Diana Ross Quotes

You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You've got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.

Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.

I really, deeply believe that dreams do come true. Often, they might not come when you want them. They come in their own time.

Take a little time out of your busy day to give encouragement to someone who's lost their way.

Most people are so hard to please that if they met God, they'd probably say yes, she's great, but.

You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.

It takes a long time to get to be a diva. I mean, you gotta work at it.

My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities.

I can be a better me than anyone can.

If I have someone who believes in me, I can move mountains.

You can always tell where Diana Ross has been by the hair that's left behind!

If we hold on together I know our dreams will never die Dreams see us through to forever Where clouds roll by For you and I

I was brought up in this part of Detroit that they used to call the ghetto.

Discipline is a necessary tool to help you get what you want in life. It forces you to stay on center and to move away from the things that are not necessary.

One thing you cannot control is nature.

Icon. What is an icon? When someone is iconic it means they have established a certain kind of legacy possibly, and I think it does come with time. It's something in the arts, I feel. Maybe not, maybe it doesn't have to be in the arts exactly. I'm not really sure. But I don't think you are born an icon.

It's easier for me to sit with the producers and the writers and I give them my feelings and my thoughts and what I think I feel like singing about and then they go away and write it.

I don't know what I feel about wearing my furs anymore. I worked so hard to have a fur coat, and I don't want to wear it anymore because I'm so wrapped up in the animals. I have real deep thoughts about it because I care about the world and nature.

Criticism, even when you try to ignore it, can hurt. I have cried over many articles written about me, but I move on and I don't hold on to that.

Do you know where you going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know?

Either black people end up being the best in sports, or else it's show business. You know, we all got rhythm.

I learned something from that. If someone asks me something that I really don't want to do, I say no. I have to trust that. And I'm not afraid to talk money.

My family called me a wiggle tail because I was a little skinny, wiry kid full of energy.

I lived on the north side of Detroit. Right down the street from me there was a young man by the name of Smokey Robinson. I was very proud to live down the street from him because he was our only celebrity in town. He was singing with the Miracles.

I have three girls, and I say the same thing to them. I'm not involved in their careers because I've learned that it's important for them to stand on their own two feet. They'll feel better and prouder of themselves if they do.

I don't care about vacations. I go away and I come back real quick because I like my work. I really like my work to consume me.

If I'm with a man I'm soft and buttery.

Hair has always been important.

I don't judge people by their sexual orientation or the color of their skin, so I find it really hard to identify someone by saying that they're a gay person or a black person or a Jewish person.

I don't like to have too many makeup artists around, so I always like to do my own.

The only recording studio was in Motown - it was called Tamla/Motown at that time and we used to audition there because Smokey Robinson was at that studio and Berry Gordy was the president. I remember asking Smokey to listen to my group and he did. For the first couple of years we were just singing background. We used to back up Marvin Gaye; Mary Wells was there then, Marv Johnson, the Marvelettes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Junior Walker and the All-Stars.

I keep a great organiser, I try to keep my priorities in the right place.

Being a parent is very important to me.

I think a responsibility comes with notoriety, but I never think of it as power. It's more like something you hold, like grains of sand. If you keep your hand closed, you can have it and possess it, but if you open your fingers in any way, you can lose it just as quickly.

So every time I make a new circuit, a new time around, then I change the show. You can't change the songs; people still want to hear "Lady Sings the Blues" and they still want to hear some of the oldies.

I think that if my voice for some reason changes - because your voice does change - then it's time for me not to sing.

It's not fair that our name can be used in any newspaper, any article connected with anything, and we can't really fight about it. It's like any newspaper that might take a picture of you, bad or good, and sometimes they're awful pictures, and they can use them without your approval and you can't do anything about it.

I have a lust for life.

I even thought of adopting a child as a single mother.

I majored in fashion design in school, and I have always wanted to design my own line of clothing, jewelry, and stuff like that; so this was just a step for me in that direction.

I know that my fans want to know who I'm sleeping with, but it's really none of their business.

I just appreciate still having the longevity that I've had in my career.

They tell me that it will be hard to find a man strong enough to love my own strength and independence, and not worry about being Mr. Diana Ross, but I disagree. I know absolutely that that man is somewhere out there.

The first time I heard a Billie Holiday record, I thought, 'What's so great about Billie Holiday?'

My father worked hard, but we were still very poor; and I didn't want anybody arguing about money, so I became the entertainer, the one who wanted everyone to be happy. I didn't want there to be any problems.

I'm not really a songwriter - I'm an interpreter. So in a sense I am an actress first and foremost. I act out the songs, and I lead with my heart.

I always wanted to be a fashion designer and I learned costume illustration in high school. That was an incredible high school. It was more like a college. I'm moving more in that direction, just kind of merchandising my name.

I'd traveled a lot, was going temporarily insane and became very successful, but there was no one to take that all home to.

I don't have to sit around and wait for the next movie to come along, I can go out and sing.

So I'm not worried about the emotions I carry with me, because I'm happy that I have them; I think it's good for the work I do. The emotions that are not healthy are the ones you hold inside, like anger.