"Some say I have a beautiful voice, some say I have not. It is a matter of opinion. All I can say, those who don't like it shouldn't come to hear me."

"My poor sight gives me an advantage. I can't see the people in the audience who are scratching their heads while I am lost in my role and giving everything I have to the drama."

"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?"

"When she can sing a Walkure and Puritani back to back, then you can compare us. Until then it is like trying to compare Coca Cola to champagne." (on Renata Tebaldi)

"I would not kill my enemies, but I will make them get down on their knees. I will, I can, I must."

"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 cannot switch my voice. My voice is not like an elevator going up and down."

"Real friends are very special, but you have to be careful because sometimes you have a friend and you think they are made of rock, then suddenly you realize they're only made of sand. It's a terrible thing to go through life thinking that you have a rock on your side when you haven't."

"On stage, I am in the dark."

"Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddamn rules."

"I was always too mature for my age_and not very happy. I had no young friends. I wish I could go back to those days. If I could only live it all again, how I would play and enjoy other girls. What a fool I was."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"The only time I'll ever want to see my fucking mother is when she's lying in her box, and then it'll be to make sure she's dead."

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

"I prepare myself for rehearsals like I would for marriage."

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

"First I lost my voice, then I lost my figure and then I lost Onassis."

"Love is so much better when you're not married."

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

 

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