Diana Ross

“People don't know about the human part of me that really cares about the world. For instance, I don't know what I feel about wearing my furs anymore. I worked so hard to have a fur coat, and I don't want to wear it anymore because I'm so wrapped up in the animals. I have real deep thoughts about it because I care about the world and nature.”

“They tell me that it will be hard to find a man strong enough to love my own strength and independence, and not worry about being Mr. Diana Ross, but I disagree. I know absolutely that that man is somewhere out there.”

“I even thought of adopting a child as a single mother.”

“My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunites.”

“If I'm with a man I'm soft and buttery.”

“I'm a parent, and I try to take care of my health and keep my life in order. In the last few years I've really had to decide what's important to me, and it seems to me that my family and my health are top on the list. And those have nothing to do with show business.”

“The first time I heard a Billie Holiday record, I thought, 'What's so great about Billie Holiday?'”

“I have never gotten into the label thing.”

“Icon. What is an icon? When someone is iconic it means they have established a certain kind of legacy possibly, and I think it does come with time. It's something in the arts, I feel. Maybe not, maybe it doesn't have to be in the arts exactly. I'm not really sure. But I don't think you are born an icon.”

“No, nothing really upsets me.”

“You see, I've never really studied acting.”

“I look forward to the future - and going into the studio to make new music.”

“I want an autobiography without revealing any personal information.”

“I was brought up in this part of Detroit that they used to call the ghetto.”

“I don't judge people by their sexual orientation or the color of their skin, so I find it really hard to identify someone by saying that they're a gay person or a black person or a Jewish person.”

“One thing you cannot control is nature.”

“I'm not really a songwriter - I'm an interpreter. So in a sense I am an actress first and foremost. I act out the songs, and I lead with my heart.”

“My family called me a wiggle tail because I was a little skinny, wiry kid full of energy.”

“I try to choose the songs that really are basically coming from my heart. I think that through the songs that I select, people know what's going on in my life.”

“It takes a long time to get to be a diva. I mean, you gotta work at it.”