Whitney Houston boasted one of those singing voices that can make any song her own.
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Case in point: “I Will Always Love You.” Though the song was famously written by Dolly Parton in order to leave her mentor Porter Wagoner and go solo, it has since come to be known, even by Parton herself, as a Whitney Houston song.
Houston famously sang a rendition of it for The Bodyguard soundtrack, using her mammoth singing voice and belting it out with power.
Born on August 9, 1963, in New Jersey, Houston left us too soon, passing away at just 48 years old in Beverly Hills, California, on February 11, 2012. While Houston certainly had her issues throughout her life, from drugs to bad relationships, one thing she and her fans could always count on was her amazing singing prowess.
But what did Houston have to say about the world at large, outside of her lyric singing? What did she think about life and love, her craft, and more? That, dear reader, is the subject of our inquiry here today.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into the 25 best Whitney Houston quotes, shall we?
1. “I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow; if I fail, or if I succeed at least I did as I believe.”
2. “Loneliness comes with life.”
3. “You can fool people. You can fool anybody any time of the day, but you can’t fool yourself. At night, when you go home, you’ve got to be straight up with you.”
4. “God gave me a voice to sing with, and when you have that, what other gimmick is there?”
5. “When I decided to be a singer, my mother warned me I’d be alone a lot. Basically, we all are. Loneliness comes with life.”
6. “When I heard Aretha, I could feel her emotional delivery so clearly. It came from down deep within. That’s what I wanted to do.”
7. “I’m a person who has life and wants to live, and always have.”
8. “Nobody likes to be picked on. Nobody.”
9. “I have a mother that’s very strong and family that surround me and constantly tell me they love me.”
10. “From the beginning, the camera and I were great friends. It loves me, and I love it.”
11. “I would stay in my room for days, for days at times, just trying to get it together, to know what my next phase was going to be.”
12. “I wanted to be a teacher. I love children, so I wanted to deal with children. Then I wanted to be a veterinarian. But by the age of ten or eleven, when I opened my mouth and said, ‘Oh, God, what’s this?’ I kind of knew teaching and being a veterinarian were gonna have to wait.”
13. “In grammar school some of the girls had problems with me. My face was too light. My hair was too long. It was the black-consciousness period, and I felt really bad.”
14. “My mother was the first singer I had contact with. She sang constantly to us around the house, in church.”
15. “I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside.”
16. “I finally faced the fact that it isn’t a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems.”
17. “My mother taught me that when you stand in the truth and someone tells a lie about you, don’t fight it.”
18. “I like being a woman, even in a man’s world. After all, men can’t wear dresses, but we can wear the pants.”
19. “I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.”
20. “I am not self-destructive. I am not a person who wants to die.”
21. “I’ve turned down a lot of arena dates because I’ve done the big-arena thing. Now, I want to do something where people can feel me and I can feel them.”
22. “I’m not crazy about arenas just because I can sell them out. It doesn’t do anything for my ego at all. I want to play places where people don’t have to sit in the nosebleed seats and wonder what the hell is going on.”
23. “Being around people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, all these greats, I was taught to listen and observe.”
24. “I’m just fiercely protective. It’s like, that’s my lair and nobody messes with my lair.”
25. “I’ve got some good saints out there—that’s right—that pray for me constantly. You’ve gotta have that! You do.”
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