Nell Carter

“I'm at my best when there's distance between me and a man.”

“Of all the unhappiness I went through, you must know I wouldn't live a moment of my life differently for what I have now. Would I do it all again? I wouldn't want to, but if it got me to the same place, yeah, I'd do it. Because I realize now that God would not give more than I could handle.”

“It's exciting to sing in the place where you pay your taxes.”

“One bad review can destroy me. It hurts so bad.”

“For me, you can put on something by Bach, and I'll feel better.”

“No one teaches you how to be graceful.”

“I think that anyone who denies their heritage doesn't deserve their destiny. My grandmother was a maid. She put nine children - eight of them - through college; I did not finish college.”

“Whenever I work, I'm never really happy. I'm always second-guessing.”

“When I first found out I had diabetes I denied it.”

“I have my own definition of God, but I believe God is whatever you want Him to be.”

“New York is a good city for not having to get fat.”

“I was a weirdo to want to be in show business. Most kids wanted to be teachers or nurses.”

“I think when you're happy, emotions are right near the top - mine definitely are. I cry easily, I laugh easily, I lose my temper easily... and I beg for forgiveness easily.”

“I'm not very kind about marriage. I will never get married again.”

“All of us should do what we want and have to do. We can only limit ourselves.”

“I was never totally into marriage, and I wasn't a very good wife.”

“I searched for answers to life's meaning and, though I was raised a Presbyterian, I converted to Judaism around 1983.”

“I always look forward to getting back East. I miss the cold weather and the Jewish delis.”

“Rich means you have to stay there to maintain it.”

“Being diabetic was not what I thought of as being normal, and I feared the stigma of having to take medicine and having people stick me with a needle.”