Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

I'm not alone, I'm free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody; I don't have to be a first to anybody.

Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it's just death.

You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way.

I don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I'd become. I'm me, and I'm like nobody else.

It's so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance.

My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.

I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.

As much as I try, when I open my mouth, Lena comes out, And I get so mad.

I made a promise to myself to be kinder to other people.

I want to sing like Aretha Franklin. Before her I wanted the technical ability of Ella Fitzgerald.

Malcolm X made me very strong at a time I needed to understand what I was angry about. He had peace in his heart. He exerted a big influence on me.

Every color I can think of and nationality, we were all touched by Dr. King because he made us like each other and respect each other.

I remember the day tDr. King died. I wasn't angry at the beginning. It was like something very personal in my life had been touched and finished.

Malcolm X raised my consciousness about myself and my people and other people more than any person I know. I knew him before he became Malcolm X.

After I got over the terrible pain of having something of mine taken from me, I began to think how bad everybody else must be feeling. It wasn't a nice time.

I was lucky, as many of my generation was, in having a man like Dr. King in our lives. He came at a time that we needed to take a long look at each other and see how similar we were.

I really do hate to sing.

I told them I belong to the same organizations and clubs Mrs. Roosevelt belongs to, but with a few brave exceptions, I was still unable to do films or television for the next seven years.