Ethel Merman Quotes | GloryQuotes

Ethel Merman Quotes About Time

I have been ambitious to be a somebody from the time I was 5 years old.

I'll admit - I was honored to be on the cover of Time.

I'll pat myself on the back and admit I have talent. Beyond that, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

At one time I smoked, but in 1959 I couldn't think of anything else to give up for Lent so I stopped-and I haven't had a cigarette since.

Ethel Merman Quotes About Career

I have plenty of invitations to go places, lots to do. If I'm not working, I go to have my hair taken care of and work at needlepoint.

I work as often as I want and yet I'm free as a bird.

My career at Warner Brothers consisted of one musical short subject. I was running around in a bear skin. Very chic.

More Quotes by Ethel Merman

Mom and Pop were proud of my popularity, but from their point of view, show business was no way to make a living.

Mom claimed that I could carry a tune at 2 or 3 years of age. Maybe she was a little prejudiced.

I've made a wonderful living playing that theatrical character - the professional brassy dame.

Music, in the past few years... anything singable or understandable is square.

Legend has it that when God created me, he gave me a big distinctive voice, a lot of boldness and no heart.

Eisenhower was my war hero and the President I admire and respect most.

If I feel in need of sleep, I just open a book or turn on the television. Both are better than any sleeping pill.

My beloved Mom and Pop always rated tops with each other, and that's the way it will always be.

The slapdash way producers used to assemble a show seems a little unbelievable when we talk about them now.

There's such a thing as theater discipline. One player doesn't appropriate another's inventions.

I've never cooked. I can't do much more in the kitchen than make a cup of tea and some toast.

When you are in deep conflict about something, sometimes the most trivial thing can tip the scales.

I attend surprisingly few shows. The type of theater that is popular today just doesn't appeal to me.

Any audience that gets a laugh out of me gets it while I'm facing them.

I wouldn't trust any man as far as you can throw a piano.

I can never remember being afraid of an audience. If the audience could do better, they'd be up here on stage and I'd be out there watching them.

Always give them the old fire, even when you feel like a squashed cake of ice.

As far as dramas are concerned, it's considered passe for playwrights to turn out anything the average person can understand.

Broadway has been very good to me. But then, I've been very good to broadway.

Of my four marriages, the one to Bob Levitt is the only one I don't regret.

I wasn't straining at the bit to become a movie star any more than I had plotted to get out of vaudeville and into Broadway musicals.

Once I had all the attention, all I had to do was deliver.

Cole Porter had a worldwide reputation as a sophisticate and hedonist.

At a flea market I always head for the junk jewelry table first.

I am known to be able to take care of myself when I become angry. I don't mince words.

Cole Porter wrote Anything Goes and four more hits for me.

Christmas carols always brought tears to my eyes. I also cry at weddings. I should have cried at a couple of my own.

I've never suffered stage fright. That fascinates people.

In my case, things have pretty much been handed to me.

My father taught me to read music and play the piano-but not well, even though people have said that I'm a natural musician.

I can hold a note as long as the Chase National Bank.

I wouldn't change one thing about my professional life, and I make it a point not to dwell on my mistakes.

When I'm asked how to succeed in show business, I always say I haven't the foggiest.

I preferred delivering my performance in person. I liked to be in control. You couldn't be in films.

I don't like to read. The only things I read are gossip columns. If someone gives me a book, it had better have lots of pictures.

I was lucky enough to have the songs in my first show written by George and Ira Gershwin. Then Cole Porter wrote five shows for me.

There have been people who have tried to take advantage of me. They want to be linked to me just because I'm Ethel Merman.

I was born in my parents' bedroom on January 16. The World Almanac says it was 1909. I say it was 1912. But what difference does it make as long as I feel 33?

I Got Rhythm really put me on the map.

Everything's coming up roses - for me.

Who's happy these days?

I take a breath when I have to.

You gotta have a gimmick.

Browse 50 quotes attributed to Ethel Merman, listed in the source data as a American Musician, organized around themes such as Time, Career, Life. Use the topic links to explore similar quotes, or browse the full author collection in one place.