Aretha Franklin quotes: on respect, faith, falling in and out of love, health, and humanity.
“Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you’re doing. If you’re not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.”
“Sometimes, what you’re looking for is already there.”
“People really don’t have to give you anything, so appreciate what people give you. And just don’t let that go to your head, whatever it is they give you.”
“Trying to grow up is hurting. You make mistakes. You try to learn from them, and when you don’t, it hurts even more.”
“You cannot define a person on just one thing. You can’t just forget all these wonderful and good things that a person has done because one thing didn’t come off the way you thought it should come off.”
“We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right.”
“Women absolutely deserve respect.”
“I think that women have to be strong. If you don’t, some people will run right over you.”
“I don’t think women need to do anything other than what they’re doing right now, and that’s – moving forward. Moving forward to the forefront and moving into the areas where men have largely held captive. We’re coming.”
“If you disrespect everybody that you run into, how in the world do you think everybody’s supposed to respect you?”
“I am doing what I love to do, and you cannot beat that, especially when the audience appreciates what you prepare for them. It’s very, very gratifying.”
“Let’s start with the church. As you know, it’s my background, it’s a natural setting for me and it’s definitely my roots.”
“Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It’s transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It’s uplifting, it’s encouraging, it’s strengthening.”
“Music is motivating, inspiring, transporting. I think women immediately relate to the lyrics. We can all learn a little something from each other, so whatever they [women] can take and be inspired by, where my music is concerned, is great.”
“I sing to the realists, people who accept it like it is. I express problems. There are tears when it’s sad and smiles when it’s happy. It seems simple to me, but for some people, I guess feelin’ takes courage.”
“If a song’s about something I’ve experienced or that could’ve happened to me it’s good. But if it’s alien to me, I couldn’t lend anything to it. Because that’s what soul is all about.”
“Soul is a constant. It’s cultural. It’s always going to be there, in different flavors and degrees.”
“We didn’t have music videos. You weren’t an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error. I paid my dues, I certainly did.”
“I love producing, writing. I rarely write with other writers unless I have a real great respect for them.”
“Falling out of love is like losing weight. It’s a lot easier putting it on than taking it off.”
“The man who gets me is getting one hell of a woman.”
“My faith always has been and always will be important to me.”
“Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I’m using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me to use. I’m happy with that.”
“It really is an honor if I can be inspirational to a younger singer or person. It means I’ve done my job.”
“When God loves you, what can be better than that?”
“I’ve been around long enough for people to know who I am and what my contributions are. They know me as more than just an artist. I think they know me as a woman as well.”
“The love of my life? I’m much too young to answer that question.”
“I don’t feel one’s personal medical condition is everybody’s business. It just isn’t something you advertise, and it’s not open to discussion.”
“I’m a big woman. I need big hair.”
“I think the hardest thing is losing weight. That’s the hardest thing… more than anything else.”
“It’s hard. When you love food, and when you’ve done a high energy concert, you know, a carrot is not gonna work.”
“I’m the lady next door when I’m not on stage.”
“People are not as nice as they used to be. There used to be a time when we conversed. You don’t get a lot of real responses now. They used to be more polite and well-mannered people, generally. It’s minimal now. I think it would be a far greater world if people were kinder and more respectful to each other. Respect. There’s that word again.”
“Being the Queen is not all about singing and being a diva is not all about singing. It has much to do with your service to people. And your social contributions to your community and your civic contributions as well.”
“I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from and where it is now. I’ll be pretty much satisfied, but I’m not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing. That wouldn’t be good either.”
“Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.”
“Don’t say Aretha is making a comeback, because I’ve never been away!”
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.”
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