Maria Callas

“Women are not pals enough with men, so we must make ourselves indispensable. After all, we have the greatest weapon in our hands by just being women.”

“It's a terrible thing to go through life thinking that you have a rock on your side when you haven't.”

“When my enemies stop hissing, I shall know I'm slipping.”

“I cannot switch my voice. My voice is not like an elevator going up and down.”

“When music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed the point.”

“I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best.”

“On stage, I am in the dark.”

“I prepare myself for rehearsals like I would for marriage.”

“If I have stepped on some people at times because I am at the top, it couldn't be helped. What should I do if someone gets hurt... retire?”

“I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity.”

“You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there.”

“I don't need the money, dear. I work for art.”

“There must be a law against forcing children to perform at an early age. Children should have a wonderful childhood. They should not be given too much responsibility.”

“To me, the art of music is magnificent, and I cannot bear to see it treated in a shabby way.”

“I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged.”

“I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over.”

“An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.”

“That is the difference between good teachers and great teachers: good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.”