Ethel Merman

“If I feel in need of sleep, I just open a book or turn on the television. Both are better than any sleeping pill.”

“At a flea market I always head for the junk jewelry table first.”

“The slapdash way producers used to assemble a show seems a little unbelievable when we talk about them now.”

“There have been people who have tried to take advantage of me. They want to be linked to me just because I'm Ethel Merman.”

“I have plenty of invitations to go places, lots to do. If I'm not working, I go to have my hair taken care of and work at needlepoint.”

“Always give them the old fire, even when you feel like a squashed cake of ice.”

“I wouldn't trust any man as far as you can throw a piano.”

“When you are in deep conflict about something, sometimes the most trivial thing can tip the scales.”

“There's such a thing as theater discipline. One player doesn't appropriate another's inventions.”

“At one time I smoked, but in 1959 I couldn't think of anything else to give up for Lent so I stopped - and I haven't had a cigarette since.”