Quotes from Grace Jones

You had to wear a hat to go to church. We weren't allowed to straighten our hair. We couldn't wear jewellery, nail polish, open backed shoes, skirts above the knee... trousers were forbidden because male apparel on a female was not godly.

Be like Sasha Fierce. Be like Miley Cyrus. Be like Rihanna. Be like Lady Gaga. Be like Rita Ora and Sia. Be like Madonna. I cannot be like them, except to the extent that they are already being like me.

In the Seventies and Eighties we all had our fun, and now and then we went really too far. But, ultimately, it required a certain amount of clear thinking, a lot of hard work and good make-up to be accepted as a freak.

You can be a boy, a girl, whatever you want. I have a lot of man in me.

I have just as much woman in me as I have man. It's just a matter of channeling the energy into which way you use it.

I only move forwards, never backwards, darling.

It's ridiculous for a woman to say that she's not attracted to other women. That's completely false.

I'm not a rock star; I'm a soft person.

Religion has stayed with me even though I rebelled.

I don't think 'pop' should mean that you had no talent.

Normally, I stay away from politics - unless I'm going to run for president.

I don't like people who hide things. We're not perfect, we all have things that people might not like to see, and I like to show my faults.

We're not perfect; we all have things that people might not like to see, and I like to show my faults.

I believe in individuality, that everybody is special, and it's up to them to find that quality and let it live.

Whatever one is creating, one has to stick to one's guns and just do it. That is all. Put your foot down and do not let your work be compromised.

Human beings should stick together. Honestly, if I see a red-haired person with blue eyes now, I say, 'Is your granny black?'

Everyone has to make their own decisions. I still believe in that. You just have to be able to accept the consequences without complaining.

One creates oneself.

For me, a diva is like the great opera singer, the great film star - out of reach, in their own world, with a real gift for invention: attention-demanding performance artists with a flamboyant, compelling sense of their own importance so special and inimitable it verges on the alien.

I don't collaborate. You're born alone, you die alone, you get on stage alone.

I'm too vain, one of my biggest sins, but it saved me; I can see what excess does.

I like to isolate myself when I work because I end up losing my voice by doing interviews all day.

It was very painful combing my hair. My grand-uncle was a Pentecostal bishop, and he was very strict: our hair couldn't be permed or straightened. So I just cut it all off.

Use, don't abuse.