[During fee negotiations for singing in Vienna:] I'm not interested in money, but it must be more than anyone else gets. Maria Callas More Quotes by Maria Callas More Quotes From Maria Callas I belong to the givers. I want to give a little happiness even if I haven’t had much for myself. Music has enriched my life and, hopefully - through me, a little - the public’s. If anyone left an opera house feeling more happy and at peace, I achieved my purpose. Maria Callas house feelings giving Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddam rules. Maria Callas dont-talk-to-me talk-to-me dams I don't need the money, dear. I work for art. Maria Callas dear-god art needs 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. Maria Callas imagination house long When the curtain rises, the only thing that speaks is courage. Maria Callas curtains speak ART is domination. It's making people think that for that precise moment in time there is only one way, one voice. Yours. Maria Callas voice art thinking I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best. Maria Callas difficult achieve Real friends are very special, but you have to be careful because sometimes you have a friend and you think they are made of rock, then suddenly you realise they're only made of sand. Maria Callas rocks real thinking What [Tulio Serafin] said that impressed me was: "When one wants to find a gesture, when you want to find how to act on stage, all you have to do is listen to the music. The composer has already seen to that." If you take the trouble to really listen with your soul and with your ears - and I say soul and ears because the mind must work, but not too much also - you will find every gesture there. And it is all true, you know. Maria Callas soul ears mind 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. Maria Callas fireworks voice artist First I lost weight, then I lost my voice, and now I've lost Onassis. Maria Callas voice weight loss To sing is an expression of your being, a being which is becoming. Maria Callas singing voice expression I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not a devil, either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged. Maria Callas devil angel artist 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. Maria Callas voice matter beautiful I would not kill my enemies, but I will make them get down on their knees. I will, I can, I must. Maria Callas knees i-can enemy What is there in life if you do not work? There is only sensation, and there are only a few sensations— you cannot live on them. You can only live on work, by work, through work. How can you live with self-respect if you do not do things as well as lies in you? Maria Callas wells self lying I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over. Maria Callas opera-singers stage happens That is the difference between good teachers and great teachers: good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends. Maria Callas education teacher mean Only when I was singing did I feel loved. Maria Callas singing feels I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity. Maria Callas callas dignity demand
