Ethel Waters quotes

Ethel Waters was an influential American singer and actress, celebrated for her contributions to jazz, blues, and Broadway. Her powerful voice and dynamic stage presence broke barriers for African American performers in the early 20th century. She paved the way for future generations by becoming the first African American woman to star in her own television show. Here are 41 of her quotes:

It has been an ache and a joy both to look over this big shoulder of mine at all my yesterdays. (Ethel Waters)
I have reason to be shy. I've been hurt plenty. View quote
Ethel Waters
The big compliment came from the beer drinkers who didn't know me. They wouldn't drink or move when I sang. If they had their glasses in mid-air, the glasses wouldn't come down. View quote
Ethel Waters
Nothing can beat the smell of dew and flowers and the odor that comes out of the earth when the sun goes down. View quote
Ethel Waters
The white audiences thought I was white, my features being what they are, and at every performance I'd have to take off my gloves to prove I was a spade. View quote
Ethel Waters
We are all gifted. That is our inheritance. View quote
Ethel Waters
There was one emotional outlet my people always had when they had the blues. That was singing. View quote
Ethel Waters
All the men in my life have been two things: an epic and an epidemic. View quote
Ethel Waters
Today or any day that phone may ring and bring good news. View quote
Ethel Waters
Mom never quit on me. My only regret is that she didn't live long enough to share some of the money and comforts my work in show business has brought me. View quote
Ethel Waters
Mom was the greatest influence of my childhood. She wanted to save me from the vice, lust, and drinking that was all about me. (Ethel Waters)
Negroes are human beings with exactly the same faults and virtues as members of the other races. View quote
Ethel Waters
We never had a bathtub. Mom would bathe me in the wooden or tin washtub in the kitchen, or in a big lard can. View quote
Ethel Waters
Basically there is no difference between whites and blacks, browns and yellows. I decided to think no more of people as Northerners and Southerners. View quote
Ethel Waters
I am an isolationist. View quote
Ethel Waters
Asking what I considered an impossible salary when I didn't want to work for someone has boosted my pay again and again. View quote
Ethel Waters
I never accepted the idea that I was all through. I guess no person who has once been a star can do that, ever. View quote
Ethel Waters
I never felt I belonged. I was always an outsider. View quote
Ethel Waters
Though I was excited about the Sojourner Truth play, it was not reassuring to think that my entire future might depend on the success of that one show. View quote
Ethel Waters
New York is only 97 miles from Philadelphia but was the Big Time as no other American city has ever been. View quote
Ethel Waters
There is a great supply of amateur undertakers in show business. (Ethel Waters)
In her whole life Mom never earned more than five or six dollars a week. Being without a husband, it was hard for her to find any place at all for us to live. View quote
Ethel Waters
All my life I've been prejudiced against wealthy people. View quote
Ethel Waters
My whole family could sing. My family harmonized without any instruments to accompany them. View quote
Ethel Waters
There's no hypocrisy in Hell's Kitchen. View quote
Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters - Image
Occupation: American Musician
Born: October 31, 1896
Died: September 1, 1977
Quotes count: 41