Nina Simone

“To me, we are the most beautiful creatures in the whole world. Black people. And I mean that in every sense.”

“At this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I don't think you can help but be involved.”

“I try to swim every damn day I can, and I've learned to scuba dive and snorkel.”

“Greed has driven the world crazy. And I think I'm lucky that I have a place over here that I can call home.”

“There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.”

“The protest years were over, not just for me but for a whole generation, and in music, just like in politics, many of the greatest talents were dead or in exile, and their place was filled b...”

“All the time, there was the weight of my community's expectations on my shoulders.”

“The worst thing about that kind of prejudice... is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough.”

“I flirt all the time. I like men! I don't think we can do without them.”

“You feel the shame, humiliation, and anger at being just another victim of prejudice, and at the same time, there's the nagging worry that maybe... you're just no good.”

“I want to shake people up so bad, that when they leave a nightclub where I've performed, I just want them to be to pieces.”

“I'll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. I mean really, no fear!”

“I think if I were over there in America, protest music would be more important. But I'm not going.”

“I don't like rap music at all. I don't think it's music. It's just a beat and rapping.”

“I'm a real rebel with a cause.”

“It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.”