Maria Callas Quotes

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.

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.

I don't need the money, dear. I work for art.

Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddam rules.

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.

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.

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.

To sing is an expression of your being, a being which is becoming.

ART is domination. It's making people think that for that precise moment in time there is only one way, one voice. Yours.

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.

I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best.

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.

I would not kill my enemies, but I will make them get down on their knees. I will, I can, I must.

First I lost weight, then I lost my voice, and now I've lost Onassis.

I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over.

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.

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?

When my enemies stop hissing, I shall know I'm slipping.

I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity.

When the curtain rises, the only thing that speaks is courage.

Only when I was singing did I feel loved.

When I did not become enemies, then I understand that there was nothing standing.

Women are not pals enough with men, so we must make ourselves indispensable. After all, we have the greatest weapon in our hands by just being women.

I prepare myself for rehearsals like I would for marriage.

Love is so much better when you are not married.

It takes a little more time to get into the role, but not very much more. In making a record you don't have the sense of projection over a distance as in an opera house. We have this microphone and this magnifies all details of a performance, all exaggerations. In the theater, you can get away with a very large, very grand phrase. For the microphone, you have to tone it down. It's the same as making a film, your gestures will be seen in close-up, so they cannot be exaggerated as they would be in a theater.

It's a terrible thing to go through life thinking that you have a rock on your side when you haven't.

Don't come to me with your troubles. I have to work for my money and you are young enough to work too. If you can't make enough money to live on you can jump out of the window or drown yourself.

The public is a monster and that is why I am not eager to return to the stage.

When music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed the point.

If I have stepped on some people at times because I am at the top, it couldn't be helped. What should I do if someone gets hurt... retire?

[During fee negotiations for singing in Vienna:] I'm not interested in money, but it must be more than anyone else gets.

Only my dogs will not betray me.

I want to be a mature artist with a different kind of thinking.

On stage, I am in the dark.

Paris dictates fashion to the whole world.

There must be a law against forcing children to perform at an early age. Children should have a wonderful childhood. They should not be given too much responsibility.

I will not be sued! I have the voice of an angel!

I admire Tebaldi's tone; it's beautiful - also some beautiful phrasing. Sometimes, I actually wish I had her voice.

I cannot switch my voice. My voice is not like an elevator going up and down.

I was always too mature for my age - and not very happy. I had no young friends. I wish I could go back to those days. If I could only live it all again, how I would play and enjoy other girls. What a fool I was.

My poor sight gives me an advantage. I can't see the people in the audience who are scratching their heads while I am lost in my role and giving everything I have to the drama.