Lena Horne Quotes

Quotes about:

• It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's positive and that it is not worse, rather than the uncomfortable edges of bitterness for the negatives and that it is not better.

  Lena Horne

  Gratitude, Way, Bitterness

  141 Copy

• The naked female body is treated so weirdly in society. It's like people are constantly begging to see it, but once they do, someone's a hoe.

  Lena Horne

  Attitude, Women, Hypocrite

  136 Copy
• 

  Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it's just death.

  Lena Horne

  Love, Inspiring, Feelings

  68 Copy
• 

  Nobody black or white who really believes in democracy can stand aside now; everybody's got to stand up and be counted.

  Lena Horne

  Believe, White, Black

  "Lena Horne obituary" by John Fordham, www.theguardian.com. May 10, 2010.

  46 Copy

• I'm me, and I'm like nobody else.

  Lena Horne

  "Lena Horne on Lena Horne". PBS Interview, www.pbs.org.

  54 Copy

• The best thing about living... Is the chance to keep on doing it!

  Lena Horne

  Chance, Best Things

  54 Copy

• I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.

  Lena Horne

  Acceptance, Unique, White

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  66 Copy

• You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way.

  Lena Horne

  Class, African American, Way

  Lena Horne, Richard Schickel (1966). “Lena”

  46 Copy
• 

  Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

  Lena Horne

  Inspiring, Work, People

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  60 Copy

• You wouldn't be allowed to get on a particular bus, but you'd be asked to sign your autograph.

  Lena Horne

  Bus, Particular, Autographs

  43 Copy

• My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.

  Lena Horne

  Black, Identity, Black Women

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  50 Copy

• You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way. But the slanting process is so subtle that you frequently don't realize how you're being slanted until very late in the game.

  Lena Horne

  Games, Class, Way

  Lena Horne, Richard Schickel (1966). “Lena”

  40 Copy

• I found out along the way that they like you a little imperfect.

  Lena Horne

  Littles, Way, Imperfect

  40 Copy

• I don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I'd become. I'm me, and I'm like nobody else.

  Lena Horne

  Afterlife, White, Hollywood

  "Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" by Susan Ratcliffe, (p. 208), 2012.

  34 Copy
• 

  A little nepotism never hurt nobody, honey. If you got it, use it. Press on with it. Remind them of it.

  Lena Horne

  Hurt, Use, Littles

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  37 Copy

• music became my refuge and then my salvation.

  Lena Horne

  Music, Salvation, Music Is

  21 Copy

• Malcolm X made me very strong at a time I needed to understand what I was angry about. He had peace in his heart. He exerted a big influence on me.

  Lena Horne

  Strong, Heart, Influence

  27 Copy

• I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.

  Lena Horne

  Feels, Stills, Knows

  18 Copy

• I'm not alone, I'm free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody; I don't have to be a first to anybody.

  Lena Horne

  Credit, Firsts, Symbols

  "Lena Horne obituary" by John Fordham, www.theguardian.com. May 10, 2010.

  20 Copy

• I made a promise to myself to be kinder to other people.

  Lena Horne

  People, Promise, Made

  8 Copy

• I learned from Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, the Nicholas Brothers, the whole thing, the whole schmear. [The Cotton Club] was a great place because it hired us, for one thing, at a time when it was really rough [for Black performers].

  Lena Horne

  Brother, Water, Black

  17 Copy

• Every color I can think of and nationality, we were all touched by Dr. King because he made us like each other and respect each other.

  Lena Horne

  Kings, Thinking, Color

  19 Copy

• It's so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance.

  Lena Horne

  Nice, Flower, Smell

  People Magazine, November 10, 1980.

  17 Copy

• It's ill-becoming for an old broad to sing about how bad she wants it. But occasionally we do.

  Lena Horne

  Singing, Want, Becoming

  16 Copy

• I want to sing like Aretha Franklin. Before her I wanted the technical ability of Ella Fitzgerald.

  Lena Horne

  Want, Franklin, Ability

  18 Copy

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