You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body's sermon on how to behave.
Billie HolidayRead
I never hurt nobody but myself and that's nobody's business but my own.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the idea that personal struggles and pain are private matters that do not concern others.
Billie Holiday's quote highlights the importance of privacy regarding one's own suffering. It suggests that while individuals may face their own hardships, they are inherently personal and may not need to be shared or validated by others. The sentiment reflects a form of autonomy over oneβs own emotional experiences, indicating a boundary between personal pain and public scrutiny.
Themes
PainPrivacyStruggleAutonomySelf
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in a discussion about mental health to emphasize the importance of privacy.
More from Billie Holiday
All quotes βOne day a whole damn song fell into place in my head.
Billie HolidayRead
I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.
Billie HolidayRead
A kiss that is never tasted, is forever and ever wasted.
Billie HolidayRead
Don't threaten me with love, baby. Let's just go walking in the rain.
Billie HolidayRead
I joined Count Basie's band to make a little money and to see the world. For two years I didn't see anything but the inside of a Blue Goose bus, and I never got to send home a quarter.
Billie HolidayRead
Similar quotes
And what if thou, sweet May, hast known_x000D_ _x000D_ Mishap by worm and blight;_x000D_ _x000D_ If expectations newly blown_x000D_ _x000D_ Have perished in thy sight;_x000D_ _x000D_ If loves and joys, while up they sprung,_x000D_ _x000D_ Were caught as in a snare;_x000D_ _x000D_ Such is the lot of all the young,_x000D_ _x000D_ However bright and fair.
William WordsworthRead
When you're young, you don't really know quite what you're aiming at. You're very impulsive and acting on impulse, which is very important and valuable. But you're kind of swimming in a blind sea. When you get older, you have more of a sense of direction.
Sinead O'ConnorRead
It's so curious: one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer... and everything collapses.
Sidonie Gabrielle ColetteRead
I don't envision a very long life for myself. I think my life will run out before my work does. I've designed it that way.
Townes Van ZandtRead
Life is like cooking: before choosing what you love, try everything... β₯
Paulo CoelhoRead
Oh Christ, he groaned to himself, if this is the stuff adults have to think about I never want to grow up
Stephen KingRead