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

First I lost my voice, then I lost my figure and then I lost Onassis.

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

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?

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