to sing. It's just a natural thing for me.

I remember singing around the house to records that were playing. All kinds of music. And the great James Cleveland was often in our house, and I grew up with his sound as well.

I sing to the realists, people who accept it like it is. I express problems. There are tears when it's sad and smiles when it's happy. It seems simple to me, but for some people, I guess feelin' takes courage.

It's so glamorous, you have to see it." (describing the $92 million Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)

Judy Garland is a singer with a capital S. And talk about soul. This woman was soul personified. Judy Garland is a class by herself.

My heart is still there in gospel music. It never left . . . I'm gonna make a gospel record and tell Jesus I cannot bear these burdens alone.

On the sly, scoping for love.

Parents have to really talk to their children before they leave home.

People really don't have to give you anything, so appreciate what people give you. And just don't let that go to your head, whatever it is they give you.

Politics are not my arena. Music is.

Soul is a constant. It's cultural. It's always going to be there, in different flavors and degrees.

The milk of kindness flows through my body, I shall follow Jesus to the Taco Bell and give thanks.

...the people at large absolutely gave James Brown respect. He was an original like a Rembrandt or a Picasso

Trying to grow up is hurting. You make mistakes. You try to learn from them, and when you don't, it hurts even more.

We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right.

Women have broken through the glass ceiling, and they're now more and more in the power seats.

You're a no good heartbreaker, you're a liar, and you're a cheat. I don't know why I let you do these things to me.