The 79-year-old Detroit-born diva, Diana Ross, rose to fame as the lead singer of the iconic Motown group The Supremes with songs like “Baby Love.” In 1970, Ross went solo and continued her success with songs like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “I Will Survive.”
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Ross, who also earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. She also got the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
With all of these accomplishments and with all this success over so many decades, one might wonder what Ross had to say about her craft, life, love, and the world around her. Without further ado, here are the 20 best Diana Ross quotes.
1. “You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.”
2. “If I have someone who believes in me, I can move mountains.”
3. “I don’t judge people by their sexual orientation or the color of their skin, so I find it really hard to identify someone by saying that they’re a gay person or a black person or a Jewish person.”
4. “My father worked hard, but we were still very poor, and I didn’t want anybody arguing about money, so I became the entertainer—the one who wanted everyone to be happy. I didn’t want there to be any problems.”
5. “So I’m not worried about the emotions I carry with me, because I’m happy that I have them; I think it’s good for the work I do. The emotions that are not healthy are the ones you hold inside, like anger.”
6. “Criticism, even when you try to ignore it, can hurt. I have cried over many articles written about me, but I move on and I don’t hold on to that.”
7. “With the Supremes I made so much money so fast all I wanted to do was buy clothes and pretty things. Now I’m comfortable with money and it’s comfortable with me.”
8. “My travels led me to where I am today. Sometimes these steps have felt painful, difficult, but led me to greater happiness and opportunities.”
9. “I try to choose the songs that really are basically coming from my heart. I think that through the songs that I select, people know what’s going on in my life.”
10. “I don’t have to sit around and wait for the next movie to come along, I can go out and sing.”
11. “I listen to most everything that’s out there because I need to stay aware of what’s happening in the industry.”
12. “My life has often been described as ‘from rags to riches,’ but in fact, the Rosses were never raggedy.”
13. “If I’m with a man I’m soft and buttery.”
14. “I’m not really a songwriter—I’m an interpreter. So in a sense, I am an actress first and foremost. I act out the songs, and I lead with my heart.”
15. “Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.”
16. “I have three girls, and I say the same thing to them. I’m not involved in their careers because I’ve learned that it’s important for them to stand on their own two feet. They’ll feel better and prouder of themselves if they do.”
17. “You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.”
18. “It takes a long time to get to be a diva. I mean, you gotta work at it.”
19. “One thing you cannot control is nature.”
20. “I think a responsibility comes with notoriety, but I never think of it as power. It’s more like something you hold, like grains of sand. If you keep your hand closed, you can have it and possess it, but if you open your fingers in any way, you can lose it just as quickly.”
Photo by Henry Nicholls – WPA Pool/Getty Images
