"The man who gets me is getting one hell of a woman."
"I sing to the realists. People who accept it like it is."
"If a song’s about something I’ve experienced or that could’ve happened to me it’s good. But if it’s alien to me, I couldn’t lend anything to it. Because that’s what soul is all about."
"I’ve always felt that rock & roll was very, very wholesome."
"Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift."
"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."
"Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It’s transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, it’s uplifting, it’s encouraging, it’s strengthening."
"We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right."
"Sometimes, what you’re looking for is already there."
"People really don’t have to give you anything, so appreciate what people give you."
"You cannot define a person on just one thing. You can’t just forget all these wonderful and good things that a person has done because one thing didn’t come off the way you thought it should come off."
"Who hasn’t had a weight issue? If not the body, certainly the big head!"
"I’m the lady next door when I’m not on stage."
" Falling out of love is like losing weight. It’s a lot easier putting it on than taking it off."
"It really is an honor if I can be inspirational to a younger singer or person. It means I’ve done my job."
"I’ve never recorded anything I didn’t like."
"Everybody wants respect. In their own way, three-year-olds would like respect, and acknowledgment, in their terms"
"The love of my life? I’m much too young to answer that question."
"What is auto-tune? I don’t even know what auto-tune is."
""Don’t say Aretha is making a comeback, because I’ve never been away!"
