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Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddamn rules.
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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.
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I would not kill my enemies, but I will make them get down on their knees. I will, I can, I must.
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I admire Tebaldi's tone; it's beautiful - also some beautiful phrasing. Sometimes, I actually wish I had her voice.
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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.
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Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddam rules.
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What a lovely voice, but who cares?
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I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity.
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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.
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Good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.
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It's a terrible thing to go through life thinking that you have a rock on your side when you haven't.
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On stage, I am in the dark.
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When music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed the point.
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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.