Quotes from Aretha Franklin

We've come a long way, but there is still a lot of discrimination.

I certainly enjoy Usher, Beyonce, Chris Brown, and there is Fantasia; these people will be around a while. They've got it. They've got the 'it' factor.

I've probably cried with a lot of songs - in teenage crushes, adult crushes.

As long as it's good music. I love all music. It's got to be constructed properly.

I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.

Intermittently in my concert format, I sing a little jazz, a little scatting.

I've done the Kennedy Center many times. I've sang for Marian Anderson. I've sang for Marion Williams. I've sang for Lionel Hampton.

My faith always has been and always will be important to me.

I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.

The man who gets me is getting one hell of a woman.

I sing to the realists .People who accept it like it is .

I've always felt that rock & roll was very, very wholesome.

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.

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.

It's the rough side of the mountain that's the easiest to climb; the smooth side doesn't have anything for you to hang on to.

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.

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 used to have hamburgers coming and going, especially when I was on the road. Now, occasionally I will still have that quarter pounder because I love fast food, but you have to keep it to a minimum. I am now opting for salads and just healthier lunches.

And I was booked once to go on 'Ed Sullivan' and I got bumped and ran out the back door crying.

Art Tatum was a genius.

Men have always been gentlemen to me - responsible people with healthy attitudes.

Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift.

We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right.

I think women and children and older people are the three least-respected groups in our society.