Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sober up, and you see and hear everything you'd been able to avoid hearing before.

I'd learned a lot in the Army. I knew that above all things in the world I had to become so big, so strong that people and their hatred could never touch me.

Reality is never as bad as a nightmare, as the mental tortures we inflict on ourselves.

What have I got? No looks, no money, no education. Just talent.

May was young and beautiful, we were legally married, but she was caught in the prison of my skin.

The success of the Rat Pack or the Clan was due to the camaraderie, the three guys who work together and kid each other and love each other.

I have a respect for Elvis and my friendship. It ain't my business what he did in private. The only thing I want to know is, 'Was he my friend?', 'Did I enjoy him as a performer?', 'Did he give the world of entertainment something?' - and the answer is YES on all accounts. The other jazz just don't matter.

My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man's thinking.

I wasn't anything special as a father. But I loved them and they knew it.