"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. "
" We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right. "
"Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you're doing. If you're not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it. "
"Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening. "
" Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift. "
"Sometimes, what you're looking for is already there. "
" 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. "
" Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I'm using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me to use. I'm happy with that. "
" People really don't have to give you anything, so appreciate what people give you. "
"Don't say Aretha is making a comeback, because I've never been away! "
"I am doing what I love to do, and you cannot beat that, especially when the audience appreciates what you prepare for them. It's very, very gratifying. "
"I've been around long enough for people to know who I am and what my contributions are. They know me as more than just an artist. I think they know me as a woman as well "
".I'm not ever going to retire. That's - that wouldn't be good, for one, just to go somewhere and sit down and do nothing. Please. No, that's not moi "
"What is auto-tune? I don't even know what auto-tune is. "
". It really is an honor if I can be inspirational to a younger singer or person. It means I've done my job. "
"Who hasn't had a weight issue? If not the body, certainly the big head! "
"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. "
" Everybody wants respect. In their own way, three-year-olds would like respect, and acknowledgment, in their terms. "
" We didn't have music videos. You weren't an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error."
" It's very satisfying. To perform the way you want to. And the way you know that you can. "
" Gospel goes with me wherever I go. Gospel is a constant with me."
" I think women and children and older people are the three least-respected groups in our society. "
"Music changes, and I'm gonna change right along with it. "
"I love producing, writing. I rarely write with other writers unless I have a real great respect for them. Like Burt Bacharach, or Carole Sager, or Stevie Wonder. Somebody like Smokey - like that. Otherwise, I choose to write alone. "
" I love 'Anne of Green Gables.' I have for years. That's one of my favourite things. She's such a can-do kind of girl; that's why I'm crazy about her. "
