One day a whole damn song fell into place in my head. Billie Holiday More Quotes by Billie Holiday More Quotes From Billie Holiday I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been. Billie Holiday musicsuccessinspirational Them that's got shall get, Them that's not shall lose. So the Bible says, And it still is news. Mama may have, Papa may have, But God bless the child that's got his own. Billie Holiday papawisdomchildren So I asked him to play "Trav'lin' All Alone." That came closer than anything to the way I felt. And some part of it must have come across. The whole joint quieted down. If someone had dropped a pin, it would have sounded like a bomb. When I finished, everybody in the joint was crying in their beer, and I picked thirty-eight bucks up off the floor. . . . When I showed Mom the money for the rent and told her I had a regular job singing for eighteen dollars a week, she could hardly believe it. Billie Holiday momjobsbelieve God bless the child that's got his own. Billie Holiday god-blessblesschildren If you think dope is for kicks and for thrills, you're out of your mind. There are more kicks to be had in a good case of paralytic polio or by living in an iron lung. Billie Holiday irondopethinking I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close order drill, or exercise or yodeling or something, not music. Billie Holiday exercisesongnight In this country, don't forget, a habit is no damn private hell. There's no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country it's the worst kind of hell for those who love you. Billie Holiday recoverylove-youcountry If I don't have friends, then I ain't nothing. Billie Holiday ifsfriendship All dope can do for you is kill you... the long hard way. And it can kill the people you love right along with you. Billie Holiday dopelongpeople Lust may be in the heart, though it be not seen by others; as guests may be in the house, though they look not out at the windows. Billie Holiday lusthouseheart They think they can make fuel from horse manure - now, I don't know if your car will be able to get 30 miles to the gallon, but it's sure gonna put a stop to siphoning. Billie Holiday horsefunnyscience Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen and I was three. Billie Holiday hilariousmarriagefunny And when you're poor, you grow up fast. Billie Holiday povertygrowing-uppoor If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all. Billie Holiday individualityimaginationneeds I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That's all I know. Billie Holiday musichatechange There's no damn business like show business - you have to smile to keep from throwing up. Billie Holiday throwing-upsmiledamn The blues to me is like being very sad, very sick, going to church, being very happy ... it's sort of a mixed up thing. You just have to feel it. Billie Holiday very-sadsickchurch I try to improvise like Les Young, Louis Armstrong or someone else I admire. What comes out is what I feel. Billie Holiday armstrongyoungtrying I can only sing songs my way. I don't know any other way. Billie Holiday singingsongway I joined Count Basie's band to make a little money and to see the world. For two years I didn't see anything but the inside of a Blue Goose bus, and I never got to send home a quarter. Billie Holiday homeblueyears
