Quotes from Natalie Cole

I would hate to look back on my life and go, 'You know, I wanted to do a rock n' roll album. I should have, and I never did.'

I've always been interested in the office. I was a secretary a long time ago, and I've always been into paperwork. My first secretarial job was 1965 or 1966.

There are a lot of great artists with great voices who aren't singing what they should be singing.

When you reach 50, what you care about is being honest, being accurate, and being an example.

My father led by example. He wasn't much of a talker - he walked life.

I think that I am a walking testimony to you can have scars. You can go through turbulent times and still have victory in your life.

It's hard to be in the shadow of a Beyonce.

Physically, I've seen a change in my life. No, I haven't had a face lift or anything like that. I've grown. That's God's countenance.

My father was a pioneer in so many ways. He was fearless, and I think that I kind of picked that up from him as well.

I don't think anyone can measure up to what my father had achieved. I'm just happy to at least play some of his music, but he is really the one who was the pioneer, the one who started all this. He's really The King.

I think people hear the warmth in my voice and the friendliness, and they think: 'Oh, she must be a very nice person'.

The dialysis is to wash my blood, to keep my kidneys functioning.

I'm the type of person who won't cancel a show even if I don't feel my best.

I'm a born-again Christian. I was raised Episcopalian - I've always been of a Christian faith, but I became much more active in it when I married my first husband, Marvin. I changed from Episcopalian to Baptist.

We used to have to arrange things around the dialysis. I would have to plan where to play so I could be back in time, and couldn't go too far.

I would never do an album with 10 songs like 'Jump Start' on it. I'll only go so far to please fans.

When I sang my father's songs in concert, that was all people wanted to hear. I was always asking myself, 'Can I measure up?'

God surrounded me with people of faith, people of strong faith, people of power, spiritual power, and I saw little miracles happen in their lives. By it happening in their lives, I started believing it could happen to me.

I continually acted up to get attention. My father gave me that, and once he left, I felt that I didn't have any.

People said when I started, 'Why don't you just copy your father's style?' I had to be myself, singing my songs in my own way.

I don't think that my parents even imagined that I would be exposed to drugs. In those days, for some reason, it was not talked about, just like sex was not talked about.

People don't always have the vision, and the secret for the person with the vision is to stand up. It takes a lot of courage.

I imagine there are a lot of people who will never be able to accept me because they feel I've let them down, but I am a different person, and most people have welcomed me back in that spirit.

I feel enough distance from the person I used to be. I'm not ashamed about my life anymore, because I've learnt from it.