Aretha Franklin Quotes

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

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

I saw the Supremes when they were still singing in little black skirts and white blouses.

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.

R&B is not a fad; it's the truth.

I love all music.

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.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.

Don't say Aretha is making a comeback, because I've never been away!

The man who gets me is getting one hell of a woman.

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.

I'm the lady next door when I'm not on stage.

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

I've always felt that rock & roll was very, very wholesome.

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

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.

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.

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

I know people I feel are extremely talented, but I don't know that I've ever heard any geniuses.

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

My faith always has been and always will be important to me.

I sing to the realists; people who accept it like it is.

Politics are not my arena. Music is.

Yes, I've always been fashion conscious.

Music changes, and I'm gonna change right along with it.

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

I was in my dad's church, his Baptist church, and I think the first song I ever performed was 'Jesus Be a Fence Around Me.'

I like Beyonce's music - some of it, not all of it.

Falling out of love is like losing weight. It's a lot easier putting it on than taking it off.

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

Now, occasionally I will still have that quarter pounder because I love fast food, but you have to keep it to a minimum.

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

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.

I'm a big woman. I need big hair.

I don't feel one's personal medical condition is everybody's business. It just isn't something you advertise, and it's not open to discussion.

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

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.

Gospel goes with me wherever I go. Gospel is a constant with me.

On the sly, scoping for love.

Let's start with the church. As you know, it's my background, it's a natural setting for me and it's definitely my roots.

I donate heavily to the church and various churches in the Detroit community and food banks.

I think the hardest thing is losing weight. That's the hardest thing more than anything else.

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

When God loves you, what can be better than that?

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.

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

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

I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.

I'm never tired of going to the studio. I enjoy recording and documenting everything and trying new things.

I've never recorded anything I didn't like.